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Day 4 - Big R.T.C.

Morning all,

I was on nights last night (14 hour shift), and it was filled with carnage, due to a very nasty incident in the city centre.

The incident came through our turn out system just after 2300 hours.

R.T.C. (road traffic collision) involving 3 cars in an underpass - persons trapped.

Whhhhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! I slid down the pole, closely followed by "tasty critter", who was riding on the back of the truck with me (BA Wearers).

The turn-out sheet informed us that 3 appliances had been mobilized to the incident, and a Major Rescue Unit was also en route. The M.R.U. is a large mobile type building that fits on the back of a specialized truck called a Prime Mover, and it is taken to incidents and dropped off there. It contains specialist equipment that isn't necessarily carried on the standard fire appliances. Larger cutting equipment,lighting,generators,giant inflatable airbags (used for lifting), shoring timber,angle grinders and much more. The list would go on and on, so i will stop there.

Both appliances from our station were mobilized. The doors went up, the blue lights came on, and we were off. The first thing we do when attending RTC's is to put on a high-viz jerkin, this is for our safety when working on the roads, and casualty gloves (latex-throw away) to prevent contamination from bodily fluids,blood etc.

Over the airwaves of the radio, we could hear that numerous calls were being made to control regarding this incident in an underpass. I quickly realised that we were probably going to be the first trucks on the scene, so i grabbed the trauma pack. This is a 20kg pack with carry handles, containing essential life preserving equipment. Oxygen cylinder with face masks, burns gels and dressings, bandages, lint, CPR control box (cardio pulmonary resuscitation) scissors, catheters and jankeur tubes (used for sucking blood etc from say a casualties mouth) and lots more useful stuff.

We aren't miracle workers, but we do receive excellent training in Trauma Care, and we all have to be of a good standard, taking exams and refresher courses on a regular basis. Our job is to ensure that the patients condition doesn't get worse and remains static until the Paramedics arrive. God, do i love to see a Paramedics face when the s**t hits the fan. I have the utmost respect for Paramedics, and this is the vocation i would choose if i wasn't in the Fire Service. They are worth there weight in gold.

Anyway, all the time that i was getting prepared, so was tasty critter next to me. Blowing up his casualty gloves before putting them on. Tasty, has a habit of trying to put these tight fitting latex gloves over his head. It still makes me laugh every time he does it.(nutter). He didn't this time though, as he was focusing on the job in hand.

As we approached the incident, the traffic was at a standstill, and the public were all trying to get a good look down the underpass. I personally hate it when they do this, and i think that goes for all firefighters. "Wind your necks in" and let these unfortunate people who are in agonising pain, suffer without having an audience.

The Police waved us through, and we were greeted with total carnage. A Subaru Impreza and a Ford Escort estate, had collided head on and a BMW coupe had slammed into the back of them. I could see quite clearly that the driver of the Ford Escort was in a "mess" and the worst of the bunch via the windscreen that was no longer in the vehicle. The Subaru was facing the wrong way to the flow of traffic and looked like it had crossed the central reservation at speed, slamming into the Escort head-on.

It transpired that it was being driven by youths, who had managed to get out and flee the scene. We usually find these idiots, in a heap 200 metres down the road. They try to run, but their bodies won't. They forget that all of their internal organs have been ripped to bits due to the impact, and they drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. This time they were lucky and had managed to escape.

The driver of the BMW couldn't get out his car, as the doors had been jammed by the force of the impact, and a "bullet hole" was visible on his windscreen. (this is a term used to describe the impact mark the drivers head made on the windscreen).

I visibly couldn't see anybody else involved. Tasty and i ran towards the driver of the Escort. He was our priority after quickly assessing the scene. The car was smashed to pieces and the driver was unconscious. I had to climb through the rear off-side window to gain access. My first job was to ensure he had an airway and establish that he was still alive. I removed my lid (helmet)gave it tasty, and climbed in.

The rear seat was showered in shards of glass and there was blood on the roof inside. I was now sitting behind the unconscious driver. This is the place i needed to be in order to control the "C-Spine" of the casualty. I placed my hands firmly on each side of his head (behind his ears) and raised his head to the neutral position.

I could instantly see a large open wound on the top of his head. I called for tasty to assist me with covering the wound and i informed him that the man had his feet trapped behind the pedals of the car. From my position, i had a good view and could see that he had multiple fractures to both legs, a broken arm and several open wounds, the largest of which, was on his head.

As i turned to the side to assess the damage, i noticed two women sitting on the roadside covered in blood, only 5m from the vehicle. It later transpired that they were passengers in the back seat. "Stealth" and "Action Jackson" (from our 2nd appliance) were now dealing with them. One of them was screaming uncontrollably. It was her husbands head that i was holding and she presumed he was dead. Both were splattered with blood, but i had a job to do and a serious one at that.

I quickly found that my patient had a pulse in his neck, what a relief!. He was in a mess, but ALIVE. I shouted this news to "A.J" who informed his wife much to her relief. Suddenly, the driven became conscious and let out a piercing scream. This man was in serious pain and i looked round to see if the paramedics were here yet.

"Give this man Morphine quick" i said, as a pair of green paramedic trousers became visible to my right.

Being in control of the C-Spine meant that anything happening had to come from me. It is an important role and one i was used to carrying out in my years in the job that i love so much.

Access was very difficult for the paramedics, as the front offside of the car roof had virtually collapsed due the severe high speed impact!

An oxygen therapy mask came through the window and was placed on the drivers face.

This would help calm him down a little and prevent shock from setting in.

He was now shouting that his legs were smashed and that he was in agony. I asked him his name to which he replied "Steve" and then i proceeded with the vital questions such as when did you last eat, are you on medication, do you have any current medical conditions etc. This is vital information needed while they are conscious. Information that i would relay to the paramedics in order for them to be better equipped for the job that lay ahead of them.

As soon as i had found the information out, he was unconscious again.

The sound of engines (from the pumps used with hydraulic cutting equipment) filled the air and artificial light was now lighting up the scene like a football match.

The crews outside were beginning to cut the car away. Space creation we refer to it as. We can do more if we have more room, and there was no way of getting this man out to hospital, with the car in its current state.

I had a plastic shield held in front of my face, as well as the driver while the crews with the cutting gear went into action. Glass was being smashed all around us and it was extremely noisy.

When we train for these incidents we take it in turns to pretend to be the casualty in the car. This gets us used to what the patient has to endure when confronted with this scenario. It is quite frightening when you have been smashed to pieces and all you can hear is glass smashing and metal being crushed all around you. We therefore take this into consideration and warnings are given before each smash or cut being carried out.

The bandage on the mans head was now sodden with blood, and i needed to change it for a fresh one. I called this out and within 5 seconds another was passed through the window. I asked for support with maintaining the head static as i needed to adjust my position in the car. A fireman from another station appeared, and leaning through the front window across the dash he took the head fro my control with a careful swap over. My arms were going numb, having maintained the same position for so long.

I could now do a much better assessment of the driver with my hands freed for a moment. I felt down the drivers torso and could feel a couple of ribs jutting into his skin.(suspected broken ribs). His right arm was definitely broken as were both leg, and his head was still giving me concern as it was a very deep wound. He was however still wearing his seat belt - The only reason he was still alive, in my opinion.

I then took back control of the head and within one minute the roof was removed from the car. Fresh air blasted round my face (a welcome relief for me inside). Above me was the roof of the underpass which was covered in sooty stains from the mountain of traffic that had used it over the years. It's strange the things you don't normally notice any other day of your life.

There was another series of loud bangs, and next thing, both doors had been removed on the drivers side. His car had just been turned into a 2 door convertible. There he sat totally exposed to the elements, with me holding his head in the neutral position. The Paramedics could now get access to the vehicle and quickly administered morphine to counter the terrific pain he was suffering. Back to consciousness he came again, though his pulse was getting weaker and his skin even "clammier and pasty" he began speaking again. I told him my name and assured him he was going to be out in a few minutes. He kept asking me how his wife was, and i took great pleasure in telling him she was sat 5 metres away being treated on the road side. He could.t make sense of what i was saying and he kept asking me over and over like i hadn't told him the answer.

I spotted a pedal cutter coming across the floor. One of the lads was going to cut the pedals off that were trapping his feet. A very easy task with a specialist tool. Within minutes they were gone. I was then informed that a spine board was being brought over in order to remove the driver from the car. He kept asking me not to leave him, and over and over i assured him i was going nowhere.

Over the duration of this incident i was building a bit of a rapport with Steve. I was treating him to the best of my ability - to make a comparison, i was giving him the same level of care i would have given to one of my own kids.

This is standard procedure for a firefighter, and the professionalism i witness on a daily basis from my work colleagues never ceases to make me feel proud to be part of such a great organization.

Next thing, i was told the spine board was to be placed from above down the back of the driver torso. Everybody got into position for the extrication and the board was slid in. Now upon my say so, we were going to slide the driver up the board and then lower it to a horizontal position. The seat was wound back as low as we could get it and the board was at an angle of about 45 degrees. "1, 2, 3.....LIFT." Inch by inch he was moved up the board. I counted 6 firemen doing the lifting. "1, 2, 3...LIFT, and he was on and ready to go. Steve was still calling for me not to leave him and i told him that it was all over now, his wife was okay, but that he had suffered a bit of damage, but that life would go on for him and his family. He thanked me over and over for the care he had been showed. "Just doing my job" i replied, but he didn't see it that way.

Next thing he was put into the back of an ambulance and the familiar whale of the siren could be heard as he sped off into the night en route to hospital.

It was only now, that i could have a good look round the scene. It looked even worse now, as the road was littered with all the parts that had been removed from the car. The roof, the doors, spoilers, glass and hundreds of pieces of debris.

Everybody had worked hard, although i couldn't tell you what most were doing as i was so focused on the driver of the vehicle. I don't have to worry about my colleagues as i know that they are highly trained for virtually any kind of scenario.

We proceeded to sweep the glass from the road, gathered our equipment up, said our goodbyes and jumped back on the appliance to return to Home Station.

I was congratulated on the Stirling patient care i had offered the driver and then we all settled down in the TV room to watch the movie "Hostel"

Put it this way - It wasn't going to make us feel sick was it!

Nothing else of interest happened after this thankfully and we were able to watch the entire film uninterrupted from start to finish.

See you soon folks!

Firefighter X

This Diary Entry was taken from Firefighting UK| A Firemans Diary

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I am a fully qualified operational UK Firefighter. Firefighting UK is my online diary concerning everything i do at work

My bones ache today, i must have slept funny and i don't fancy doing anything energetic today.

As soon as parade had finished, the "bells" went off.

"Fire - Persons reported" was written on the turn out sheet - this is the piece of paper that comes out of the fire cat (printer) with the details of where and what we are going to. This was backed up with a shout down the tanoy!

Within seconds we were flying through the doors of the engine house. We are at our ultimate best when we hear the words "persons reported". This tells us that there are people trapped in the fire somewhere. It is at this point, that the truck grows "wings". No messing about, everybody turns into the ultimate firefighter. This is the reason we all joined!

I was riding BA (wearing breathing apparatus) with our new bloke - Posh!. He still hasn't had a job with persons reported and he was looking anxious. I reassured him that everything was going to be fine and to stick right behind me throughout. He looks up to me in a nice kind of way, as i have taken it upon myself to take him under my wing.

The truck screeched to a halt and through the off-side window i could see a semi fully developed in fire. Plooms of smoke were pouring from the windows and the fire had already broken through the roof. Posh looked petrified and again i had to assure him that this is where all the training he has had would come into play. "Trust what you know" i told him, "and have faith in your own ability". He nodded back to me and i opened my door to jump out and grab a hose reel. 20 seconds later we were "donning" our face masks (putting them on). "Start up - test out" was the order given to us from Entry Control. Entry control is the person designated to running the show as far as monitoring the amount of air each BA wearer has, when they are going to run out, maintaining comms (communications) with BA wearers inside the building, what they are doing in there and there exact location in the building, in case something goes wrong. This is besides having to decide if more resources will be needed, getting emergency teams of BA wearers ready (just in case) and much more. It is a stressful job being an Entry Controller (BAECO, BACO, ECO) other names for it....

Anyway, our masks were on and we ran up the front garden with the reel firmly in my hand. The gaffer screamed over that there were people in the front bedroom, and in a shot i was dragging Posh towards the front door. It was slightly ajar, good news, as the fire was already being ventilated, reducing the likelihood of a flash over or back draught. I tested the pressure on our reel (25 bars) and crouched down. In we went, Posh's head pressed against what felt like my buttocks. I know i said stay close, but not that close! This is common with new inexperienced wearers. I did it when i joined (let's be honest)

As soon as we were in, the searing heat could be felt through my fire kit. Visibility was reduced to ZERO, and the crackling and banging of fire and falling debris could be heard all around us. I now had a decision to make. Do we go for the fire or the people. Not really a hard decision for me. The people upstairs were the priority. The next team in could sort the fire and at least we had some protection with the hose reel safely in my hands.

I felt round in the dark for the stairs, instinct tells you where to go in these situations. I found them and shouted to Posh that we were going up. We pressed our body's against the wall and started to climb. We always climb stairs pressed against the wall. This is the strongest part of the staircase in case it collapses or burns through(common sense).

I could see flames licking up the walls and over our heads. I fired water at it and quickly knocked the flames down to clear our path. At the top of the stairs, the floor had burnt away, so we had to step over the hole feeling it with our boots. We were now on the landing. Where now? It is incredibly easy to completely lose your bearings in a house fire, not a nice thought when you have to get out before your air runs out as well.

I kicked the first door open i came across and we both went in. "Nothing!", just a pile of dirty washing on top of a double bed. I think Posh thought it was one of the people trapped judging by his shouts. I confirmed what it was to him and we quickly got out and into the next room. As soon as we opened the door, i heard screaming (female) We've got them" i shouted. When we entered the room we filled their only place of safety with Smoke. When they called 999 they were instructed via fire control, to close the door and place sheets etc at the bottom of the door, to stop the smoke coming in. So you can guess what happened when i opened it.

I could see a little daylight now as the crews arriving behind us, had put a ladder up and broken through the window from the outside, releasing a little smoke.

Everybody outside knew we had found the correct room, as plooms of smoke poured out the windows upon our entry. Two women aged about 50 (saw them later) were in the room flailing their arms and panicking in the thick acrid smoke.

I grabbed one of them and dragged them to the window. Posh grabbed the other. Then with all my strength i lifted her from the floor towards the open window. She was not impressed at all, and resisted with everything she had. I could see gloves coming through the window from outside, "Stealth" was on the ladder outside,(my oppo)

I thrust upwards and outwards with everything i had and she was through. "Stealth" grabbed her and carried her to safety down the ladder. I turned to assist Posh, and found he had done exactly the same with his "casualty" via another ladder. "Get in there!", job done.

Posh had just proved his worth , not only to me, but to the gaffer and the rest of the watch. I couldn't really fault him - he did very well.

When we turned to leave the room, which was now starting to have about 10% visibility, we saw another 2 BA wearers armed with another hose reel. I relayed the message that they were out, and asked them to proceed with locating and extinguishing the fire. We had worked so hard, that our air was about to run out, and we needed to get outside.

Once in fresh air, we removed our masks as steam poured from the top of our heads.

Steaming hair, is very common after a house fire and you remove your mask and helmet.

We reported to Entry Control and briefed him on our actions. Posh got a pat on the back from most of the lads, and i think he took great pride in what he had just achieved. After all, most of the public think he's a hero now, but i don't want to let it go to his head just yet, as i need WATER.

It is possible to lose approx 1 litre of fluids in a good fire. Therefore hydration is a big factor in our role as firefighters. Even the toilets at station have urine colour monitoring charts in them, so we can keep an eye on hydration levels.

After gulping down tonnes of water, it was back to the truck to service our BA sets and get them ready for the next incident. (new cylinders etc)

We passed a copper on the way back to the truck, who said "that's what you joined for isn't it boys?. He was right, it was. A wry smile came across my face as i thought about what he had said.

Once back at station we had a chat about what had gone on, had a cup of tea and believe it or not the bells went off again "Fire - Canal Embankment"

The doors opened again and off we went. At least the truck wasn't going to grow wings again just yet!

After that we had a quiet afternoon and when the shout "59" came over the tanoy, i was ready for an ice-cold pint of Stella, which is exactly what i had with the boys in the local pub down the road.

"Ahhhh, Nectar!"

More tomorrow guys..................

Firefighter X

To follow the daily life of a UK Firefighter, please visit my Firefighter UK Blog at:

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Avoid containers with narrow openings.

Cheap plastic pots may deteriorate in UV sunlight and terracotta pots dry out rapidly. Glazed ceramic pots are excellent choices but require several drainage holes.

Wooden containers are susceptible to rot. Redwood and cedar are relatively rot resistant and can be used without staining or painting. Avoid wood treated with creosote, penta or other toxic compounds since the vapors can damage the plants. One advantage of wooden containers is that they can be built to sizes and shapes that suit the location.

Use containers between 15 and 120 quarts capacity. Small pots restrict the root area and dry out very quickly. The size and number of plants to be grown will determine the size of the garden containers used. Deep rooted vegetables require deep pots.

Make sure your pot has adequate drainage. Holes should be 1/2 inch across. Line the base of the pot with newspaper to prevent soil loss.

In hot climates use light-colored containers to lessen heat absorption and discourage uneven root growth

.

Set containers on bricks or blocks to allow free drainage.

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Growing Mixture

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Most container gardeners have found that a "soilless" potting mix works best. In addition to draining quickly, "soilless" mixes are lightweight and free from soil- borne diseases and weed seeds. These mixes can be purchased from garden centers.

When you add your soil to your container, leave a 2 inch space between the top of the soil and the top of the container. You will be able to add 1/2 inch or so of mulch later.

Sunlight

Your container garden will need at least five hours of direct sunlight each day, and many plants will benefit from even more. As a general rule, leafy vegetables such as cabbage and lettuce can tolerate the most shade, while root crops such as beets and carrots will need more sun. Fruiting vegetables such as tomatoes and cucumbers need the most sun. The amount of sunlight needed by flowers varies depending on the varieties grown. Check the flower guides for sunlight requirements.

Fertilizer

Since potting mixes drain water rapidly, fertilizer will be washed out of the container as you water. Lighter mixes will require more frequent fertilizing than heavier mixes. It's a good idea to use a dilute liquid fertilizer with every other watering. Liquid fish emulsion or liquid seaweed are great plant boosters, but remember that you need to provide your plants with a variety of nutrients. Check the labels on the products in you garden center to be sure that they contain a complete, balanced solution that includes trace elements.

Watering

In an exposed location, container plants loose moisture quickly. Some plants will need to be watered daily, especially during hot, dry weather.

What to Grow?

Annuals

Annuals suitable for containers include:

Allysum

Begonia

Browallia

Coleus

Geraniums

Impatiens

Latana

Lobelia

Marigolds Periwinkle

Nasturtiums

Pansies

Petunias

Salvia

Sanvitalia

Snapdragons

Thunbergia

Zinnias

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All the best,

Richard Donlevy