Story Market Day
- Thread starter ComCamGuy
- Start date
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The triple blast was deafening at close range. The shotgun blasts ripped out of the gloom from the left side of the trail, catching the side of the Explorer square in the middle. The Explorer had moved up while Kara was locking the gate behind the Hyena. With the sudden blast, several things happened at once. The impact into the Explorer accompanied by multiple sounds of tearing metal, shattering glass, a wet, meaty impact, sudden screams, and the instant roar of the engine as the pedal went to the floor. One of the shotgun blasts was buckshot across the trail. Another one was a flare round fired straight up, the third a bird whistle round fired straight up. At this point everything seemed to go into hyper drive.
Garen had seen the area the rounds were fired from off to the left and had seen all three types that were fired. He was instantly on the radio.
“IED Ambush Left, close in! Hammer it! Faith, forget the lock and go! Buffy Sitrep! Buffy Sitrep!”
He was getting no reply, but the vehicle was still moving and picking up speed.
“Faith! Get up there and find us a clearing to square up.” The worry in his voice lent an added imperative to the situation. Garen was worried because Buffy wasn’t talking.
Kara chimed in.
“Spike! Drivers door ventilated, moving up past them now, if she holds steady enough for me to get by.”
Garen had his subgun out on his lap ready to unleash if anything showed its face right now. He tried Buffy a few more times, to no avail. He then thought to try Allyson.
“Carrot, Sitrep!”
“Carrot, Sitrep!’
Allyson’s voice came back scratchy and far away.
“Two wounded. Need a CCP, I’m working it, but I need more hands and help.”
Garen’s blood ran cold. He knew there were only two people in the vehicle. Now he knew both were wounded and Allyson was the only one talking. She’s an experienced Paramedic and was needing, no CALLING for additional help. Part of his mind was racing down his anatomy and physiology compared to Kara telling him the door took a direct hit. Spleen, Pancreas, liver, all are at risk, all are something he could do nothing about. If there is a deep torso wound, he didn’t know if there was anywhere to go to get help.
Kara’s voice brought him back to focus.
“I got two guys in a clearing, armed. Taking fire! Spike get your ass up here!”
As the two four wheeled vehicles rolled into the clearing, the Explorer veered right and coasted to a stop, away from the sounds of gunfire ahead to the left. Garen gunned it across the clearing toward where Kara was off the bike and pouring bursts of fire at two people near a truck. Garen had a moment where time almost seemed to stop, like in one of the more recent action movies. He could see the arc of brass coming out of Kara’s sub gun, hear the canvas ripping sound of a rapid fire suppressed weapon. He whipped the Hyena over to cut off the angle to the truck for the two guys. He brought his subgun to bear as well. Between Kara and Garen, they dropped the two hostiles.
He looked over at Kara.
“Can you check these guys out and eyeball things? I’m going to check out the rest of our crew.”
“You go, I got this.” Kara was looking all over the clearing and pivoting around to keep an eye on as much as possible.
As Garen approached the Explorer, he saw the buckshot blast pattern in the driver’s door. He also saw Bekka’s head laying on the backrest. He heart didn’t so much skip a beat as much as stop completely. Then as he got closer, he could hear two voices. One voice was in typical paramedic helpful, soothing ‘hang on, I got you, you will be alright’ mode. The other one was swearing, at a cyclic rate. He cheered up some. She was alive.
As he walked up with his med bag, he could see small wounds to Bekka’s neck and face, but they were not bleeding very much. As he got to the door, he could see the top of Allyson’s head as she was head down working on Bekka’s groin and left leg with a tourniquet and some combat gauze.
He ran his hand through Bekka’s hair.
“How you doing, babe?” he said softly, hoping to calm her down a bit.
“How the **** do you think I’m doing? Tripwire IED shotgun. Here in the National Forest! My leg is on fire! I couldn’t hear anything on the radio because a pellet took it out and blasted fragments up into my throat. Allyson took a pellet in the forearm and hand.” She paused for a few quick, deep breaths that stopped sharply with a severe look of pain. “I want to go home, but you guys probably want to check me out a bit more first. It’s hard to breath.” She leaned back in the seat as Alyson kept tugging and working on the left leg.
Allyson looked up at Garen. Her face was splattered with blood, as were her arms to the elbows.
“Garen, I don’t know if I got everything. We need to get her out and get a good assessment.
Garen wasn’t happy at the amount of blood he saw.
“Kara, look sharp. Anything sticks its head out, whack a mole. Allyson and I have to get to work on Bekka.”
Garen had seen the area the rounds were fired from off to the left and had seen all three types that were fired. He was instantly on the radio.
“IED Ambush Left, close in! Hammer it! Faith, forget the lock and go! Buffy Sitrep! Buffy Sitrep!”
He was getting no reply, but the vehicle was still moving and picking up speed.
“Faith! Get up there and find us a clearing to square up.” The worry in his voice lent an added imperative to the situation. Garen was worried because Buffy wasn’t talking.
Kara chimed in.
“Spike! Drivers door ventilated, moving up past them now, if she holds steady enough for me to get by.”
Garen had his subgun out on his lap ready to unleash if anything showed its face right now. He tried Buffy a few more times, to no avail. He then thought to try Allyson.
“Carrot, Sitrep!”
“Carrot, Sitrep!’
Allyson’s voice came back scratchy and far away.
“Two wounded. Need a CCP, I’m working it, but I need more hands and help.”
Garen’s blood ran cold. He knew there were only two people in the vehicle. Now he knew both were wounded and Allyson was the only one talking. She’s an experienced Paramedic and was needing, no CALLING for additional help. Part of his mind was racing down his anatomy and physiology compared to Kara telling him the door took a direct hit. Spleen, Pancreas, liver, all are at risk, all are something he could do nothing about. If there is a deep torso wound, he didn’t know if there was anywhere to go to get help.
Kara’s voice brought him back to focus.
“I got two guys in a clearing, armed. Taking fire! Spike get your ass up here!”
As the two four wheeled vehicles rolled into the clearing, the Explorer veered right and coasted to a stop, away from the sounds of gunfire ahead to the left. Garen gunned it across the clearing toward where Kara was off the bike and pouring bursts of fire at two people near a truck. Garen had a moment where time almost seemed to stop, like in one of the more recent action movies. He could see the arc of brass coming out of Kara’s sub gun, hear the canvas ripping sound of a rapid fire suppressed weapon. He whipped the Hyena over to cut off the angle to the truck for the two guys. He brought his subgun to bear as well. Between Kara and Garen, they dropped the two hostiles.
He looked over at Kara.
“Can you check these guys out and eyeball things? I’m going to check out the rest of our crew.”
“You go, I got this.” Kara was looking all over the clearing and pivoting around to keep an eye on as much as possible.
As Garen approached the Explorer, he saw the buckshot blast pattern in the driver’s door. He also saw Bekka’s head laying on the backrest. He heart didn’t so much skip a beat as much as stop completely. Then as he got closer, he could hear two voices. One voice was in typical paramedic helpful, soothing ‘hang on, I got you, you will be alright’ mode. The other one was swearing, at a cyclic rate. He cheered up some. She was alive.
As he walked up with his med bag, he could see small wounds to Bekka’s neck and face, but they were not bleeding very much. As he got to the door, he could see the top of Allyson’s head as she was head down working on Bekka’s groin and left leg with a tourniquet and some combat gauze.
He ran his hand through Bekka’s hair.
“How you doing, babe?” he said softly, hoping to calm her down a bit.
“How the **** do you think I’m doing? Tripwire IED shotgun. Here in the National Forest! My leg is on fire! I couldn’t hear anything on the radio because a pellet took it out and blasted fragments up into my throat. Allyson took a pellet in the forearm and hand.” She paused for a few quick, deep breaths that stopped sharply with a severe look of pain. “I want to go home, but you guys probably want to check me out a bit more first. It’s hard to breath.” She leaned back in the seat as Alyson kept tugging and working on the left leg.
Allyson looked up at Garen. Her face was splattered with blood, as were her arms to the elbows.
“Garen, I don’t know if I got everything. We need to get her out and get a good assessment.
Garen wasn’t happy at the amount of blood he saw.
“Kara, look sharp. Anything sticks its head out, whack a mole. Allyson and I have to get to work on Bekka.”
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The blast came out of nowhere. Allyson was utterly surprised by it. One minute they were rolling ahead a short distance from the gate to let everybody get through, like they had a half a dozen times before. The next moment, a deafening boom followed by a ringing sound in her ears and an absence of sounds other than screams and cursing. She felt the Explorer jump forward and gain speed. There was a stabbing pain in her left forearm and hand. She looked over and saw Bekka had blood dripping from her face and throat. She looked a little lower and saw the inside door panel of the driver’s side was blasted inward and a huge wet spot was growing on Bekka’s left leg. She could see Bekka had gone full auto on something she was saying, but she couldn’t hear what it was.
Allyson took a quick check of herself, then grabbed a tourniquet and dove towards Bekka’s lap. She was jamming her hand under Bekka’s thigh, trying to thread it under and set it high in her groin. Her hands were slick and slippery and warm. Allyson fought down a rising panic and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She couldn’t see what she was doing. She had to work blind, relying on touch and feel. Once she got it in place, she cranked the windlass down mercilessly until she knew she had cut off any flow below the TQ. She kept feeling around for other wounds. She found another torn spot lower in the leg. She knew that was controlled by the TQ for now as well. She knew there had to be more. She remembered some of the lessons she watched Garen teach. She knew to never stop looking. She was sliding her hands up under Bekka’s plate carrier and encountered a rip in the fabric. When she felt there, she felt Bekka jump. Around the same time she could hear Garen calling her on the radio.
“Carrot, Sitrep!”
Allyson thought quickly. She didn’t know if she had found everything on the leg, she had no idea what was going on under the plate carrier, Bekka’s whole left leg was wet. She had quite a bit of pride in her ability to handle a trauma patient, but this wasn’t the same as a car wreck or a bar fight. She choked down her ego and realized the smart thing was to get help.
“Two wounded. Need a CCP, I’m working it, but I need more hands and help.”
She vaguely heard other conversations on the radio as she dug back into working. She didn’t even realize she was talking to Bekka as she worked, nothing special, just the standard ‘talk to the patient, keep them calm stuff’. She felt the vehicle slow to a stop and Bekka’s arm reach over her to put it into park. She was digging a second tourniquet under Bekka’s leg when she heard Garen’s voice talking to Bekka.
Allyson looked up at Garen. Her face was splattered with blood, as were her arms to the elbows.
“Garen, I don’t know if I got everything. We need to get her out and get a good assessment.
Allyson took a quick check of herself, then grabbed a tourniquet and dove towards Bekka’s lap. She was jamming her hand under Bekka’s thigh, trying to thread it under and set it high in her groin. Her hands were slick and slippery and warm. Allyson fought down a rising panic and forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She couldn’t see what she was doing. She had to work blind, relying on touch and feel. Once she got it in place, she cranked the windlass down mercilessly until she knew she had cut off any flow below the TQ. She kept feeling around for other wounds. She found another torn spot lower in the leg. She knew that was controlled by the TQ for now as well. She knew there had to be more. She remembered some of the lessons she watched Garen teach. She knew to never stop looking. She was sliding her hands up under Bekka’s plate carrier and encountered a rip in the fabric. When she felt there, she felt Bekka jump. Around the same time she could hear Garen calling her on the radio.
“Carrot, Sitrep!”
Allyson thought quickly. She didn’t know if she had found everything on the leg, she had no idea what was going on under the plate carrier, Bekka’s whole left leg was wet. She had quite a bit of pride in her ability to handle a trauma patient, but this wasn’t the same as a car wreck or a bar fight. She choked down her ego and realized the smart thing was to get help.
“Two wounded. Need a CCP, I’m working it, but I need more hands and help.”
She vaguely heard other conversations on the radio as she dug back into working. She didn’t even realize she was talking to Bekka as she worked, nothing special, just the standard ‘talk to the patient, keep them calm stuff’. She felt the vehicle slow to a stop and Bekka’s arm reach over her to put it into park. She was digging a second tourniquet under Bekka’s leg when she heard Garen’s voice talking to Bekka.
Allyson looked up at Garen. Her face was splattered with blood, as were her arms to the elbows.
“Garen, I don’t know if I got everything. We need to get her out and get a good assessment.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Kara was standing by the gate, with a lock in her hand when the triple blast went off. At once several tracks of thought raced in all directions. Part of her screamed “ambush” at the same time she realized that it was gunshots, not explosives. She also saw the flare and heard the whistle of the signal round. Her mind jumped to booby trap, which made more sense than some “insurgent-type” force. She was already moving back to the bike when Garen’s call came over the radio. She zoomed past the Hyena and Garen. Gunning the bike to catch up with the Explorer, she was working several trains of thought such as what kinda operation was setting up lethal booby traps to warn of interlopers, how many are up ahead, what kinda firepower will they have, is it occupied all the time, is the warning to give them time to flee or is it to give them time to arm up and defend their operation, how bad is the front vehicle, who got hurt, how bad.
As she came up the side of the Explorer she gave a quick blurb to Garen.
“Spike! Drivers door ventilated, moving up past them now, if she holds steady enough for me to get by.”
She looked in as she went by. Bekka had blood on her face and throat and Allyson was slumped over into Bekka’s lap. Kara felt her stomach drop and her rage ignite. Bekka hurt and Allyson maybe killed by an indiscriminant booby trap.
She heard the radio calls between Allyson and Garen. Damn. Bekka might be hurt worse than Allyson. She rounded a corner in the trail at a fast clip, looking for a clearing for them to regroup. In the fading light she saw two guys near a truck. They were both armed and began firing at her.
“I got two guys in a clearing, armed. Taking fire! Spike get your ass up here!”
She slid to a stop a short distance away and dismounted to make her aim steadier. The 10mm subgun roared as she moved forward to eliminate the threat to herself and the others. Garen rolled past her to gain a second angle on the pair and opened up on them as well. Once the threat was eliminated, Garen asked her to check things and do overwatch while he went to assist medically.
“You go, I got this.”
She moved to ensure the threats were dead, separated them from their weapons and was searching the truck for clues when Garen came back over her radio.
“Kara, look sharp. Anything sticks its head out, whack a mole. Allyson and I have to get to work on Bekka.”
Kara flashed back to what seemed like a long time ago, when the roles were reversed, Bekka on overwatch while Garen was working like hell to save her.
“You work Garen, I got this.”
As she came up the side of the Explorer she gave a quick blurb to Garen.
“Spike! Drivers door ventilated, moving up past them now, if she holds steady enough for me to get by.”
She looked in as she went by. Bekka had blood on her face and throat and Allyson was slumped over into Bekka’s lap. Kara felt her stomach drop and her rage ignite. Bekka hurt and Allyson maybe killed by an indiscriminant booby trap.
She heard the radio calls between Allyson and Garen. Damn. Bekka might be hurt worse than Allyson. She rounded a corner in the trail at a fast clip, looking for a clearing for them to regroup. In the fading light she saw two guys near a truck. They were both armed and began firing at her.
“I got two guys in a clearing, armed. Taking fire! Spike get your ass up here!”
She slid to a stop a short distance away and dismounted to make her aim steadier. The 10mm subgun roared as she moved forward to eliminate the threat to herself and the others. Garen rolled past her to gain a second angle on the pair and opened up on them as well. Once the threat was eliminated, Garen asked her to check things and do overwatch while he went to assist medically.
“You go, I got this.”
She moved to ensure the threats were dead, separated them from their weapons and was searching the truck for clues when Garen came back over her radio.
“Kara, look sharp. Anything sticks its head out, whack a mole. Allyson and I have to get to work on Bekka.”
Kara flashed back to what seemed like a long time ago, when the roles were reversed, Bekka on overwatch while Garen was working like hell to save her.
“You work Garen, I got this.”
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Garen dropped his med ruck down by the side of the Explorer. From the bottom pouch he pulled a nylon carry sheet and spread it out on the ground next to the driver’s door to give them a place to lay Bekka down. It’s always easier to have a way to pick up your casualty with handles rather than without. He then leaned into the vehicle.
“Bekka, we have to move you out onto the ground so we can get to everything. It’s going to hurt. You know that.”
Bekka looked over to Garen and nodded, just once and gritted her teeth.
“Alright, Allyson. Hold her in the seat while I open the door, then once I have her, come around and guide her legs out as I move her torso. Got it?”
“Sure thing Garen. Bekka, lean over toward me some.” Allyson reached over and pulled gently on her plate carrier.
Bekka groaned as she shifted to the right toward Allyson. When Garen saw this happen, he opened the driver’s door and got his first good look at the inside and at Bekka’s side and leg. It wasn’t pretty but at least it wasn’t an explosive driven jet or some other horrendous thing. Simple buckshot, by the look of the door. Not that it couldn’t be lethal enough on its own. He slid his hands down between the back of the seat and Bekka, all the way to her beltline where he grabbed hold.
“Alright Allyson, I have her. Come on around.” Garen leaned up against Bekka, his head next to hers, ear to ear.
“It will be ok, Bekka, we got this. You know what we have to do to check you out and get things squared away, then some cool drugs and back to the house.”
Bekka just leaned her head against Garen’s. He could feel her relax against him. He hoped it was because she felt safer now rather than something more insidious like shock.
Alyson came around next to Garen and reached in for Bekkas legs.
“Alright, I got her legs. On your count.”
“Ok Allyson, I’m going to pull her out about three steps and we guide her down onto the stretcher. Once she is down, I’ll dive into the leg wound. What else did you find?”
“She took something under the plate carrier, but I’m not sure what or how much. I didn’t find any blood on the first sweep and she was talking ok.”
“Tell you what, Allyson, I’ll still tackle the leg, you chase the chest. Let’s move her on three”
They move Bekka to the ground and get to work. Allyson starts removing the plate carrier and reveals a bloody ragged tear in the combat shirt underneath just below Bekka’s breast.
“Alright Bekka, I’m going to have to get you a bit naked to see what’s going on with this gouge under your plate.” Allyson was talking as she was pulling up the shirt and unzipping the sports bra.”
Bekka’s reply caught Allyson off guard.
“May as well join the club, everyone else here has seen me naked. Do what you got to do.”
Allyson used her small finger to trace the path of what must have been a pellet across the chest, feeling for any actual penetration of the chest wall. As she slid down the groove, she felt Bekka wince on one or two places. These Allyson probed a bit more deliberately. There were no holes, but the bone of the rib in each place didn’t feel intact where they crossed under the trac of the pellet. There was also a small puncture in the right breast at the end of the path. She palpated the area around the entrance wound and could feel what might be the pellet just under the skin.
She looked down to where Garen was working on Bekka’s leg. He had slit the pants leg from the cuff to the belt up the front of the left thigh.
“Garen, chest wound is a gouge across three ribs, cracking or breaking them. Pellet looks to be embedded just under the skin in her right breast. How’s the leg look? Did I get everything?
Garen had slit the pants up the front of the thigh on the left side and had to tear it above the Tourniquet that Allyson had placed. He also used the rescue hook to tear across to the groin to check there for bleeding and incontinence, both of which would be very bad signs. Once the area of the blast was exposed, he could see there were several puncture wounds in the upper thigh and at least two in her calf, but no immediate source for al the wetness up and down the leg and on Allyson’s hands and arms. A quick swipe of the glove in Bekka’s groin showed no blood or urine present. Where was all this wetness coming from? Then he smelled it.
“Bekka, did you have an energy drink in your pocket?”
“Yeah, a coffee one.”
“You scared the shit out of us with that. Allyson, 6-8 holes, leg only. We need to get her back to the house so we can get the pellets out of her. Now, let me see your wounds.”
Allyson held up her arm where a pellet had punched through her forearm and across the back of her hand. There was only minimal bleeding at this point.
“You will live Allyson.” He reached into another pocket of his med ruck and tossed her a pouch.
“Get me a IV line in her right arm while I draw up the drugs.” Garen pulled the drug kit from his med ruck and drew up several drugs for Bekka; TXA to help her body clot more efficiently, antibiotics, Zofran for nausea, and most importantly, a healthy dose of Ketamine for pain. By the time he had them all pulled up, Allyson had the IV access established.
“Bekka, it’s not too bad. Allyson got the IV in so I’m going to give you some drugs. Pain drugs and some Zofran so Allyson’s driving doesn’t make you hurl. I’m going to dose you with enough Ketamine to make you sleepy and not hurt. I’ll give you more when we get back to the house.” While he was talking to her he was handing Alyson the various doses to push in the IV.
“Allyson, get the other seat set so we can lay her in it. You will have to drive. You will be following Kara; I will be right behind you. I dosed the snot out of Bekka with the Ketamine, and we will have to do more when we get to the house. I will need to keep her all the way out for a bit while we dig the pellets out and sew them up. I’m going to need your help. You up for this? “
Allyson looked at him like he was speaking Greek, but nodded and went around to get the seat ready for the patient.
Garen walked over to Kara.
“I need your help getting Bekka into the passenger seat of the Explorer. I hit her with Ketamine. She is stable, extremity damage mostly. We will be doing some surgery when we get to the house. Allyson will be driving the Explorer following you. She is still new at NVGs and driving, so we need to get as close to the house before we have to switch over. Stealth is gone, speed is king but she doesn’t know the trail.”
“Garen, I pulled anything worth scavenging from their bodies. We will talk later about all I found.”
Kara and Garen picked up Bekka, now sleeping, and slid her into the passenger seat of the Explorer and belted her in. Garen added a C-Collar to Bekka, not because he was worried about a spinal injury, but because it would keep her airway open, combined with the nasopharyngeal airway he had put in her nose.
With Kara in the lead, the group rolled out of the clearing, headed for home.
“Bekka, we have to move you out onto the ground so we can get to everything. It’s going to hurt. You know that.”
Bekka looked over to Garen and nodded, just once and gritted her teeth.
“Alright, Allyson. Hold her in the seat while I open the door, then once I have her, come around and guide her legs out as I move her torso. Got it?”
“Sure thing Garen. Bekka, lean over toward me some.” Allyson reached over and pulled gently on her plate carrier.
Bekka groaned as she shifted to the right toward Allyson. When Garen saw this happen, he opened the driver’s door and got his first good look at the inside and at Bekka’s side and leg. It wasn’t pretty but at least it wasn’t an explosive driven jet or some other horrendous thing. Simple buckshot, by the look of the door. Not that it couldn’t be lethal enough on its own. He slid his hands down between the back of the seat and Bekka, all the way to her beltline where he grabbed hold.
“Alright Allyson, I have her. Come on around.” Garen leaned up against Bekka, his head next to hers, ear to ear.
“It will be ok, Bekka, we got this. You know what we have to do to check you out and get things squared away, then some cool drugs and back to the house.”
Bekka just leaned her head against Garen’s. He could feel her relax against him. He hoped it was because she felt safer now rather than something more insidious like shock.
Alyson came around next to Garen and reached in for Bekkas legs.
“Alright, I got her legs. On your count.”
“Ok Allyson, I’m going to pull her out about three steps and we guide her down onto the stretcher. Once she is down, I’ll dive into the leg wound. What else did you find?”
“She took something under the plate carrier, but I’m not sure what or how much. I didn’t find any blood on the first sweep and she was talking ok.”
“Tell you what, Allyson, I’ll still tackle the leg, you chase the chest. Let’s move her on three”
They move Bekka to the ground and get to work. Allyson starts removing the plate carrier and reveals a bloody ragged tear in the combat shirt underneath just below Bekka’s breast.
“Alright Bekka, I’m going to have to get you a bit naked to see what’s going on with this gouge under your plate.” Allyson was talking as she was pulling up the shirt and unzipping the sports bra.”
Bekka’s reply caught Allyson off guard.
“May as well join the club, everyone else here has seen me naked. Do what you got to do.”
Allyson used her small finger to trace the path of what must have been a pellet across the chest, feeling for any actual penetration of the chest wall. As she slid down the groove, she felt Bekka wince on one or two places. These Allyson probed a bit more deliberately. There were no holes, but the bone of the rib in each place didn’t feel intact where they crossed under the trac of the pellet. There was also a small puncture in the right breast at the end of the path. She palpated the area around the entrance wound and could feel what might be the pellet just under the skin.
She looked down to where Garen was working on Bekka’s leg. He had slit the pants leg from the cuff to the belt up the front of the left thigh.
“Garen, chest wound is a gouge across three ribs, cracking or breaking them. Pellet looks to be embedded just under the skin in her right breast. How’s the leg look? Did I get everything?
Garen had slit the pants up the front of the thigh on the left side and had to tear it above the Tourniquet that Allyson had placed. He also used the rescue hook to tear across to the groin to check there for bleeding and incontinence, both of which would be very bad signs. Once the area of the blast was exposed, he could see there were several puncture wounds in the upper thigh and at least two in her calf, but no immediate source for al the wetness up and down the leg and on Allyson’s hands and arms. A quick swipe of the glove in Bekka’s groin showed no blood or urine present. Where was all this wetness coming from? Then he smelled it.
“Bekka, did you have an energy drink in your pocket?”
“Yeah, a coffee one.”
“You scared the shit out of us with that. Allyson, 6-8 holes, leg only. We need to get her back to the house so we can get the pellets out of her. Now, let me see your wounds.”
Allyson held up her arm where a pellet had punched through her forearm and across the back of her hand. There was only minimal bleeding at this point.
“You will live Allyson.” He reached into another pocket of his med ruck and tossed her a pouch.
“Get me a IV line in her right arm while I draw up the drugs.” Garen pulled the drug kit from his med ruck and drew up several drugs for Bekka; TXA to help her body clot more efficiently, antibiotics, Zofran for nausea, and most importantly, a healthy dose of Ketamine for pain. By the time he had them all pulled up, Allyson had the IV access established.
“Bekka, it’s not too bad. Allyson got the IV in so I’m going to give you some drugs. Pain drugs and some Zofran so Allyson’s driving doesn’t make you hurl. I’m going to dose you with enough Ketamine to make you sleepy and not hurt. I’ll give you more when we get back to the house.” While he was talking to her he was handing Alyson the various doses to push in the IV.
“Allyson, get the other seat set so we can lay her in it. You will have to drive. You will be following Kara; I will be right behind you. I dosed the snot out of Bekka with the Ketamine, and we will have to do more when we get to the house. I will need to keep her all the way out for a bit while we dig the pellets out and sew them up. I’m going to need your help. You up for this? “
Allyson looked at him like he was speaking Greek, but nodded and went around to get the seat ready for the patient.
Garen walked over to Kara.
“I need your help getting Bekka into the passenger seat of the Explorer. I hit her with Ketamine. She is stable, extremity damage mostly. We will be doing some surgery when we get to the house. Allyson will be driving the Explorer following you. She is still new at NVGs and driving, so we need to get as close to the house before we have to switch over. Stealth is gone, speed is king but she doesn’t know the trail.”
“Garen, I pulled anything worth scavenging from their bodies. We will talk later about all I found.”
Kara and Garen picked up Bekka, now sleeping, and slid her into the passenger seat of the Explorer and belted her in. Garen added a C-Collar to Bekka, not because he was worried about a spinal injury, but because it would keep her airway open, combined with the nasopharyngeal airway he had put in her nose.
With Kara in the lead, the group rolled out of the clearing, headed for home.
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
Love the details! Thank you.
CCG, I've read most every PAW fiction story out there....several times.
You are spinning a top shelf piece of work.
MOAR.
You are spinning a top shelf piece of work.
MOAR.
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
The ride was tense. As they closed in on the house, Garen rattled a couple of things to Kara that Allyson wasn’t quite following.
“Kara, we will have to use the island. After we get her in, grab the big tan pelican from the workshop downstairs. While you are down there, I need the Wilderness Medicine book set from the bookshelf down there. “
The forest got denser and darker as they got closer to the house. The turns were tighter and tighter until eventually it seemed that Kara was vanishing at every turn. Allyson realize that she probably wouldn’t be able to find the trail they were using in daylight, much less at night. Who the hell are these people? She was doubly worried when she saw a sign indicating they were entering a contaminated soil reclamation zone.
They broke out of the heavy trees onto a concrete road, where Kara immediately goosed the bike to a higher speed. Allyson was more confused now. She thought at first this looked like a subdivision without the houses or people or anything else you would expect to find. She raced to keep up with Kara. They raced around several curves until arriving at a large stone wall whose large doors were opening as Kara was approaching them.
Once inside the wall, Allyson saw the house in the center. Kara rode up the right-hand side where there was an entrance. Kara had parked just beyond it and was racing up the steps.
Garen chimed in over the radio.
“Allyson, spin around and park with the passenger door toward the house. Kara will be back out in a moment. She will help me carry Bekka in since your arm is injured. Leave the keys in the Explorer. Bring your E&E bag and med ruck in. We will get the rest later.”
“Garen, where are we? What is this place?”
“We told you, this is our house.” Garen was hopping out of the Hyena and walking toward the Explorer as he spoke.
Kara came out of the house and up to the Explorer where Allyson was opening the passenger door.
“Hey Garen, the island is ready, there is a casualty blanket on it. Let’s get Bekka in, then I’ll get the case. The kids are in your bedroom, except for Merlin. He’s on the end of the bar waiting.”
Garen and Kara grabbed the handles on the cloth stretcher and pulled Bekka from the SUV. As they slowly made their way up to the door, Allyson was following them.
Once inside the house, Allyson could see where they were headed, and it didn’t make sense. They were taking Bekka to the kitchen and setting her on the island in the middle of the kitchen. She looked toward Garen to ask him about it and was stunned to see a giant fluffy black puma on the corner of the breakfast bar. A second look showed it to be a house cat of unusual size, calmly looking on at all the activity. This must be Merlin that Kara mentioned.
They got Bekka situated on the kitchen island, after which, Kara disappeared for a few. Garen was busy looking over Bekka, checking her vital signs again and adjusting things. He reached overhead and removed the pots from the pot rack, placing them on the wood stove. He then used the hooks to hang Bekka’s IV bags. By this time Kara had returned with a large case which Garen promptly opened and began pulling things out of. Garen then looked at Allyson.
“Allyson, go ahead and start getting her ready for us to go to work. May as well strip her down, we need to get to everything. We will fix the holes in the leg before we remove the tourniquet, then move to the chest.”
Allyson set down her bags and moved to Bekka. She used her rescue hook to flay the clothes from her, sparing only the boots, belt and socks. Everything else was ruined anyway. She unlaced the boots and unbuckled the belt to get them out of the way.
Garen was talking to Kara again.
“Can you do some basic housekeeping stuff? Run the temp up to about 85, move the vehicles to the garage, and feed the kids? We are going to be awhile here.”
“Sure, Garen. How does it look? Oh, and don’t forget your other dose of TXA. “
“Hopefully it is as simple as it looks. Looks like around five holes to flush, debride and sew. She also has several cracked or broken ribs. Those will be a lot more annoying to her than the holes in her leg.”
Garen pulled several items from the case. He and Allyson set up a small portable ventilator and hooked it to a disposable CPAP mask. This puzzled Allyson so she asked.
“I’m using the ventilator so it will support her broken ribs and reduce the pain and discomfort from them, and I’m using the mask instead of intubating her because I don’t want to drug her that far down.”
They pulled a small case with what looked like an iPhone with EKG leads coming out of it and hooked up the leads on Bekka. When Garen turned it on, the EKG began showing a rhythm.
“Alright Allyson, you are playing the part of the anesthesiologist today. Add more pain meds if you see the heartrate go up while I sew, and keep an eye on pulse ox and end tidal CO2. I’ll go fishing for the pellets first, then flush the sites, then sew them up. Any questions before we get started?”
“Not that I can think of yet”
“Well, let us begin”
“Kara, we will have to use the island. After we get her in, grab the big tan pelican from the workshop downstairs. While you are down there, I need the Wilderness Medicine book set from the bookshelf down there. “
The forest got denser and darker as they got closer to the house. The turns were tighter and tighter until eventually it seemed that Kara was vanishing at every turn. Allyson realize that she probably wouldn’t be able to find the trail they were using in daylight, much less at night. Who the hell are these people? She was doubly worried when she saw a sign indicating they were entering a contaminated soil reclamation zone.
They broke out of the heavy trees onto a concrete road, where Kara immediately goosed the bike to a higher speed. Allyson was more confused now. She thought at first this looked like a subdivision without the houses or people or anything else you would expect to find. She raced to keep up with Kara. They raced around several curves until arriving at a large stone wall whose large doors were opening as Kara was approaching them.
Once inside the wall, Allyson saw the house in the center. Kara rode up the right-hand side where there was an entrance. Kara had parked just beyond it and was racing up the steps.
Garen chimed in over the radio.
“Allyson, spin around and park with the passenger door toward the house. Kara will be back out in a moment. She will help me carry Bekka in since your arm is injured. Leave the keys in the Explorer. Bring your E&E bag and med ruck in. We will get the rest later.”
“Garen, where are we? What is this place?”
“We told you, this is our house.” Garen was hopping out of the Hyena and walking toward the Explorer as he spoke.
Kara came out of the house and up to the Explorer where Allyson was opening the passenger door.
“Hey Garen, the island is ready, there is a casualty blanket on it. Let’s get Bekka in, then I’ll get the case. The kids are in your bedroom, except for Merlin. He’s on the end of the bar waiting.”
Garen and Kara grabbed the handles on the cloth stretcher and pulled Bekka from the SUV. As they slowly made their way up to the door, Allyson was following them.
Once inside the house, Allyson could see where they were headed, and it didn’t make sense. They were taking Bekka to the kitchen and setting her on the island in the middle of the kitchen. She looked toward Garen to ask him about it and was stunned to see a giant fluffy black puma on the corner of the breakfast bar. A second look showed it to be a house cat of unusual size, calmly looking on at all the activity. This must be Merlin that Kara mentioned.
They got Bekka situated on the kitchen island, after which, Kara disappeared for a few. Garen was busy looking over Bekka, checking her vital signs again and adjusting things. He reached overhead and removed the pots from the pot rack, placing them on the wood stove. He then used the hooks to hang Bekka’s IV bags. By this time Kara had returned with a large case which Garen promptly opened and began pulling things out of. Garen then looked at Allyson.
“Allyson, go ahead and start getting her ready for us to go to work. May as well strip her down, we need to get to everything. We will fix the holes in the leg before we remove the tourniquet, then move to the chest.”
Allyson set down her bags and moved to Bekka. She used her rescue hook to flay the clothes from her, sparing only the boots, belt and socks. Everything else was ruined anyway. She unlaced the boots and unbuckled the belt to get them out of the way.
Garen was talking to Kara again.
“Can you do some basic housekeeping stuff? Run the temp up to about 85, move the vehicles to the garage, and feed the kids? We are going to be awhile here.”
“Sure, Garen. How does it look? Oh, and don’t forget your other dose of TXA. “
“Hopefully it is as simple as it looks. Looks like around five holes to flush, debride and sew. She also has several cracked or broken ribs. Those will be a lot more annoying to her than the holes in her leg.”
Garen pulled several items from the case. He and Allyson set up a small portable ventilator and hooked it to a disposable CPAP mask. This puzzled Allyson so she asked.
“I’m using the ventilator so it will support her broken ribs and reduce the pain and discomfort from them, and I’m using the mask instead of intubating her because I don’t want to drug her that far down.”
They pulled a small case with what looked like an iPhone with EKG leads coming out of it and hooked up the leads on Bekka. When Garen turned it on, the EKG began showing a rhythm.
“Alright Allyson, you are playing the part of the anesthesiologist today. Add more pain meds if you see the heartrate go up while I sew, and keep an eye on pulse ox and end tidal CO2. I’ll go fishing for the pellets first, then flush the sites, then sew them up. Any questions before we get started?”
“Not that I can think of yet”
“Well, let us begin”
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Garen unrolled a pouch full of surgical tools from the case. Hemostats, tweezers, forceps, scalpels, everything needed for minor surgery was all in one little kit. It, along with the case full of med gear was set up for remote medical care, Garen’s specialty. He had built this kit for a job he did supporting a training mission for the center and just kept it assembled and up to date for some future trips John had planned. He never expected to have to use it in his own house.
“Alyson, let’s go with .5 mg/kg Ketamine loading dose. That will keep her out without being too out.”
“You get to guess her weight, not me.”
“Go with 35mg.”
Garen worked quickly but methodically. He first irrigated the wounds, then went fishing with forceps to retrieve the pellets. Of the five in the upper and lower leg, they got lucky. All were round buckshot, barely deformed. Once they were removed, he then cleaned the wounds, followed by a second irrigation. He then started sewing things together. He dug around in the case for a bit until he found the two different types of sutures he needed. The deep sewing, he used a dissolving type so they would be absorbed. The surface opening, he used a different type he had more of since he could remove them later.
“Allyson, what blood type are you?”
“O positive, why?”
“Great. Kara, vampire time. Grab one of the donor kits from the case and pull a unit from her, and one from yourself, then set me up to syphon one or two from me.”
“Allyson, I’m almost done on the leg. We are going to release the tourniquet soon. It will bleed some, but I think it will hold. We can then work on the chest wound. I just want to get that leg reinfused as soon as possible.”
Allyson looked a bit confused as Kara approached her with the blood draw kit.
“Kara, I didn’t know you were a Paramedic. Why aren’t you up here doing this instead of me? I’m sure you must be better at this.”
“I could be doing it, but you don’t know where anything else is, so you doing this, while I did the other things makes more sense. You wouldn’t have found the case with the med gear, you didn’t have keys for the garage, and the kids would have hidden from you. Now, roll up your sleeve.”
After drawing a unit of blood from her, she left the saline lock in place and then gave her a liter of Ringers Lactate to help with volume replacement. As that flowed into Allyson, Kara dressed her arm and hand wound better.
Meanwhile, Garen slowly released the tourniquet and watched for a while for bleeding. There was minimal bleeding. This he controlled with a dressing. He then moved up to the chest wound. He could feel the pellet just inside the breast tissue. It he was able to manipulate the tissue to squeeze the pellet to the surface and out through the opening. He was then able to irrigate the wound and sew it up. The gouge across the ribs was already clotted. This he cleaned and dressed.
They hung the two units of blood for Bekka. The three of them then cleaned her up as best as they could from the sink. Kara and Garen then carried her to the bed in the master bedroom and tucked her in to rest and recuperate.
Kara took Allyson to the other bedroom across the hall.
“Allyson, I brought your bags in from you Explorer. The bathroom is here, here are the towels, there’s extra hangers in the closet. I hope you aren’t allergic to cats. You might have visitors if you leave the door open.”
“I don’t want to take your bed. Where are you going to sleep? “
“Don’t worry, I will be just across the hall. If you need anything, just give a shout. If you wake up before the rest of us, stay upstairs. Downstairs is cluttered.”
“I don’t know what to say, other than thank you.”
“No problem, get some sleep.”
“Alyson, let’s go with .5 mg/kg Ketamine loading dose. That will keep her out without being too out.”
“You get to guess her weight, not me.”
“Go with 35mg.”
Garen worked quickly but methodically. He first irrigated the wounds, then went fishing with forceps to retrieve the pellets. Of the five in the upper and lower leg, they got lucky. All were round buckshot, barely deformed. Once they were removed, he then cleaned the wounds, followed by a second irrigation. He then started sewing things together. He dug around in the case for a bit until he found the two different types of sutures he needed. The deep sewing, he used a dissolving type so they would be absorbed. The surface opening, he used a different type he had more of since he could remove them later.
“Allyson, what blood type are you?”
“O positive, why?”
“Great. Kara, vampire time. Grab one of the donor kits from the case and pull a unit from her, and one from yourself, then set me up to syphon one or two from me.”
“Allyson, I’m almost done on the leg. We are going to release the tourniquet soon. It will bleed some, but I think it will hold. We can then work on the chest wound. I just want to get that leg reinfused as soon as possible.”
Allyson looked a bit confused as Kara approached her with the blood draw kit.
“Kara, I didn’t know you were a Paramedic. Why aren’t you up here doing this instead of me? I’m sure you must be better at this.”
“I could be doing it, but you don’t know where anything else is, so you doing this, while I did the other things makes more sense. You wouldn’t have found the case with the med gear, you didn’t have keys for the garage, and the kids would have hidden from you. Now, roll up your sleeve.”
After drawing a unit of blood from her, she left the saline lock in place and then gave her a liter of Ringers Lactate to help with volume replacement. As that flowed into Allyson, Kara dressed her arm and hand wound better.
Meanwhile, Garen slowly released the tourniquet and watched for a while for bleeding. There was minimal bleeding. This he controlled with a dressing. He then moved up to the chest wound. He could feel the pellet just inside the breast tissue. It he was able to manipulate the tissue to squeeze the pellet to the surface and out through the opening. He was then able to irrigate the wound and sew it up. The gouge across the ribs was already clotted. This he cleaned and dressed.
They hung the two units of blood for Bekka. The three of them then cleaned her up as best as they could from the sink. Kara and Garen then carried her to the bed in the master bedroom and tucked her in to rest and recuperate.
Kara took Allyson to the other bedroom across the hall.
“Allyson, I brought your bags in from you Explorer. The bathroom is here, here are the towels, there’s extra hangers in the closet. I hope you aren’t allergic to cats. You might have visitors if you leave the door open.”
“I don’t want to take your bed. Where are you going to sleep? “
“Don’t worry, I will be just across the hall. If you need anything, just give a shout. If you wake up before the rest of us, stay upstairs. Downstairs is cluttered.”
“I don’t know what to say, other than thank you.”
“No problem, get some sleep.”
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
Allyson was worn out. The events of the past several days had taxed her reserves, her nerves, and her grasp on reality. She had a hard time reconciling where she was now with the past five days. She was showering in a wonderfully luxurious multi-head tile-floored glass block shower that was larger than the entire bathroom in her first apartment. There was no door or curtain to the shower either. Instead, the shower was shaped like a nautilus shell. The rest of the bathroom was just as impressive. A copper Japanese soaking tub matched the hammered copper sink and all of the wood work, while simple, was either teak or mahogany. This opulence continued in the bedroom itself.
The bedroom had a full-size walk-in closet with all the shelves and racks made of cedar. The floor was hand scraped hard wood, and obviously heated, she could feel the heat on her feet. There was also a fireplace, well used but clean, complete with a stack of firewood. The bed was in a simple wood frame with four low posts and a plain headboard. An old school leather chase lounge was nestled in the window nook. A television was mounted on the wall over a dresser against the wall at the end of the bed between two full to overflowing bookcases. Her bags from the Explorer were resting on the copper and leather trunk at the foot of the bed.
The more Allyson looked around the room, the more confused she became. This would be a phenomenal master suite in just about anyone’s house, yet this was the guest room? She looked around some more. The books were an eclectic mix of everything. Medieval heraldry sat on the shelf next to the history of the guitar and a full set of Dr. Seuss. Who in the world were these guys?
She decided she was far too tired to make sense of anything. Tomorrow was another day. Maybe she could understand things better after some sleep. She crawled into one of the most comfortable beds she had ever been in, pulled the puffy down comforter up and almost instantly dropped off to sleep.
The bedroom had a full-size walk-in closet with all the shelves and racks made of cedar. The floor was hand scraped hard wood, and obviously heated, she could feel the heat on her feet. There was also a fireplace, well used but clean, complete with a stack of firewood. The bed was in a simple wood frame with four low posts and a plain headboard. An old school leather chase lounge was nestled in the window nook. A television was mounted on the wall over a dresser against the wall at the end of the bed between two full to overflowing bookcases. Her bags from the Explorer were resting on the copper and leather trunk at the foot of the bed.
The more Allyson looked around the room, the more confused she became. This would be a phenomenal master suite in just about anyone’s house, yet this was the guest room? She looked around some more. The books were an eclectic mix of everything. Medieval heraldry sat on the shelf next to the history of the guitar and a full set of Dr. Seuss. Who in the world were these guys?
She decided she was far too tired to make sense of anything. Tomorrow was another day. Maybe she could understand things better after some sleep. She crawled into one of the most comfortable beds she had ever been in, pulled the puffy down comforter up and almost instantly dropped off to sleep.
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ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
A simple 3-lead portable ECG the size of a paperback book can be had off of amazon for $140-200. With the right training, a three lead can be used to get a full 12 lead type of diagnostic picture
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
She decided she was far too tired to make sense of anything. Tomorrow was another day. Maybe she could understand things better after some sleep. She crawled into one of the most comfortable beds she had ever been in, pulled the puffy down comforter up and almost instantly dropped off to sleep.
Yep, into bed with all her clothes and shoes on....
Texican....
ComCamGuy
Remote Paramedical pain in the ass
After the shower (see edit, autocorrect replaced poorly spelled showering with standing), she had to get the blood and coffee energy drink off of her, as well as the layers of dust from the drive through the forest.