Ocasionally, as an EMT on a medicycle I get some rather interesting calls. We're having a spot of storms around here at the moment and against better judgement I cycle in the rain. Today I was faced with a precarious situation: I responded to a call regarding a pair of people stuck in an elevator at a building's parking level (There were multiple incidents of this type due to the weather, one made national news). I am met by a mother and her 8 year old son who have informed me that the parking level has been flooded and the lift is taking on water. While waiting for fire and rescue services to arrive I was able to assist the 8 year old out of the elevator as he was small enough to get through the top hatch. The mother unfortunately drowned before rescue services could get her out and together with the responding ambulance I performed CPR with the ACLS equipment of our intensive care ambulance.
I must say that as a medicycle immediate response medic I don't normally learn the outcomes of my actions, but I was just informed that the mother is currently in recovery at the local hospital. I'm not a man of god but I think I certainly do believe in miracles. I don't often share these stories but I wanted to post this today to make it known to people that knowing CPR is critical and could mean the difference between life and death, especially in adverse weather conditions.
