The call went out for a man down, a cliff rescue. When station 51 arrived they were confronted with a distraught teenager, hands waving frantically towards the edge of a cliff. He said his friend was standing by the edge of the cliff taking a photo, and then, without warning, was gone. He told them how the ground just crumbled away from beneath his friend's feet.
"Where exactly did this happen?" asked Captain Stanley. His paramedics were standing next to him listening to the teenager's story, and scanning the cliff's edge looking for the tell tail signs of the fall.
"Right there." He pointed to an area that looked soft and very unstable. The sandy earth was still sending small granules over its edge to an unknown resting place.
Johnny was the first to react, and jogged to the right side of the area, putting on his gloves as he looked for solid ground. When he was no more than a six feet from the edge he got down on his stomach and crawled carefully to the edge to look over. He could see the teenager about twenty feet down lying on a small ledge.
"He's about twenty feet down on a ledge and he's moving his arm...STAY STILL WE'RE COMING TO GET YOU." Johnny yelled to the injured teenager. Once satisfied that he had heard him, he crawled back a few feet before getting to his feet.
"How does it look?" Roy asked his partner as he too put on his gloves in preparation for their climb. Johnny marched up to join his partner, brushing away small rocks and dirt from his chest.
"Slope's real unstable. Lot of loose rocks and sand. The ledge he's on looks pretty solid." Johnny told his Cap and partner.
"Ok, we stay back and keep in touch with HTs. We'll tie off on the engine." Cap told his crew. Johnny and Roy put their belts on and pulled out the stokes for the engine crew to send down once they were on the ledge. Roy handed Johnny a HT, which he placed over his wrist. Mike tied the ropes to the engine while Johnny and Roy tied the other end to their belts. With practised ease each member performed their duties silently and efficiently.
"Now I want you to take it nice and slow." Cap informed his paramedics. Mike tied a third rope to the engine in preparation for the stokes.
Johnny and Roy went through their checks, nodded to each other and made their way to the edge of the cliff. They could both feel the ground giving way from under their feet as they positioned themselves about ten feet to the right of the fallen teenager. They hoped he wouldn't be showered with rocks and dirt as they made their way down. Neither paramedic saw the piece of sharp metal protruding from the ground. Roy's feet had missed it by only inches and as his feet slid past it, more of it was exposed as the ground gave way. Both paramedics were finding it hard going as neither could get a strong foothold on the loose slope.
When they were level with the fallen teenager Johnny spoke into his HT. "Cap we're level. I'm going to swing across first." He let the Ht swing on his wrist and heard Cap's voice say 10-4.
Johnny positioned himself as best he could and started to swing across. He made it without too much trouble. He immediately reached for the teenager to feel for a pulse. It was strong but a little too fast for Johnny's liking. He looked up to see Roy swing across next to him.
"He's got a strong pulse. Looks like both his legs are broken, left is a compound fracture." Johnny was about to check the teenager's hip when suddenly Roy started to drop from the ledge. It was by pure instinct that Johnny reached for Roy's rope as it started to fall past him. Once one of his hands had the rope, his other hand then took hold. It took all his strength to keep a hold. Some of the rope slipped through his hands but he finally got a stronger grip and was able to coil it around his wrists to ensure his grasp. Roy had dropped about ten feet.
"ROOY can you pull yourself up to the ledge?" Johnny yelled to his partner, grimacing at the strain of his shoulders and arms. What seemed like minutes, but was only seconds Johnny finally felt movement on the end of the rope, only to feel it stop and swing slightly.
Johnny's HT came to life. "Engine 51 to HT 51…hang on John we're throwing down another line for Roy to tie off on." Instructed Cap.
Johnny felt the rope fall over his shoulder and watched it move and go taught with unseeing life. He waited patiently; his shoulders and arms screaming at him as they were pushed to their limits. The rope he was holding at last went limp. Johnny sighed with relief and waited for his partner to finally climb back up onto the ledge.
"You alright?" Johnny asked with concern as he pursued over his partner for injuries.
"My knee is wrenched and my eye has a lot of dirt in it." Roy answered breathlessly. He could taste the remnants of fear in his mouth.
"Engine 51 to Ht 51, are you guys alright?" Asked the voice of an anxious Cap.
"We're alright Cap. Send down the stokes." Johnny instructed, wanting to escape the ledge and what it epitomized. Both Johnny and Roy were a little shaky and tried to calm their breathing by concentrating on the victim. Knowing they still had the climb back up they worked quickly and expertly. When the teenager was secured in the stokes, the paramedics steadied themselves for the climb.
Johnny spoke into his HT. "Take us up Cap." He ignored protocol; he just wanted to get back onto solid ground. The upper part of his body protested at its use. His fatigued muscles trembled slightly. He could only imagine how hard the climb was for his partner with a wrenched knee and one good eye. The heavy burden of his body took all his attention as he ensured the stokes moved as smoothly as possible upwards.
The climb took much longer than the descent, as the ground was more unstable on this part of the slope. The added complication of bringing up the stokes didn't help as it dislodged chunks of earth, sending them hurtling to the mounting terrain below. Both paramedics' legs were shaking with exhaustion. Roy was grunting continuously for the last few feet as his knee protested. When they finally reached the top they both crawled with the stokes to get themselves as far away from the edge as possible.
Johnny unhooked himself and helped Roy as Chet and Marco took charge of the stokes and laid it down next to the squad. Mike and Cap were getting the equipment out for their paramedics as Johnny sat Roy down and told him to man the biophone. Cap placed it in front of him and knelt down next to Roy and asked him if he was ok. Roy reservedly told him about his knee and eye.
"What happened?" Roy asked.
Chet walked over looking at the end of the rope. "Looks like it got cut on something." Chet replied as he ran his finger over the edge of the rope "Then it just snapped." He finished as his fingers caressed the last frayed jagged edges.
Johnny looked up at Chet and eyed the end of the rope. "Roy…pulse is 140, respiration is 15, BP 100 over 60." Johnny continued to check the teenager's body. "Right leg ankle fractured, left leg has a compound fracture of the thigh bone, two broken ribs four and five on right side. His lungs are clear and his pupils are equal but a bit sluggish. Looks like he hit his head, there's a bump just over his left temple."
Mike laid the splints next to Johnny "Thanks Mike...Marco can you set up an IV for me?" Johnny proceeded to splint both legs. Roy contacted Rampart with the vitals and relayed instructions to Johnny.
"Chet can you get vitals on Roy?...Marco can you rinse Roy's eye and then put a patch on it?" Roy started to shake his head but suddenly felt the heavy weight of a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen to your partner and let him do his job pal." Cap instructed his senior paramedic.
Roy frowned and sighed allowing his two crew members to carry out their instructions. Johnny took over the biophone. "Rampart we have a second victim…a code I, male, twenty-nine years old, fell about ten feet when his lifeline broke. His vitals are…BP 130 over 80, pulse 130 and respiration 25. He has a wrenched left knee and has debris in his right eye which we have rinsed and patched. I'm about to splint the knee." Johnny grabbed a splint and listened to the instructions. "Marco set up another IV for me…Chet we need the backboard." Johnny splinted Roy's knee and administered the IV on his partner. It felt foreign and discomforting to be administering procedures on his partner and best friend.
With the help of Mike and Chet the teenager was put on a backboard because of his broken ribs and then placed on the gurney. Cap and Marco carried Roy to the ambulance and sat him in a chair behind the front panel. The four crewmen let out deep breaths and looked at each other. All were thinking the same thing; they had come very close to losing one of their paramedics if it wasn't for the quick reflexes of the other. Johnny hadn't had time to think about how close he had come to losing his partner but there would be time to reflect later and Cap knew he would be needed when that time came.
So, it was the Captain who drove the squad to Rampart to pick up Johnny and make arrangements for a replacement.