Lakeside Call

It was nearing the end of February and the air outside the firehouse was bitterly cold.

Casey was sitting in his quarters doing some paperwork and drinking his second cup of coffee of the morning. Shay and Dawson had just returned from a call. Otis and Cruz were attempting to teach Pouch to roll over. Herrmann and Mouch were watching the Discovery channel and Mills was preparing the Sunday roast. Squad 3 were out on a call.

"Ambo 61, Truck 81; RTC lakeside embankment," the overhead speaker announced as the alarms went off.

Truck 81 and Ambulance 61 arrived on the scene to discover a small truck precariously hanging over the edge of the lake embankment at a ninety degree angle. It was only held in place by the trailer it had been towing, another vehicle was lying on its side nearby, the victim inside was calling for help.

"Cruz, Otis, Mouch; get a line on that truck. Herrmann, Mills; check the car," Casey ordered as he approached the trailer. At the edge of the embankment he glanced down to discover two unconscious people sat still in the truck. "Main this is 81, we're going to need a second ambo and a squad team," he called into his radio.

"Copy that 81," main replied.

"Cruz is that truck secure?" he called out.

"Yes Lieutenant!" Cruz called back. He, Mouch and Otis had secured the truck to 81 but it was too far over the edge of the cement embankment to pull it back up. They needed to get the two victims out.

"Main, what's Squads ETA?" he called into his radio.

"Squad 3 is eight minutes out," main replied.

"Damnit..." Casey muttered to himself. They needed to get the two victims out and there was no time to wait for Squad, they could all hear the truck groaning under the stress of being held up in place

"Casey?" Boden had just turned up and stepped out of the battalion car.

"We can't wait for Squad. need to do a rope rescue, two victims in the truck, one in the car," Casey explained whilst preparing to enter the back of the truck to secure the two victims.

Dawson and Shay were sitting with the victim that Herrmann and Mills had pulled out the car. He had a mild concussion and was refusing treatment.

Having retrieved the victim out of the car Herrmann and Otis joined the others and prepared for the rope rescue. They smashed through the back windscreen to give their lieutenant an entry point to the victims. Casey was lowered down into the back seat of the truck, he secured the first victim, a child, she was unconscious, bleeding heavily from a gash on her head but she was breathing.

The child was lifted carefully out of the vehicle and Casey remained inside, he asked for more slack in the line before he moved further down into the front of the truck. As he moved the truck groaned, he stopped immediately waiting with bated breath for the groaning to end before continued to reach the next victim. But just as he was an inch away he was stopped. The rope had no more slack, he called up for more but none came, he realised that the rope must be stuck on something.

"Line's caught!" he called up as he moved the rope from side to side in an attempt to free it so he could reach the next victim; little did he know it was becoming more and more frayed as it rubbed against a small piece of torn metal on the mangled trailer.

Boden observed Truck 81 work. The first victim was taken straight to Lakeshore by Shay and Dawson. Casey was still inside the truck when the vehicle groaned. Boden saw that the trucks bumper, where was it secured to 81, was becoming looser and looser. Herrmann and Mouch were quickly looking to locate where Casey's line had become caught when Boden yelled, "Casey out now! Get out!"

The truck dropped a few inches closer to the water as the bumper bent. Simultaneously Casey's line gave way and dropped into the truck with him as he fell to the front of the vehicle, he landed on the front of the dashboard forcing the truck to creak and groan. Casey had expected the truck crash into the water below right then but it didn't.

Other than the sound of the groaning and straining truck the area seemed deathly silent for a few moments before all of a sudden the bumper snapped, plummeting the truck into the icy water below with Casey and the victim inside.

Casey was plunged into the lake water. His body went into shock as soon as it hit the water, the cold was as painful as thousand knives piercing his body; he couldn't think, he knew nothing except pain. He hadn't held his breath as the truck fell and he gasped in pain as he entered the lake letting the water enter his airway. He was choking. It didn't take long to lose consciousness.

Severide and Capp were changing into their scuba gear in the back of the squad rig. Boden had radioed asking for an immediate underwater rescue.

Squad 3 arrived on scene and they jumped into action.

"What have we got?" Severide asked.

"One victim and Casey are trapped in the truck," Boden said indicating the bumbling water that appeared at the surface of the lake above the drowned truck.

'Oh God,' Severide thought, he knew how unlikely survival was in a situation like this. Severide bellowed our orders before he and Capp went down a set of ladders and entered the water attached to safety lines.

After what seemed like an eternity Severide came to the surface with Casey who was deathly pale and unconscious. Moments later as Severide brought Casey up the ladder and onto the embankment, Capp returned to the surface holding the victim and shaking his head negatively.

"He has a pulse. He's not breathing," Severide stated, not worried about hiding his panic. 'Where's the damn ambo?!' he thought as he tore open Casey's turnout jacket, brushing his hand as he did so, Casey was ice cold, he had been in the water long enough to become hypothermic.

Severide tilted Casey's head back, pinched his nose and breathed into his mouth providing essential oxygen to his deprived body before he began chest compressions. One minute later he gave another two rescue breaths. Casey was still not breathing. Severide checked his pulse was still beating before continuing. Now he could hear the sound of the ambulance sirens.

One, two, three… he felt a rib crack… four, five… twenty-nine, thirty.

The ambulance arrived as he gave two more rescue breaths. He repeated the compressions.

One, two… another rib cracked… three, four… twenty-nine, thirty.

The paramedics were by his side as he continued with the rescue breaths.

"Come on Casey!" he yelled as he began compressions again. On the thirteenth compression he felt Casey's sternum crack but he kept going as the paramedics prepared to intubate.

Casey's body jolted suddenly and there was a cough and a splutter as the water escaped his lungs. Severide breathed sigh of relief now that Casey was breathing again, but he knew that wasn't the end of the matter. He had lost track of time and didn't know how long his friend had been oxygen deprived. One paramedic rubbed his sternum trying to rouse him whilst the other join Severide in taking off his icy cold turnout gear.

When he was loaded into the back of the ambulance on the gurney Casey was wrapped in blankets. He had ECG electrodes placed on his chest recording the electrical activity of his heart and a pulse-oximeter was clipped to his finger. He was semi-conscious but not alert. As his body warmed under the blankets it began to shake.

Severide watched with worry as the ambulance sped off with his friend inside. Squad and Truck packed up and along with their chief made their way to Lakeshore hospital.

The doctor walked up to the members of House 51 and announced, "He's going to be ok, there's no permanent damage. He has a mild case of hyperthermia, a couple of cracked ribs and a fractured sternum."

Severide felt instantly guilty for doing that to Casey but at least he was alive.

Casey slowly opened his eyes to find Severide sitting in his room. He already felt much better than his first visit to the conscious world. The doctor had spoken to him earlier on in the day and explained his injuries. The fractured sternum could take up to three months to fully recover, a prospect he was not looking forward to.

"Hey bud, you really scared me back there," Severide spoke softly.

"Sorry," he mumbled. The pain medication he was on made the world seem slow and foggy.

"No," Severide began, "I'm sorry I broke your ribs…"

"Better than dead," Casey replied quietly.

"I brought movies," Severide smiled.

Severide put a DVD in the player under the TV on the wall and stayed with Casey during the visiting hours. He protested when he was told to leave but at least when he did Casey was asleep and pain free. And alive, because he didn't know what he'd do without him.

The End