Chapter 1
A Day in the Life
Earlier that morning
"Everything is going to be okay Kayda!" a teacher reassured a five year old girl who was in a dire situation. Roughly five minutes ago when out on the playground her ability to draw breath was suddenly subdued. They brought her to one of the tables and had her sit down in hopes that some rest would quell her dyspnea.
Another caretaker at the preschool was rummaging through the girl's backpack and yelled, "I found it!" while holding up an asthma inhaler.
"Quick Aiko bring it here!"
She delivered it hastily to the suffering girl who inhaled it with a labored draw.
"Did that help?" asked the teacher of Kayda who only gasped and wheezed while shaking her head in a panic.
"Oh my God her lips are turning blue, what are we going to do?" shrieked Aiko.
The Janitor called out, "Ambulance is on it's way!"
"Ok, did you get ahold of her parents?"
"Yeah, Mom will be here soon."
Kayda started coughing harder and showing signs of fatigue \.
"Should we give her more?" asked Aiko concerning the inhaler.
"I don't know is it possible to overdose on that stuff?"
"I'm not sure."
Tears were coming down the girl's eyes while the other children watched with curiosity and nervousness. Things were taking an even worse turn when she stuck her swollen tongue out.
"She's getting worse!"
That's when the faint sound of sirens could be heard echoing off in the distance bringing some relief to the stressed out adults.
"I can hear them coming!" gasped the teacher.
Soon after, a set of flashing lights came down the road and parked just outside the entrance of the schoolyard gate. Three men, ranging in age and experience, disembarked, pulled out the stretcher and walked to where the huddling masses could be seen.
Aiko ran up to them while going off hysterically, "Thank God you're here! She's having some kind of asthma attack and it's the worst it's ever been! Nothing we've done is helping! She can't breathe!"
The one in the lead, an older, well seasoned individual with a shaved head and mustache inquired, "Were is she?"
"Just over there, please you must do something!"
She began crowding them in by which medic requested, "Ma'am stay calm, give us some room and let us take over."
The Janitor got between them and herded Aiko off while the teacher, being calm yet agitated said, "I've got her here. I'm not sure what it is."
The medic took a knee and introduced himself, "Hi there little one, my name is Hiro, can you tell me what's going on?"
The girl sputtered, "Can't…Breathe…!"
"Ok stay calm, we're going to do everything we can to fix that." he reassured.
One of the other medics was getting the monitor hooked up to obtain her vitals while Hiro auscultated her lung sounds with his stethoscope. Wheezing in the lower quadrants, swollen tongue and flushed skin; this was no asthma attack.
The one working the monitor read off the vitals, "Blood Pressure is 64 over 58, pulse is 158 and she's sating at 84%."
"Tensin,' addressed Hiro, 'open the drug bag, get me the Epi 1 to 1 and Diphenhydramine."
"You think it's anaphylaxis?" responded Tensin who figured the diagnosis as well.
"Yeah,' then seeing the other one standing there doing nothing, gave instruction while a bit annoyed, 'Hey Sitoshi, can you get her on oxygen while I get the Epi shot ready?"
The young man went to the girl with a portable oxygen tank, hooked it up to a pediatric sized non rebreather then asked, "How many liters?"
"Fifteen." said Tensin.
He opened up the O2 regulator allowing supplemental oxygen to be administered to the suffocating girl. Hiro filled a syringe with epinephrine, pushed some out to rid the solution of any air bubbles, held onto Kayda's leg and said, "Ok there's gonna be a quick pinch but this will help."
The needle stuck into her medial thigh and injected. She winced a little, being too weak to make a grander complaint, but in a moments time her wheezing stopped, the swelling went down, the color to her face and lips returned and the girl, though frightened, was drawing in breath again!
She began crying and the teacher held her for comfort while Tensin handed Sitoshi a bag of saline that was hooked up to a drip set and coached, "Just hold this up like so while I get the needle in."
"No more shots!" whined Kayda when seeing him prepare a 24g needle. Tensin, though not particularly good with children, said, "Hold still this is to help you feel better."
He tied the brachial artery off with a rubber band and had her pump her fist a few times. Upon finding a vein he sent the needle in, got flash and advanced the catheter. Hooking it up to the drip set he handed it off to Hiro who had a dosage of Diphenhydramine ready for IV administration.
The teacher, while watching, asked, "So what are you doing now?"
Hiro explained, "So what you just saw here wasn't an asthma attack, it was a severe allergic reaction."
"Oh god…' sighed the teacher, 'is she going to be alright?"
"That's what were working for,' responded Hiro, 'we gave her a shot of epinephrine which helped open up her airway, and this is Benadryl to help keep her from relapsing."
After pushing it through, he looked to Sitoshi, who was again standing idle and told him, "Hey can you get me her vitals again?"
He bent over and had the monitor re run it's diagnostics on their patient, while Hiro asked, "When was the last time she ate?"
"We got done with lunch about five minutes ago."
"What did she have?"
Rolling her eyes to recollect, the teacher answered, "Long noodles and vegetables I think. Her tray is over there."
Tensin took a look and reported, "Smells like it was cooked in some kind of nut oil."
"Is she allergic to nuts?" asked Hiro of the teacher.
"Not that I know of," she said while stroking the girl's hair then noticed an anomaly on the back of her neck, "Kayda, did you get stung by a bee?"
"Hmm, hmm." she whimpered.
Hiro took a look, and saw a a swollen bump on the back of her neck and scrapped the stinger out with a credit card.
"Are her parents on the way?"
"Yes her Mom should be here soon."
As soon as it was spoken a car pulled in with it's driver fleeing from the door without even turning the engine off. Despite the situation being put back under control it was a mother's job to worry especially at the sight of an ambulance and her little one wearing a non rebreather. Coming in and hugging her child she consoled her and asked of the medics, "What happened?"
"It was an allergic reaction." said Tensin.
"But Kayda doesn't have any allergies."
"Has she been stung by a bee before?"
"Not that I know of."
"Nut allergy?"
"I don't think so."
Hiro then took charge, "Ma'am she's still at an age where a food allergy can develop and she's never been stung before. I think we should take her to the hospital to make sure she's in the clear and to possibly have some blood work done to be sure."
"Yeah, let's do that."
"What hospital do you want to take her to?"
"Minato regional."
They helped Kayda and her mother climb into the back and let her sit in her mother's lap with Hiro and Sitoshi, Tensin got into the driver's seat and said over his radio, "Dispatch this is unit 1076, we're en route to Minato regional."
Kayda was nervous as any child and adult would be, but couldn't help but be enthralled with experience she was having. During this time when Hiro was filling out his patient care report the mother was asking him questions.
"So the teachers told me it was an asthma attack. What's the difference?"
Looking up from his tablet he answered, "Her tongue and upper airway were swollen, asthma normally doesn't present with that."
"No I mean, what causes the two?"
Laughing Hiro said, "Oh sorry, asthma is when your bronchial tubes constrict via spasms and such."
"And allergies?"
"An allergic reaction is caused when your immune system over responds to a substance by producing too much histamine. Causing hands, throat and tongue to swell, sometimes people will break out into hives, it all depends on their reaction level. In Kayda's case, her throat was swelling up which is why her inhaler didn't work, because albuterol dilates the bronchioles not the throat."
"So what did you give her to reverse it?"
"Epinephrine and then Benadryl."
"Why both?"
"So Epi is just adrenaline which we'll use when they're having a really hard time breathing. Basically you're counteracting the immune system with the nervous system. Adrenaline however wears off in time and if the histamine is still in her system she'll just go back into anaphylactic shock. Benadryl is a histamine blocker but takes longer to take effect."
"So you used Epi to open the airway immediately then Benadryl to be sure she wouldn't swell up again?"
"More or less."
"Wow you guys are smart. How long have you been doing this?"
Continuing to fill out the report Hiro said, "About forty years, in fact this is my last shift, I'm retiring."
"That's amazing!' then to Sitoshi who was monitoring Kayda's vitals, she asked, "How about you?"
Bashfully the young man said, "This is actually my first shift as a medic."
"So you're like brand, brand new?"
"Yeah."
Expressing her gratitudes she replied, "Well regardless, thank you guys so much for taking care of our little one."
"Think nothing of it,' said Hiro, 'it's what we're here for."
He then took his phone and auto dialed the hospital they were taking them to, "Hey this is Ambulance 1076 from Isha medical, we're coming in with a five year old female patient suffering from anaphylactic shock. We gave her epinephrine and Diphenhydramine and on fifteen mml of oxygen, her blood pressure is 88 over 52, pulse is 112, respiratory rate approximately 34 breathes a minute while sating at 98%. Patient has a history of asthma and is on an inhaler, her mother is with us and currently is unaware of any allergies. She did have food with nuts in it and was stung by a bee, both instances about five minutes before the onset. She appears to be stable, we'll call if anything changes. ETA about five minutes."
"Thank you I'll let them know and we'll have a room ready for her when you get here."
Unit 76 pulled into the ambulance zone just a few moments before Hiro's estimate at Minato regional, they allowed Kayda's mother to carry her in. One of the nurses from behind the desk looked up and asked, "Is this your allergic reaction?"
Hiro answered, "Yes, were will you have us take her?"
"We have room 207 ready on the west wing."
Kayda was carried in and placed on the bed to where the nurses began putting her on their monitors. Hiro was handed the face sheet with the call information on it. While he began looking it over the doctor walked in.
"Well who do we have here?" he introduced with kindly charm.
"This is Kayda she had a bit of an allergic reaction at school today."
"Oh no that's no fun is it?"
The little girl nodded as Hiro turned to one of his cohorts and instructed, "Tensin go ahead and hand off the report, Sitoshi come with me."
The two went out as Tensin filled the staff in on all the details. Hiro grabbed a clean set of linens for their stretcher but this was not the primary reason for pulling Sitoshi out in private.
Once secluded he turned to face him, "Okay let's talk about that call."
Sitoshi nodded nervously, "Sure…"
"I know it's your first shift and all, but I can't have you just sitting around waiting for me or Tensin to tell you to do something when the patient needs help."
"I just…"
Taking a deep breath Hiro spoke a little kinder but with authority, "I know it's scary, especially when you have a little kid who can't breathe. I understand that deer in the headlights feeling and I don't expect you to know everything right off the bat. However I do expect you to try."
"I just don't want to screw it up."
"You're not going to screw up, me and Tensin won't let you. We're here to help you succeed but we can't do that if you don't take initiative. For instance, when you have a patient who can't breathe, getting them on oxygen should be a given. Next time don't just sit and wait, see what we're doing, see something that could be done within your scope and do it."
"Okay, I'll do better next time."
Hiro shook his hand and smiled, "Sounds good, don't take it too hard, learn from this and improve. There will be more calls in the future so let's keep at it."
The patient care report was handed off and they joined Tensin in the break room were medics could sit, have a snack and reflect before another call came in. The television was going while Hiro and Tensin were swapping stories and having a good laugh with Sitoshi chuckling as well. After ten minutes of rumination they decided to return back to the station.
As they got to the unit their radio buzzed, "Unit 76 what's your location?"
Tensin answered, "Minato regional."
"Good stay there."
They paused a moment then confirmed, "Copy that, posting at Minato regional."
"What's going on?" asked Sitoshi.
"We know about as much as you do." replied Tensin.
They got out and waited near the front door, when another unit from their station arrived and were greeted by another crew.
"Itzuki, what's going on?" asked Tensin.
"You didn't hear?"
"No dispatch just told us to wait here."
"They're evacuating Minato Murai."
"Whoa shit, for real."
"Yeah, they're calling in other ambulances to transfer patients to hospitals outside of the region."
Hiro interjected, "Whose evacuating and for why?"
"I know about as much as you, however we saw some military vehicles on the outskirts on the way over here."
Just then a nurse approached them and asked aloud, "Is there anyone here who is ELST certified?"
Hiro raised his hand in which she responded, "Oh good can you guys come with me?"
They pushed their stretcher along and followed her who informed, "So you may have heard we're evacuating Minato Murai and we have to move all our patients to another hospital. We have a ninety two year old male, terminal with malignant cancer, his family has decided that they'd like him to finish out the remainder of his life at home. He needs to be on life support and you're the only ones here right now qualified to move him."
They were brought into a room where a senile and decrepit elderly man lay on life support appearing only inches from death's door. Sitoshi looked upon him with that harrowing reminder to his own mortality. They moved him over to their stretcher, hooked him up to their monitor and vent circuit while the nurse fetched the address and other details regarding his care. The old man did not open his eyes, he only wheezed with frail indignation and awaited his final moment to come.
The nurse returned with a folder and handed it to Hiro who looked it over as the other two wheeled the patient to their unit. Giving a sharp whistle he told Tensin, "We have a long day ahead of us."
"Why's that?"
"Looks like it's out in Saitama."
"I'll let dispatch know we're on an LDT then." (Long Distance Travel.)
They got him loaded into the back and Hiro was instructing Sitoshi on the process of a transport.
"So get his vitals and write down what they are before we leave, we'll check them every fifteen minutes then one final time before we drop him off."
While Sitoshi was doing that, Tensin was coordinating with dispatch on their destination and which routes they should take. Despite the commotion causing many of the main roads to become congested with civilian traffic there were roads reserved specifically for emergency vehicles and military personnel.
Hiro began flipping through the file then sighed, "I wish the nurse would have told us this…"
"What is it?" asked Sitoshi.
"He has a valid DNR issued by his family." (Do Not Resuscitate)
"So if he codes, we don't do anything?"
"Except record and report and strictly provide supportive care." said Hiro who then pulled out the EKG's and put the patient on a 12 lead then issued a command on the monitor to print out the electro cardiogram and gave it a look over.
"Judging by these sinus rhythms, he just might code on the way to Saitama." Their bodies lurched as 76 began pulling out. When they were on a main road heading north Tensin called back, "Hey you guys should look out the driver's side."
They peered out the port and saw a series of tanks and jeeps driving past them. They both looked up and saw a formation of jets flying overhead.
"Whatever's going on, it must be serious." commented Hiro.
When on the highway the elderly man opened his eyes and began looking around. He motioned for Sitoshi to come closer so he could tell him something.
The new hire leaned in and put his ear to his mouth while Hiro watched and monitored his vitals. Sitoshi then nodded and, "Yes you are welcome."
"What did he want?"
"To thank us for all the good work that we do."
The senile began speaking once more and Sitoshi listened.
"Really, I'm so sorry to hear that. Is that how you got cancer?"
He looked to Hiro and informed, "He said that he was exposed to radiation as a young man and he had been in and out for cancer most of his life, this time his family decided to call it because he's too weak for chemotherapy."
"Ask him what happened?"
The old man whispered and Sitoshi's demeanor changed entirely, "It happened August of 1945…when he was living in Nagasaki as a boy."
Hiro let out a respectful sigh, "The manhattan project?"
"He won't say but I can't think of anyone anywhere else at that time being exposed to radiation."
The rest of the drive was uneventful, Sitoshi would retake vitals every fifteen minutes. He'd have a talk with the old man when he was awake about things inconsequential. And when he slept he would talk with Hiro to further his effectiveness. Dusk had already settled by the time they dropped him off to his family in Saitama. They were extremely grateful and offered tips in exchange for their service, but Hiro declined them, saying it was a pleasure in and of itself.
They stopped by a gas station for fuel then hit a fast food restaurant for a quick bite to eat before heading back to operations. It was a long drive back and before long, Sitoshi was asleep on the bench while Hiro rode in the passenger seat with Tensin. It was eerily calm as the two watched a stable horizon overlaying a base of zipping asphalt while lightly bouncing here and there.
Hiro was texting his wife and eagerly awaiting a response on his phone and when he got one Tensin asked, "Is that Nana?"
"Yeah, I wanted to make sure her and the girls got out okay. I wonder how this evacuation is going to affect my brother's flight."
"He's flying out?"
Snickering he replied, "Yeah, I actually wasn't supposed to know what they were doing for my retirement party. The girls wanted to surprise me but when they coordinated it they accidentally added me in the group text."
"Oh geez.' laughed the driver, who, overcome by melancholy said, 'I should check up on Kimiko, make sure her and the kids are alright."
"I figured after she won full custody you wouldn't want to speak to her ever again."
Sighing a reprieved nod, Tensin said, "Look, I'm not that heartless."
"Not that faithful either." replied Hiro sternly.
Shaking his head he retorted, "God what's the big deal with that anyway? I mean yeah I should of waited until everything was finalized before I put myself back on the market again but it's not like I was allowed at home anyway. For fuck's sake it was like practically being divorced anyway!"
"The big deal was, that you didn't respect her or your marriage long enough to wait until it went through. In the end it's the same as cheating."
"Jesus Hiro, are you going to start being my marriage councilor too?"
"No, I'm trying to be your friend, and I'm not the friend who's going to tell you what you want to hear. Face it, you two didn't love each other enough to be so considerate in the end."
"Easy to say for a guy whose made it work for, God knows how long."
"Hey, things weren't always easy between me and Nana. I've spent my nights on the couch too, but in the end what brought us back together was the fact we both knew we were right for each other. I don't think you and Kimiko had the same thing going."
"Maybe you're right…" he consented then continued on in silence for another five minutes.
He broke the silence by asking, "So, happy to be retiring?"
"It feels weird, like I don't know what I'm going to do with myself after this."
"Didn't Nana give you the honey list?"
Checking the window while flaring his nostrils in an obscure chortle HIro said quietly, "Yeah she did, it makes me feel old."
He then leaned back and fixed his gaze on the dome and said to fortify his bewilderment on the matter, "I keep looking back and can't imagine it all; where I've been, what I've done, what I've seen."
Tensin scrunched his lips then asked respectfully, "What was the worst call you've ever taken?"
Hiro hunched forward, "That's a tough one, anything involving kids really. I don't know, what comes to mind when you're asked that?"
Tensin decided to be the first, "Whenever people ask me that, my mind goes to a call right when I became a level two. I was working out in some rural area on the grave shift when we were called to what sounded like a rollover. But when we got on scene the car looked like it had been dropped from outer space. I mean the front end and engine were crushed into the interior, and there was not a single panel that wasn't crumbled nor was there a window that wasn't shattered."
"Sounds like one hell of a roll over."
"Turns out it was a head on collision with an oil truck, but the trucker took off and the police were out looking for him. The one in the driver's seat, or what was left of him, had the steering wheel clean through his face, his eyes were hanging out while has chest was smashed to a pulp by the dash board. The passenger had her leg practically wrapped around her back, her face was split in two like a venus fly trap to where I could actually see her skull.
At first I was like, 'damn these motherfuckers are dead,' then we heard the most chilling sound anyone could ever hear and me and my partner nearly shit ourselves. The passenger started moaning… to our terror she was still alive. We looked at each other not having a single clue where to start. We called in for an extrication team and tried to suction her airway and intubate but it was hopeless. She then tried to tell me something. At first she sounded like an alien talking under water but then I could make it out. She was trying to say, 'Baby.'
I looked in the back seat and saw a carseat with the engine block resting on it and blood soaking the seat. I walked away, I wouldn't dare look at it because I knew what remained of her baby was crushed under that thing. I stayed in the ambulance until the extrication team arrived but by the time they got her out she was dead. I cried myself to sleep that night and my partner quit the following weak, I don't think she ever got over it."
Hiro nodded then decided to share a story of his own, "That reminds me of a call I went on that was definitely my worst now that I think about it. It was actually when I first started back when I was nineteen. So we get a call for a woman who claimed she had just gone into labor. When we arrived at the apartment we find this seventeen year old kid going frantic and bleeding out like crazy. We wasted no time, we got her loaded and were going lights and sirens to the hospital. When getting information from her we come to find out she'd only been twenty weeks pregnant."
"Oh no…" said Tensin.
"She kept asking us if everything was alright and I tried my best to keep her calm but I knew what was happening. She wasn't laboring, she was miscarrying. We got ahold of her boyfriend and he agreed to meet us at there. While waiting outside the ICU we heard the doctor talking to the would be mother saying that babies born short of twenty three weeks don't survive even in an incubator. Then he asked if they would like to hold their baby girl before she died once delivered. The girl screamed 'no' but the boyfriend said 'yes.' Later when the baby was delivered I could see them talking about how beautiful their little girl looked, the girlfriend cried and hugged her like I had never seen. Two minutes later she died. But that's wasn't the worst part."
"Oh?"
"No the worst part was when her boyfriend came out of the ICU, thanked us for all that we did and went to shake my hand."
"Shit, what do you say after all that?"
"I said nothing, I only stared at him for what felt like an eternity, shook his hand and left. Like I said, anything involving kids are always rough no matter what."
Noticing Tensin's perturbed silence, Hiro followed, "BUT, there've been more good calls than bad and that's what we work for."
As Tensin took the exit back to Tokyo he informed, "So we're not heading back to operations, there's a green zone outside Minato and that's where we'll post until whatever this thing is blows over."
"You know who else will be there?"
"From the sounds of it a lot of citizens and emergency personnel."
"I hope they have beds because I could sure use one."
That would have to wait when the radio came on, "Dispatch to ten seventy-six
Hiro answered, "Seventy six copies."
"What's your twenty?"
Checking the mile markers he answered, "About forty clicks outside Tokyo."
"We have another transport at Minaoto Regional."
"Copy, Seventy Six en route for IFT." then after cutting communications said,"I hate transports…"
They took their exit which would take them to their destination the fastest. Right as the hospital was in view Sitoshi was coming out of his slumber. "Wake up, princess." called the driver.
As they were nearing the hospital dispatch came back on, "Dispatch to ten seventy-six."
"Go for seventy six."
"Cancel transport."
"Copy that."
"Goddammit." cursed Tensin.
As they were detouring through the empty streets towards the green zone a sudden shadow overtook the entire landscape, at first they mistook it for a cloud blotting out the full moon but not a single nimbus dotted the starry sky.
"What the hell is that?" stammered Hiro with shock and confusion.
The rig came to a complete stop so they could have a closer look. What they saw appeared to be an enormous platform with enough square footage to support a small city dropping from the sky. In fact the descending structure resembled that of Mont Saint-Michel of France.
"You guys are seeing this right?" trembled Sitoshi.
"Yeah, kind of wish I wasn't." said Tensin.
"What is it, some kind of flying fortress?"
Hiro then said with alarm, "Whatever it is, it's making a crash landing!"
That's when the others realized the structure was reducing altitude rapidly with no signs of decelerating.
"Get us out of here Tensin!"
He threw it in reverse, hit the gas and swung the front end around throwing Sitoshi against the other side. The tires squealed, let out smoke, caught traction and shot forth. The engine roared like never before, throwing supplies off the shelves as they drove for their very lives.
A rumble shook the pavement before a massive shock wave jumped the unit. Slamming down, Tensin checked his side mirror, saw the fortress buried half way into the city skyline, then beheld a massive cloud of debris, combined with all rummaged fortifications rushing towards them and gaining ground.
He downshifted and accelerated. Sitoshi let out a yell when a piece of a metal support beam had come down and transfixed into the roof of the box. Getting pelted with flying chunks of concrete, a couple of which shot through the back windows to where Sitoshi was laying down and covering his head, Tensin took a hard right when seeing a parking center and made way for it.
Before 76 was off the main road it was overtaken by the cloud and disappeared within the veil of dust and debris.
Fantasy Vs. Reality
-When Hiro reprimands Sitoshi for not putting Kayda on oxygen that's actually more his fault. He's the senior medic who runs the call. In most cases if a patient is having trouble breathing oxygen is the first thing we put them on unless there's something more serious like severe, uncontrolled bleeding or the heart's stopped etc.
-A more appropriate course of action would have been to put Kayda in the ambulance before you administer drugs. This way your scene is more controlled and away from curious onlookers.
-DNR's are real, they're essentially legal documents issued by power of attorney prohibiting any lifesaving interventions by medical staff should the patient fall into arrest. Usually after quality of life examinations and such. So yes, had the old man's heart stopped they let him die.
-Divorce rates are high among EMS workers along with PTSD, anxiety and depression. What separates EMT's from nurses and doctors is what we see. In the hospital you have a patient packaged and delivered with bystanders stopped at the lobby. We see the drama. I've seen the hysterical mother trying to talk to police officers about the vehicle that ran over her child with sisters crying and begging for us to save their little brother. I've seen angry fathers of heroin addicts threaten to kill their sons if they find out they were shooting up again. I've had to clean the brains off of the stretcher seat belts of a teenage suicide victim after grieving parents said he excused himself to his room saying he'd be doing homework and 'bang!'
We see the immediate aftermath of tragedy and we have to build mental walls and essentially numb ourselves to it, and it can impact personal life. Tensin is someone who did not have his attitude before he went in the field, but developed this personalty overtime as a shield to protect himself.
-ELST stand for Emergency Life Saving Technician, the Japanese equivalent to the Paramedic. The tiers below it are Level one and two. In the west the EMS tiers are, EMR, EMT, A-EMT and Paramedic. There can also be field doctors as well but that depends on state and or country.
-Hospital transports suck.
-The stories Tensin and Hiro were sharing are real calls but not that I went on. Tensin's story was based on a call a friend of mine took with the differences being mom survived but baby didn't. And Hiro's was actually a call my brother went on when he was new. Not much of the story was different it essentially happened that way.
-It would have been more likely for the military to evacuate any hospital stragglers that late in the day.