Chapter 8
Kel Brackett woke early. Well, early for him! He stretched somewhat surprised he wasn't sore. He'd spent the previous day walking all over Disneyland with a group of visiting firefighters. Switching the alarm off he got up to start his day.
Going into the kitchen he was a little taken aback that there was no coffee made. Gage always made a full pot and he had figured there'd be plenty left for him. He glanced at the clock. 7 am.
Starting the pot brewing he wandered back down the hall and poked his head into Johnny's room. The paramedic was curled up blissfully asleep. Guess he wasn't going surfing as previously planned. Returning to his room he got ready for work.
When he came back, showered, shaved and dressed, he found his housemate sipping coffee at the table and nibbling on some sliced fruit and cottage cheese. A similar bowl sat at his place. He smiled and sat down.
"Thanks," he said as he tucked in. He liked cottage cheese and had convinced Johnny to try it. It was now an alternate breakfast, quick, easy and enough protein to last the morning. The toaster belched out an english muffin, which was lightly buttered and split between the two men.
"So, you're not going surfing?" Kel asked as he dipped his fork into some melon.
"Naw, I told Mike last night I wouldn't make it," Johnny shrugged. "My leg is kind of stiff after all that walking around."
"Smart man," the doctor agreed. "Don't want to make that injury worse!"
"Yeah, figured I should take care of myself," he said. "Anyway, we're getting one of the doctors from Hawaii tomorrow and I want to be my best." He didn't add he was worried about a negative experience with the supposedly reluctant doctor.
"Ah, that makes sense!" Kel said. "I have to pick them up at the airport this afternoon. We're putting them at the same hotel as the firefighters. I'll give 'em a quick tour of Rampart and then take them out to dinner."
"McKenna's?" Gage smiled.
"Yups," Kel returned the grin with pidgeon.
"Becoming quite the linguist, Doc," he chuckled. They ate a little more.
"I'll drop one of them off tomorrow morning at the 51s," he said. "Probably Dr. Hu as she's more disposed to the program than Stewart. I'll save him for the second shift."
"How are we going to house Dr. Hu?" Johnny asked, "if she decides to stay the entire 24."
"I think Hank is arranging for a bed in his office," he explained. "She'll probably want the entire experience."
"We are that," Gage snickered. Kel snorted in agreement.
The day progressed as normally as a day does at Rampart. The ER crew was kept busy with a variety of injuries and illnesses. Brackett was actually relieved when 3 o'clock came around and he needed to leave to the airport.
LAX was moderately busy but Kel found a good place to park and walk over to the United Airlines terminal. Glancing at the arrival boards he noted that the plane was running a few minutes late so he settled himself near the gate and waited. From what the Hawaiian Chief of the Fire Department said, Stewart was extremely anti-paramedic and Hu was a kindred soul to him, although not as extreme.
When the plane finally landed and began to disembark, Brackett watched the people coming off. He'd seen pictures of both doctors and was able to spot them as the passed through the jetway.
"Dr. Stewart? Dr. Hu?" he ask as the couple came closer. "I'm Dr. Kelly Brackett." He extended his hand and shook each person's.
"Doctor, a pleasure," Stewart gave him a tight smile.
"Kel is fine," he replied.
"Dr. Hu will be fine for me," the woman said tightly.
"Of course, Dr. Hu," he returned unruffled.
"Don," the other doctor said with a less stressed smile.
"Let's get this show on the road," Hu snapped as she headed for the baggage claim area.
"Dr. Hu really isn't very happy about the trip," Stewart said. "Not that I am, either, but our administrators, backed by the hospital boards, insisted."
"I'll try to keep it as painless as possible," Bracket said to him and Hu's back. "Do you want to stop off at Rampart to see the hospital side or go straight to your hotel?"
"Might as well take a look," Hu replied, "since that's why we're here."
"I'd like to take both of you out to dinner," Kel offered.
"That'd be good," Stewart said. "Anything but seafood!" That threw him off a moment.
"I'd like a decent steak," Hu remarked as she stood near the carousel waiting for her suitcase.
"Then steak it is," the LA doctor agreed, searching his mind for a good steak place. Ruth's Chris came to mind and he would make a reservation at the hospital.
After luggage was secured they swung by Rampart. Knowing how important first impressions were, Joe and Dixie put on their best game faces. One could only hope with Morton.
Hu clucked with disdain over the separate room filled with communication gear and medical equipment. A board kept track of all the fire stations servicing the hospital. Morton was currently on line with the 36s. Stewart went in to listen; Hu declined, preferring to look over the rest of the ER.
Within thirty minutes the paramedics came in delivering a MVA victim with crushed ribs. Stewart continued to follow Morton and watched the interaction between the terse doctor and the paramedic. It seemed the man was quite competent and assisted the doctor until the nurse took over. Even then, he stayed and talked to the patient keeping her calm. Once everything was relatively calm and the x-ray was coming in, the paramedic picked up his gear, nodded to the doctor and nurse, then left.
Stewart came out into the hall and noted Hu was at the nurse's station actively grilling another paramedic, presumably the partner of the one that'd arrived with the patient.
"So, you follow the doctor's orders?" she was asking, "you never do anything without confirmation?"
"Well, ma'am, we have authority to start O2 and begin certain treatments, such as compression bandages or saline rinses," he said gingerly.
"Some procedures don't require a doctor's expertise," Kel Brackett stepped in. The Hawaiian ER doctor just stared coldly at him. After seeing Morton in action with the other paramedic Stewart was willing to be more open-minded reviewing the program.
"Say, what about getting us to our hotel so we can freshen up for dinner?" he stepped in gracefully. Kel gratefully accepted the lifeline and agreed. This was going to be harder than he'd imagined!
As the three doctors left Dixie glanced at Joe and Morton, who'd joined them.
"That didn't go too well," she remarked.
"The guy in the room with me seemed ok," Morton hedged.
"Maybe, but that Dr. Hu is going to be a tough piece of work!" Brice said with a frown.
"Think we should warn Johnny and Roy?" Bellingham asked as he brushed his hair back.
"I'm sure Dr. Brackett will," Joe decided. "One good thing about their living arrangement."
Dinner was tense for the most part, especially since Hu continued to tear apart the notion of a para-medical person doing doctor's work. Stewart seemed a little more interested but still was reticent to accept the program.
Kel was extremely glad to drop his visitors off at their hotel after arranging an 8 am pickup. He headed home full of worry about the following day. All he wanted to do was take off his tie and pour out a measure of whiskey.
It seemed Johnny was aware of how difficult the day had been given he was handed a icy cold tumbler of Maker's Mark.
"Belingham?" Kel asked as he took a long sip.
"Brice," Gage replied. "Remember, we bonded when Roy was out."
"Right, you'd been in that accident in the squad," the doctor recalled. He moved down the hall to get out of his work clothes. Johnny settled in the living room, reading the paper. He felt much better for resting the entire day, his only exercise was folding laundry and putting it away.
"Was it really that bad?" he asked as his friend came into the room and settled on the couch.
"Worse," Kel deadpanned. "Think of me, and our fights."
"Wonderful," the paramedic rolled his eyes.
"Then magnify it," he continued. "You'll meet Dr. Hu in the morning. Be sure to be on your absolute best behavior!"
"What about Dr. Stewart?" Johnny asked.
"Seems that Dr. Morton and Brice were good together and he seems more interested in seeing the entire program," Kel related. "Although he is still a bit reluctant."
"They won't have any say in the matter after August 1st, unless they plan to go on strike," his friend said with a dismissive shrug.
"True, but they are heads of their ER departments and you know how difficult that can be," Doc said with a guilty grin.
"Ah, yes, I do, in fact, have first hand experience," the paramedic returned the grin. "But we worked through it. After I lost my attitude and you gave it a try." Kel was glad that his friend knew he'd been a problem almost as bad as the doctor had been. It made the transition in the beginning less rocky.
They talked a little while longer, getting their individual game plans together. Johnny promised to get Roy on board and let the rest of the station know they needed to set a good example. He had confidence in his friends and knew they'd all be great.
The day started early, complete with coffee and peanut butter toast. Gage was out the door first, wanting to be at the station early. Brackett took off just after 7:30 to pick up his observers.
Dr. Hu had already begun her negative harangue before Kel had even arrived, putting Stewart in an ill humor. He crossly climbed into the front seat of the convertible and growled. Growled! It was going to be a bad, bad day.
They got to the station about 8:30, and were greeted cordially by Captain Hank Stanley. In turn, he introduced both doctors to Gage and Desoto, his paramedic team. Again, Stewart was pleased by their quiet bearing; Hu wondered out loud if it were normal practice to hire babies.
Gage played it with gentle humor, assuring her his partner, Roy, was thirty, well passed the diaper stage. This amused Stewart, who laughed a little louder than society dictates. He internally blamed it on his colleague's bad humor. Roy then gave his boyish grin and let both know Johnny was 28 and both men had over 5 years in the field as paramedics and several more beyond that as firefighters.
With a grumble Hu allowed they did have some experience and then followed Stanley into his office to leave her travel bag for that night. She had decided to stay the entire shift unless something came up. Brackett and Stewart made their good byes and headed off to Rampart.
The first hour was tense, with Hu demanding a tour of the squad and its supplies. Roy and Johnny were at the very best, not taking offense at the thinly veiled insults that were worked into all of the doctor's comments. They were very glad when they were toned out on a 'person down' run.
Given a helmet, the doctor slid into the center of the squad and kept a serious countenance the entire trip. They arrived at a small apartment complex that was overflowing with people. The crowd was mostly helpful sending the trio into the complex towards the back.
They found the man in the swimming pool being supported by several people.
"We didn't want to move him," said one man. "He dove into the shallow end and just floated up."
"Did anyone see if he hit the bottom?" Roy asked. Johnny slipped off his shoes and got into the pool.
"I saw him go in," said a tearful young lady. "Jer, he might have hit the bottom. It's really shallow."
"We got him breathing, he'd swallowed some water," one of the holders said as Johnny started counting respirations. Hu looked on feeling rather unnecessary. She listened to vitals, watched as Desoto called in to ER and spoke with Dr. Early. A backboard was ordered as well as establishing an IV line. While Gage stayed with the patient Desoto ran back to get the backboard.
"Will, will Jerry be alright?" another person, an older woman, asked.
"Well, Ma'am, these people have done a great job keeping him steady," John began. "And the doctors at Rampart will do their best. His vitals are stable and his eyes both react normally to light. It will all depend on what happened when he went into the pool." His voice was calm and reassuring, keeping the small crowd in check. Hu found herself listening to his easy cadence as he returned his attention to the patient, quietly discussing what would soon be happening.
Soon Desoto returned with the backboard. He kicked off his shoes and and popped open their supply box, leaving several rolls of wide gauze on top. Then he carefully lowered himself into the pool. The doctor watched as they positioned the board under their patient and then worked on safely fastening him down to prevent any movement. As they were finishing up the ambulance attendants arrived and the injured man was lifted out and carefully placed on the waiting gurney.
While Gage established the IV, Desoto checked in with Dr. Early once again, providing a new set of vitals as they were available. Finally they were asked the eta and the gurney was heading out to the ambulance, Johnny in tow.
"You want to ride in with them, Doctor Hu?" Roy asked respectfully.
"Uh, yes, I suppose I should," she hesitated but then accepted the paramedic's shoes and headed out to the transport. The attendant helped her inside, closed the door and jogged around to his seat.
She watched as the paramedic rechecked breathing and pulse, looking grim. He had enough experience to know this long a period of unconsciousness was not a good sign. But he continued to monitor and talk softly in case the patient could hear him.
"Jerry, we're taking you to Rampart ER. Dr. Early is waiting for you and he's the top of his game," Johnny was saying. "He'll take excellent care of you." He was rewarded by a twitching hand and eye movement under the lids.
"Hey, Jerry, you thinking about waking up?" he said in very calm tones. "It'd be good to see your eyes." Now there was a low moan and breathing began to speed up slightly. Hu leaned over.
"Come on, young man, it's time to open your eyes and talk to us," she laid her hand on his leg. Eyelids fluttered and another low moan.
"Jerry?" Johnny was rewarded as two dark brown eyes opened and lazily looked around, finally focussing on the paramedic.
"Uh, what happened?" he muttered.
"You dove into the shallow end of the pool," Johnny explained.
"Ohh, yeah," Jerry blinked his eyes a few times to help focus better. "Yeah, I jumped in but I hit the bottom."
"What hit the bottom?" Dr. Hu asked. She watched as the young man refocussed on her.
"Uhm, I think the back of my neck and shoulders, not sure... trying to do a flip," he replied. "Think I'm going to sleep a little more..."
"No, Jerry, you need to stay awake for me," Johnny said quickly. "You may have a concussion and we need you to stay awake and talk with Dr. Early." Then Hu listened as the paramedic started to hunt around for a topic to keep the patient involved ending up talking about motocross cycling. When they arrived at the hospital Jerry was more alert and regaling them with his exploits out in the desert.
Dr. Early was waiting in the treatment room and Hu found herself still carrying the paramedic's shoes as she followed him. She watched as Gage concisely answered all Early's questions and then kept the patient involved as the doctor did his preliminary exam. Pleased that there was movement in arms and legs he ordered an x-ray series.
"Hey, you're not leaving, are you?" Jerry suddenly asked Johnny.
"I can stay for awhile, at least until x-ray shows," Gage allowed. "My partner will be here soon with some dry socks, I hope!"
"You're all wet!" Jerry realized and flushed slightly.
"Yep, felt good, too, been so hot," Johnny gave his most disarming lop-sided smile. "Just took my shoes off. I hate squishing around!" Jerry chuckled, relieved.
True to his word the paramedic stayed with his patient until x-ray came, then promised to stop by to see him on his next run in. Now more comfortable with his situation, Jerry thanked him as he left the room. He took his shoes from Dr. Hu, thanking her and apologizing for inconveniencing her.
The very controlled woman just nodded as she followed him out into the hallway and down to the nurse's station. Desoto was there, in a dry uniform. He held out a hanger with dry clothing for his partner. After getting wet at least once a shift, or so it seemed, they always carried a full set of clean clothing in one of the squad's compartments. Johnny grinned his thanks and zipped down the hall.
"Is he always so..." Hu searched carefully for the right word, "lively?" Dixie smiled.
"Johnny Gage is a force of nature unto himself," she replied. "He is very focussed on saving patients."
"In the field he's great," Roy added. "Although sometimes when there's nothing to do he can be a little annoying." Dr. Brackett had to snicker at that comment as he and Stewart joined the group. Kel was itching to asked how Hu's morning was going, but controlled himself. Dr. Stewart took up the slack.
"So, Madyline, how was the ride in?" he gave a boyish smile. "I have to admit, I want to ride in the squad and ambulance!" She frowned.
"Fine, if you're a child!" she snapped. "All they did was package the patient. Any emt could do that. Don't see how starting an IV or contacting a doctor made any difference." Joe Early came up, not hearing the very negative comment.
"Man, I am certainly glad Johnny took care of Jerry," he said. "Had him calm and prepped for us." Hu muttered 'overtrained emt' as she huffed down the hallway back to the parking area. She'd wait in the squad, thank you very much! Back at the counter no one spoke, mostly out of deference to the other visiting doctor. Stewart, however, shook his head.
"And I thought I was the anti-paramedic," he said, startled. "I've been railing against the program from the beginning. Even spoke up at the hearings. But she's not even giving it a chance!"
"It's her right to hold those opinions," Brackett said evenly. "I was just as loud as she was in the beginning." The Hawaiian doctor looked at Kel curiously.
"What changed your mind?" he asked. They all looked down the hall as the sound of whistling came to them. Johnny was dry and in the process of teasing a wheelchair-bound child and the pretty nurse pushing him.
"The force of nature," Kel replied. "And his much calmer partner," he gave his quirky smile and patted Roy on the shoulder.
"Well, I'd better go contain the force and call us in available," Roy said, then clicked on the handitalk to do just that. With a wave he went to collect his partner and return to the squad.
The next few calls proceeded in the same manner; the situations were always deemed 'emt-level' rescues that didn't require a paramedic. It was hard for the paramedics to keep an even keel, not verbally lashing out at the visiting doctor. But by supporting each other they managed to be professional albeit a bit distant around the woman.
Finally, in the early evening, a call came for a possible heart attack. Not that either man would wish a heart attack on anyone, but now they could show their real worth!
It was a spectacular rescue, complete with defibrillator and life-saving medication. The elderly woman was handle with ease, finally put on a gurney and rushed off to the hospital. This time Roy was the ride-along and Dr. Hu critically watched everything he did.
By the time they reached the hospital the woman was stable, Drs. Brackett and Stewart took care of her. Hu didn't say a word while Roy was in the room. Once he was out she turned to the other two doctors.
"That woman should have never been here!" she said in a scathing tone. Kel looked at her with concern.
"How so?" he asked. "Roy and Johnny did a great job getting her to me!"
"If she'd been following her doctor's orders to begin with she would not have had a cardiac incident," Hu determined. With that she turned and left the room.
"I don't think she's ever going to support the paramedic's program," Stewart said. Brackett gave a tight smile.
"I think you may be right," he rejoined.
As the rest of the shift proceeded there were no mind-changing situations for Dr. Hu. Every rescue was pushed off as needing only an emt's transport, not the medical equipment the paramedics used. When 7:30 am rolled around the partners nearly ran out to their cars, not bothering to change clothes.
Hank had the 'pleasure' of driving Dr. Hu back to her hotel and endure the thirty minutes of negativity she dealt out. It was hard to keep his mouth shut!
"I know that you do not agree with this program on any level, Doctor," Stanley finally said as he pulled up to the hotel. "But from where I sit many people over the past five years owe their lives to the paramedics that treated them out in the field. And as sure as the tide rises and falls, you will have this program over in Hawaii. If you can't buy into it, at least don't try to block it. As I understand it is enforced by law." Hu gave him a cold, nasty glare as she climbed out of the car. Without a word she snatched her overnight bag and stomped into the hotel.
Hank rubbed his tired eyes. "I hope that the other 'observer' isn't as much a pain!"
