Confidentiality 2
As the crowd was being thinned by the teachers and firemen JoAnne moved closer to the action. When she was where she could easily see over the remaining heads she could see her daughter taking a blood pressure on a boy on the ground. Chris was sitting on his feet with the boy's head between his knees as the paramedics were moving in and opening up their equipment. Once she was done Jenny pulled the earpieces of her stethoscope out of her ears and down around her neck before moving over to tell the paramedics what she found. JoAnne notice the suspicious look at one of the teachers standing out of the way and wondered what was going on.
After relaying vitals the Chief reached under Jenny's arms and helped her to her feet and after telling her thank you for her help was nudging her toward the school building.
JoAnne smiled at the look on her little girls face. She had been dismissed once again because of her age and she felt dejected. But her defiant little girl turned back and got close to the Paramedic on the bio=phone and talked softly in his ear. Then turned and walked toward the school building with her bag on her shoulder and her stethoscope still around her neck.
Jo shook her head with a smile and turned to go to her car when the fire Captain stopped her. "Ma'am can you tell me what you know about this accident?"
"Nothing really," Jo responded, "I saw you roll in and knew my children were involved some how so I came over to investigate."
"Your children were involved? How?" the captain questioned.
"They are the two first responders that you just sent back to class."
"The girl with the blood pressure cuff?"
"Yep, she's mine."
"Does she really know how to use that thing?"
"Yes Sir. She's quite good at it, my husband taught her."
"Does your husband work in the medical field?"
"He's a fireman/Paramedic out of station 51, Roy DeSoto." JoAnne was surprised that he didn't recognize her but then she wasn't part of his crew family.
"Oh yes I know DeSoto, so that young lady is the mini medic that's been in the news so much this last year?"
"I'm afraid so and she has a swollen head as a result."
Jo and the fire captain diverted their attention to the young boy who was now on a back board and being lifted on to an ambulance gurney.
"Well, I best go and inform my medics that they can pay attention to what ever she told them," the captain gave as a farewell.
"Yes, I best be on my way too, the laundry and dishes await my attention."
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Once seated at her desk Jenny slowly took her stethoscope from around her neck and wrapped it around her hands before placing it back in her bag and zipping it closed. With her head hung low Jenny remained quiet and withdrawn only looking up to see the face of the little girl in the back row who was very quietly sobbing.
The teacher seemed concerned about Jennifer's with drawn attitude and made a point to go to her side frequently and talk to her. "You did a really good job of helping that boy on the playground today. I'm sure he's going to be alright."
"Yeah, he will be," Jennifer confirmed, making sure she was just loud enough so that his sister in the class could hear her. "His pupils were both the same size and they both got smaller when I shined the light in 'em. But I think he's got some broken bones."
"Well I'm sure the Doctors at the hospital know what to do to make him better," The teacher added with a gentle hug for her tenderhearted hero of the class.
Jenny knew she was being patronized and didn't like it, she knew well that the boy would be quickly patched up and casted. It was what would happen after that that she was uncertain about.
On the bus ride home Jenny pleaded with her brother to sit next to him but he wanted to sit with his friends and talk to them about the commercials he had done and being able to shower in a real fire station.
She took the first open seat and found herself next to the new girl in her class, the sister of the boy who had been injured when he got in the way of the swings. The girl had been at her school now for nearly a month but hadn't really made a lot of friends. She was quiet and shy and seemed to prefer to sit and watch instead of getting in and playing. Jenny noticed that her clothes were old and wearing in places but they were clean. A patch that looked like a flower had been sewn over a whole in the knee of her pants and her toe was peaking out of a hole in her shoe.
Looking to make sure no one was looking at her Jenny placed her medical bag to hide her actions as she reached out and held the hand of the sad little girl she was sitting next to.
The Girl named Tracy got off on the next stop and Jenny watched her go not knowing what to say or what to do.
When the bus arrived at her stop she got off and waited for her brother who was still talking to his friends and didn't even seem to know she was there as they walked the short distance to their home. Friends pealed off as they passed their house and the rest kept going after Chris and Jenny turned up their sidewalk.
Once inside the house there was the customary hugs for mom, the expected after school snack and the reminder that they still had to do the school work they missed while they were 'on set' that morning.
Jenny drank the milk that was placed before her but instead of eating the cookies she asked her mom if she could call Miss McCall and find out how Allen was doing.
JoAnne had her answer to why her daughter was so withdrawn and quiet. "Of course sweetheart; go right a head."
"Could I use the phone in your room?"
This was a surprise request from her daughter. Jo took a deep breath and thought for just a second. "I don't know why you should need to do that young lady."
"I just want to tell her something and I don't want anyone to hear, it's kinda privet." Jenny gave as an explanation.
"Well, alright then," JoAnne consented but was real tempted to listen in on the other line. Instead she trusted that Dixie would do the right thing and watched as her daughter climbed the stairs to the master bedroom and shut the door behind her.
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"Hello, Rampart Emergency Department, Nurse McCall speaking." Dixie turned her attention away from the lab results she was placing in the proper charts, to answer the phone. "Well hello there miss DeSoto. How are you doing this fine afternoon? You don't have a patient coming in now do you?"
"A, yes he arrived here earlier today and I got a good report about your first aid from the paramedics that brought him in."
"Yes he's going to be just fine but I can't tell you what his injuries were because that would be against patient doctor confidentiality." Dixie explained to the inquisitive young lady on the other end of the phone line. "Confidentiality, well that means I'm not allowed to talk about a patients injuries to anyone other than the doctor who's taking care of him." "Sorry sweetheart but I have to go, someone needs my help."
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Jenny sat on her parent's bed and held the disconnected phone in her hands. Confidentiality was a big word and since she was a certified card carrying first responder she needed to understand just how it worked and in a hurry.
When the phone started to beep letting Jenny know it had been off the hook too long she decided she had better get some expert advice so she dialed the fire Station.
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"Oh Hi there Jenny, Marco responded to the young girl who had just identified herself on the phone. Is there a problem we need to help you with?" the only other time Jenny had called the station that Marco knew about was when she needed to be told how to deliver a baby.
"Well no, your daddy's not here right now, he's on a rescue." "Sure Captain Stanley is here just a minute."
Marco placed the call on hold and hurried to the captain's office, "Cap, Roy's daughter is on the phone, she said that she needs to understand something to know what to do next and when I told her, her dad was on a run she asked to speak with you."
Jenny DeSoto asking for help of any kind got the attention of everyone in the station especially the Captain. "What line is she on?"
"3"
"Stand ready to respond." Hank instructed as he picked up the phone and pushed the right button, "Hi there Jenny what can I do for you?"
Hank let out a silent sigh of relief as he rested back in his chair and waved his lineman off. "Yes I can understand that, Confidentiality is indeed a big word let's see if I can explain it so that you can understand."
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"Can I see if I understand right?" Jenny asked as she sat thoughtfully on her parent's bed. "I'm not supposed to tell anybody about the people I do first aid on accept someone who is taking over for me or the Doctor, So that means I shouldn't tell my momma, or my Daddy if he's not there with the squad, and not my brother or any of the kids at school right?"
"But I can never go wrong by telling the Doctor even if I make a mistake about what I think is wrong?" "Thank you Captain Stanley."
Jenny had one more question for her father's Captain. "People have to do what you tell them to do don't they?" "Could you tell some one to stop hurting another person?" "How do I get the police to believe me?" "I don't think I can tell a teacher, they won't believe anyone as little as me."
Jenny sat on the floor next to her parent's bed thinking hard about what Captain Stanley said and after a few minutes she found a little bravery and called the number for Rampart once again.
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Back at Station 51 the Squad with two tired Paramedics backed into the bay and Captain Stanley was standing in the doorway to the office as they made sure they were in the right spot before turning off the ignition.
"Roy, could I see you in my office for a minute?" Hank called as soon as the door to the squad was unlatched.
"Sure Cap," Roy responded, it was the only response he could make.
"Shut the door and have a seat," Hank instructed as he found his seat and made himself comfortable as possible.
"You're not in any trouble," Hank informed his man once he was in his seat, "I just had an interesting phone call and I think you need to know about it."
"Who was the call from Cap?"
"One Jennifer DeSoto,"
"What—is something wrong?" Roy was stunned.
"She asked for you first but when you weren't here she asked to speak to me. She wanted some help understanding what Confidentiality meant and how it worked."
"Confidentiality?" Roy questioned not only his captain but he had no idea why his daughter would need to know about that.
"Yeah, I did my best to try and explain it to her and she told me how she understood what I had said. She's got the idea that she can't tell you or your wife unless you're on the squad that takes over the patient but I told her that she should always tell her parents if she had any questions about anything. Then she asked me if I could make someone stop hurting another person."
Cap leaned forward on his knees and looked his Senior Paramedic in the eyes. "I hate to tell you this Roy but I have a very funny feeling that your Daughter has gotten herself in the middle of a Child abuse case."
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In a busy emergency Room at Rampart General a flustered Nurse placed a phone call on hold and summoned Dr. Brackett's attention. "Dr. Brackett, there's a girl on the phone who say's her name is Jennifer DeSoto and she's asking to talk with the doctor who treated Allen Baldwin, from the sound of her voice she has to be just a child."
"I know who she is, I'll talk to her," Kell smiled at the frustration Nurse Betty was feeling and knew she didn't understand the abilities of the young first responder she had been talking to.
"Hello there miss First Responder Jenny, What can I do for you?
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Still alone in her parent's bedroom Jenny clutched the phone with both hands and took a deep breath, "I know something about the accident that Allen was in today and I think it's important. He didn't walk in front of the swing when he was hit. He was pushed, by a teacher."