The fire crew worked carefully. While the instructors hadn’t put a lot of stuff in the room, it soon became obvious that a portion of a board had broken and splintered, driving a huge piece of wood into Tony’s right leg just below the knee. Some of the crew moved from cutting wood to clearing out what they could so Meghan could get in to work on Tony better.

Outside, a small crowd of EMT and Fire/Rescue students huddled. Fred had tried to keep them occupied in the classroom, but soon gave up, leading the class out to observe the rescue scene from outside. Fred had brought his own set of turnout gear, and after leaving strict instructions to stay outside and out of the way, made his way upstairs to see what was happening.

In the hallway, he came across Scott. He smiled, seeing how the trainee had everything ready and organized that Meghan had asked for. He gave the boy a pat on the arm as he passed, coming to a stop just outside the room. “Meghan? It’s Fred. Do you need anything?”

Meghan popped her head out from the debris. “Fred! I need IVs. He’s got a penetrating trauma and it’s bleeding pretty good. Also have Scott grab me an abdominal pad and a roll of gauze. I need to try to stabilize this before I splint it.”

“Sure thing. Ambulance just arrived. I’ll grab supplies and be right back up.” Fred turned and hustled down the stairs to the ambulance, where Jerry and Bill we just climbing out.

“Hey, there, Fred! What do you have?” Jerry asked, pulling open the side door of the rig.

“Firefighter trainee, pinned by some boards. One has splintered and impaled his leg just below the knee. Meghan’s playing mole, requesting IVs and bandages.” Fred hopped in the ambulance and started grabbing IV supplies.

Jerry just shook his head in amusement. “Anywhere that gal isn’t, these days? Is she set for extrication? I have a feeling we’d just be in the way up there, but if you need us, holler.”

“Will do. We have a backboard and plenty of lift help. This kid will be a trauma alert.” Fred, his arms full, hopped back out of the rig and headed into the burn building.

Fred made his way into the room just as Meghan started cutting Tony’s turnout gear. She took bandage materials from Fred’s arm and started wrapping Tony’s leg, trying to control the bleeding and stabilize the board in his leg as best as she could. Fred held Tony’s leg as still as possible while Meghan wrapped roller gauze bandages around the limb to hold the larger bandage pads in place.

Brad and Roy appeared in the doorway. “Meghan, do you have a minute?”

Meghan looked at Fred. “Go. I’ll get vitals and an IV going.”

Meghan stood up from the floor, dusted her hands off, and joined the firefighters. “What’s the game plan for getting the rest of this stuff off of him enough to get him out of here?” She asked.

Roy wiped his forehead, lifting his helmet before resettling it on his head. “We need to cut down that board that’s impaling Tony’s leg. I think that the best way is just going to be to use the K-12 – the Sawzall would create too much vibration. It’s going to hurt, no matter how we do it. How is he looking to you?”

Meghan grimaced. “Well, he’s still alert, which is good. Fred is getting some vitals for me, and we’re going to go ahead and start an IV, get some fluids into him. But his leg is bleeding, and we need to get him out of here and to a trauma center. I’m also concerned how much air is still in his tank. Could we get the mask off, or even just uncouple the regulator from the mask? I’d do it, but I’m not as familiar with that style of SCBA, and don’t want to jostle his head any more than necessary.”

Brad smiled. “I’ll take care of it. It is a trickier regulator if you’re not familiar with it. I think that once we get that board cut down, it shouldn’t be much longer to finish extrication. I saw Jerry and Bill outside, so I know they’re ready to transport as soon as we can get him there.”

Meghan nodded. “Let me make sure that we’ve got that IV established, and let’s get the regulator removed, and then let’s get to cutting.”

The three made their way into the room. Fred was finishing taping down an IV. “Meghan, IV is in. Vitals are staying pretty stable, considering. Pulse is 98 and blood pressure is 106/74. Are we going to get this show on the road soon?”

Brad chuckled as he slid his way in to Tony. “Hey Tony, how are you holding up?”

Tony tried to smile. “Doing okay, Captain. Leg’s not feeling so hot.”

Brad smiled in sympathy. “I’m sure it isn’t. Listen, we’re about to finish getting you out of here, so you can get that leg fixed up. First, I’m going to unhook the regulator from your mask. No sense you being on air when no one else needs to be.” Brad reached over and carefully unhooked the regulator from Tony’s face mask. “We’ll leave that mask on until after we get you extricated. Don’t need you smacked in the face with debris, right?”

“No, sir.”

“I’m going to go help the other firefighters with extrication. I’m sure Meghan will be back with you in just a moment.” Brad made his way back into the clearing in the room.

“Okay, regulator’s off. I’ll let you tell him about the board, Meghan.”

“Sure thing. Roy headed downstairs for a new saw blade. He’ll be back in a minute.” She turned to Fred. “Do you mind helping to stabilize the wound while they cut that board? I think it would be best if one of us was with Tony while it’s getting cut.”

Fred nodded. “Sure. You stay with him, as you’ve built that rapport. I’ll help with his leg. Scott!”

The trainee hurried up to Fred. “Sir?”

Fred smiled. “Dig me out several of the large gauze pads and a couple rolls of roller gauze from that trauma pack and have them ready for me, okay?”

“Yes, sir.” Scott headed back to the bag he’d been guarding and started digging.

Meghan glanced at Scott’s back, wiggled her eyebrows at Fred, and climbed back to her spot next to Tony’s head.

“Hey there. How are you doing?”

“Okay, ma’am, but my leg really hurts.”

“I know it does. Did Brad tell you what is about to happen?”

“Not really, except that you are going to get me out of here.”

Meghan nodded. “Yes. Now, your leg is hurting because you have a board that has impaled your leg. It’s several feet long, and in order to get you free from everything, we are going to have to cut it. I won’t lie, it’s going to hurt like the dickens. But Fred, who just started your IV and got vital signs, will be supporting your leg and keeping it as still as possible.” Meghan shifted her position a bit and grabbed Tony’s arm, pulling it up towards his head. “Here. You can hold my hand and squeeze as tight as you need to, okay?”

“Okay,” he replied, tremulously.

Roy peered in at Meghan. “We’re ready here. You?” Meghan nodded. She heard a saw powering up and grasped Tony’s hand.

The whole procedure only took a minute, but it was enough to cause a lot of strain on Tony’s face and Meghan’s hand. The 6-foot board had been cut down to about a foot. Fred had called out to Scott, and was actively working to pack large gauze pads around the board and the leg, both to stabilize the board and to control the bleeding.

“Meghan? How’s he doing?” Fred hollered, wrapping gauze around everything.

“In pain, looking pale, but still with us. Guys, let’s get a move on!”

More firefighters entered the room and started moving more of the debris off. Within a few minutes, Tony was uncovered. Meghan started ordering people around, getting someone to hold onto Tony’s c-spine while she removed his helmet and the SCBA mask. She felt his cervical spine and, not noticing any deformities, applied a c-collar. She then loosened the airpack’s straps as much as possible before sliding his right arm out of the strap, threading the IV line through the strap. One of the firefighters took the IV bag from her and held it up.

“Okay, get that backboard in here! Let’s logroll him, and get that pack off while we’re at it. Fred, stabilize his leg. On the head’s count, roll him.” They logrolled Tony onto his left side and slipped the pack off of his left arm. Meghan handed the pack to someone, and they carefully logrolled Tony back onto the backboard.

There was a flurry of activity to get straps applied to secure Tony to the backboard and splint his leg. “Okay, people, let’s get out of here!” Meghan made to move close enough to the cot to lift it when she tripped over a board. “Oof!”

Fred gave her a hand up as she picked herself off the floor. “Okay?”

“Yeah, just tripped.” Meghan watched as others lifted the backboard and headed out of the door. Meghan and Fred picked up a few of the supplies left over and shoved them into the trauma bag as they headed down the stairs towards the exit.

Meghan limped as she descended the stairs. Fred raised an eyebrow at her. “You okay?”

She frowned. “Might have twisted something. I’ll live. Wonder how many stitches it’ll take for the surgeon to close that wound?”

Fred chuckled. “He’s headed to surgery, for certain.” They made their way out of the door of the burn building, Meghan blinking against the glare of the flashing lights on the fire truck and ambulance. They saw Tony’s backboard being lowered onto the gurney and headed that way.

Meghan entered the side door of the ambulance just as the cot was locked into place. She headed to set up a nasal cannula and placed it in Tony’s nostrils. “Hey, kiddo. This is just some oxygen. How are you feeling?”

She could see the tear stains that traced down his cheeks as he tried to be strong. “I’m okay, ma’am. Thanks for all you did.”

She smiled. “You’re welcome, Tony. Now why don’t you tell me where all you hurt, so we know what to tell the doctor?”

Tony’s faint smile faded. “My knee is killing me, and my neck is sore. And this board isn’t very comfortable.” Meghan glanced at Jerry, who was paying attention to their conversation as he cut clothes to make sure there weren’t any other injuries they weren’t aware of.

“We’ll get you taken care of, sport. Okay, if you’re not riding, you need to get out. We’re heading out.” Jerry rounded the foot of the cot to sit on the bench seat as firefighters and his partner, Bill, exited the patient compartment of the ambulance. Meghan nodded, and stood up, heading for the side door.

“Wait, Meghan. You’re bleeding.”

She looked at Jerry, confused. “Huh? Must be from treating Tony.”

He huffed. “Foot, Meghan. Your right one.”

She frowned at him, but propped her right foot up on the bench seat. Jerry raised her pants leg a bit. “It’s yours, Squirt. Sit down.”

She sat, slightly stunned. Jerry opened the back door. “Hey Fred!”

Fred jogged back towards the ambulance. “What’s up?”

“Meghan’s cut herself or something. I’ll get her fixed up at the ER. If you can, swing by to pick her up?”

Fred shook his head. “Sure, I’ll be there in an hour or so.”

“Thanks.” Jerry shut the door, and hollered forward. “County Med, Bill. Let’s go!”