Fire Station Visit

Today Todd, Jake, Luke and I went to visit the fireman and paramedics who responded to our 911 call on May 31st. Some of them along with the EMT's had asked if they could come and visit while we were in ICU, but we just weren't ready. We then got moved to the rehab floor and Jake's schedule got crazy.

I felt bad when we got there because other than one man, I didn't remember the others even being in our house. Then again, things were a bit intense at that point. We learned a few things today that we didn't know at the time. Within minutes of assessing Jake, they knew he had a closed head injury. At the time they thought it was a delayed reaction from being hit in the forehead with a golf club two weeks earlier (that ended up having nothing to do with the aneurysm). He was in serious enough shape they were considering taking him directly via flight for life straight from our house. It was ultimately decided the ambulance could get him to a hospital faster for further assessment and stabilization. The whole time they were at the house, they were calm, professional, efficient and did not give us any indication of the severity of his injury or even that it was a head injury. I found out today one of them was outside on the phone with the Parker ER determining what would be the best course of action. I'm not sure if they knew then or found out later that one of the Centura Hospital Neurosurgeon's was in the Parker ER. He works out of four Denver area hospitals so the fact he was in Parker and only 10 minutes away was incredibly lucky for Jake.
 

Thinking back to that evening and now seeing it through a different perspective brought back a lot of memories as well as some clarity. Todd and I talked after we left the station about what we were thinking on the way to the hospital that day. We really had no idea what was wrong with Jake and certainly didn't even consider he had a head injury...there had been no symptoms. We thought we'd spend a few hours at the ER, he'd wake up and we would all come home. When we got to the hospital, we were taken to a private waiting room, clue #1 that should have told us something was seriously wrong. Within a few minutes, the hospital Chaplain came in and explained they would take us back to see Jake as soon as they could and then she stayed with us, clue #2. To my knowledge, Chaplains don't generally spend that much time with families in the ER for minor issues. When we were finally taken back about 15 minutes later, I saw all the paramedics, fireman, and EMT's standing off to the side. Clue #3, I don't think they generally hang around the ER for routine cases. What did finally tell us that something was seriously wrong was when we saw 15 or so medical people standing around a screen with a picture of a brain and a large white circle, the bleed, on the left side of his brain (it was taken from the top of the head so the right side of the brain showed up on the left side of the screen). We heard "those are the parents" and several eyes turned our way and took a step back from the screen to make room for us next to the Neurosurgeon. I will never forget that image as long as I live.

As hard it was to have all the initial raw emotion of that evening brought back to the surface, I'm really glad we went today. It filled in a few holes and gave me a more complete picture of the chain of events. They were all incredibly nice and very generous with their time. The Captain at the time has since changed positions and even came in on his day off to see us. It meant a lot to Todd and I to be able to thank them in person for being an integral part in saving Jake's life. They even gave a ride in the fire truck around the block which was pretty cool. I think it was a visit we'll all remember for a long time.