Sudden Response (EMS #1)(69)

He noted the broken glass and medical supplies scattered on the floor before moving his eyes to the woman hanging upside down in the tech seat. Blood dripped off her as she struggled to free herself.

"Hold still. We're going to get you out," he said, crouching low as he walked towards her.

"I-I c-can smell gas!" she cried.

"I know," he said soothingly. "We're going to get you out as fast we can and get the hell out of here, but I need you to do exactly what I tell you to do, okay?"

"O-okay," she agreed, forcing herself to remain still even as she trembled with fear.

He heard broken glass being crushed behind him and wasn't surprised when Joe and Justin, an EMT that worked for a large private ambulance company, moved in behind him. He damn near sighed with relief. Justin was a large guy, but most importantly he knew his shit and would help get the woman the hell out of here. More importantly he'd work fast so that he could get Joe the hell out of here.

"I'll secure her neck if you two gentlemen and I use that term loosely," Joe said, forcing herself to get into the rhythm of things and keep everyone calm as she moved towards the patient, "would be so kind as to get her down and out of here."

"Sounds good," Justin said, shifting to Eric's left.

They both donned gloves as Joe carefully worked the collar around the woman's neck. Eric reached over and held the woman's head still as Joe secured the neck collar. When she was done he removed his hands and Joe got into a position where she could hold the woman's head still and stay clear of the area while they worked.

He knew from experience that job was extremely uncomfortable and sometimes had to be held for a long time while crews worked around the patient, but that wouldn't be the case today. They needed to get the hell out of here. He hoped that Fire was on its way since they'd take care of the gas problem quickly.

"If I cut her down do you think you could grab her?" Eric asked Justin.

With a firm nod, the man got his hands into position, ready to hold the woman where she was until Eric could help move her. He'd love a few extra hands, but there wasn't enough room or time for that. Shooting a nervous glance at Joe he grabbed his trauma shears out of pants and cut the lap belt off the woman.

"I-it was a-a priority three call," the woman said softly as tears rolled down her cheeks, surprising the hell out of them.

Priority three calls were not allowed to use the emergency lights or sirens. Those were the calls for patients who were in absolutely no danger and therefore the State decided that that the crews operating the ambulances and people on the road would not be put in harm's way as a result. A priority three patient was supposed to get a nice, calm ride to the hospital.

"Mark told him to shut down the lights, b-but he wouldn't listen," the woman said, sobbing softly.

"Shhh, it's okay," Joe said, trying to give the woman what little comfort she could.

"I didn't want to ride with him," the woman admitted softly and Eric didn't blame her one bit. Not that he voiced that opinion, but he shared a look with Joe that communicated exactly how he felt.

"On my count," he said, drawing back their attention to getting the hell out of there as he prepared to cut her shoulder belt. "One, two......three."

When the belt gave way he dropped his shears and reached up to grab the woman and gently guided her down. Carefully, but quickly, the three of them managed to keep her neck stabilized and moved her to the long board. Justin moved to the doors and picked up the foot of the backboard while he picked up the head. Joe kept her hold on the woman's head as they moved out.

They didn't bother with straps at the moment since it was more important to get the hell out of there before it blew up. As Eric reached the backdoors he smelled the unmistakable scent of smoke.

"Fire," he yelled.

Thankfully Joe and Justin reacted quickly as did the EMTs waiting outside the ambulance to help. Several men grabbed the side of the backboard and together they hauled ass towards their ambulance and not a moment too soon.

Immense heat flashed behind him with a loud explosion sent him stumbling, but thankfully they didn't drop the patient. As soon as they were safely behind their ambulance they placed the backboard on the ground and worked together to secure her. Since their stretcher was now consumed in flames one of the other crews took their patient.

"Let's get the hell out of here," Joe said after she finished giving her statement to the police. Knowing that she needed to get the hell out of there he nodded as he took her hand and gave it a squeeze as they headed for their ambulance.

Chapter 30

"Echo twelve is on scene."

"Echo twelve is on scene at 16:22," Joe said, shooting a glance at her monitor's clock as she put the crew on scene.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Derek said as he hurried to her side.

"Don't worry about it," Joe said, waving it off as she got to her feet and stepped away from the call center station so that Derek could sit down and take over.

"I meant to pick up a coffee for you on the way here to celebrate your first official day, but Lindsey and the baby were sick. I really appreciate you covering for me," Derek said, pulling on the headphones that she'd just pulled off.

"There's always tomorrow," she said with a wink as she headed for the door of the dark room. They kept the room dark to help block distractions and help the dispatchers focus on the monitors. It took a while for her to get used it. Once she started to work unofficially full time as a dispatcher she'd quickly acclimated to her new surroundings.