Just in time for the Christmas shopping rush, a little prompt to buy Rescuing Providence for everybody on your gift list!

He’s a good guy until his sugar level tanks, then he turns from Dr. David Brenner into the Incredible Hulk. Normally we treat him at his workplace and let him sign off, but today he needs to go. Not that today is any different from the other times we have been called to the welding company where he works, but the frequency of the calls makes it apparent that he needs to be evaluated.

He’s sitting on a chair in the warehouse, guys working around him. I have four firefighters from Engine 13 with us. Me and Brian could handle him, but with resources at our disposal it would be ridiculous to do so. Two people subduing an aggressive patient would need to use excessive force, and somebody would probably get hurt. With four or five people, the patient is completely overwhelmed, nobody needs to get carried away and everything goes smoothly.

We pluck him from his seat and put him onto the stretcher. I tell his boss that we plan on kidnapping him while he is out of it, taking the option of a lucid refusal away from him. I’ll give the D-50 en route. The boss is happy, I’m happy, the guys from Engine 13 are happy, and “John” is nearly unconscious but still full of fight.

The plan works perfectly. I’ve got Ryan and Brian in back with me, another firefighter driving and the other two following in the engine. The IV goes in, the medication follows, and John comes around, just in time to see the ER as we back into the bay.

“Where am I?” he asks.

“The ER, your blood glucose was 27, you had to go.”

“I need to stay at work, I need that job,” he tells me, trying to get off the stretcher.

“You need to get your glucose level under control. John, this is the third time this month. Your brain can’t take much more.”

“I guess.” He sits back in the stretcher and we wheel him in.

A fire department based EMS system is the most effective way to deliver quality patient care to the community. When the people assigned to those fire companies are trained and motivated, which they are in Providence, nothing beats it.