Jeez Billie, you were unlucky there fella, do you know what caused the fire? BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Rough one to go through that is aj. Hopefully your doing ok.

Merchy

Since I joined the emergency services, I always carry a few basic items that can mean the difference between life and death.

Haven't had the same experience as aj but come across a patient once while I was on holiday who crashed in the services. Seemed a bit strange to crash a car in a 20mph parking area, checked the car and turns out a 30 year old lad was in cardiac arrest.

Started working on him and before I know it I'm having to run a cardiac arrest while waiting for my colleagues to arrive then the worst part was hearing his wife scream n his kids crying.

Got a letter of thanks tho 2 months later. The station guv said if it wasn't for me having basic airway maintenance and starting cpr early he wouldn't have made a full recovery.

I worked with Lincolnshire Ambulance Service as a volunteer first responder.
One of my calls in the early days was to a cardiac arrest in the local town, I did all of the usual stuff, Defib and actual got to shock him, I was then doing CPR. The ambulance service who controlled us let me know the ambulance was going to be about 50 minutes. I was absolutely worn out when they arrived after 48 minutes, once the paramedic had inject adrenaline he started to respond and went on to make a full recovery, I could believe it when I met him a few months after.

Another one I had was to a neighbour whose daughter was unconscious and un responsive. Mum and dad were all over me, is she going alright, why aren't you doing XYZ etc, I asked one of them to make a cup of tea and the other to stand outside to wave the ambulance down to get them out of the way. Sadly she was dead, I did all of the CPR but I was sure it was drugs, once the paramedic arrived he said he'd treated her before in town when she oD'd on Heroin. Mum and dad were heartbroken, loss of a beautiful 18 year old daughter.

It's strange how these things can affect you, it can raise you to sky and beyond when it's a success and you can plummet to the depths of hell when you cant do anything. During my 5 years doing the work, I succeeded with 22 cardiac arrests and was unsuccessful with 35 casualties.

I keep thinking of going back to it now I've retired, not sure I could stand it emotionally though. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

Know what you mean Bean, my first aid kit is bit more comprehensive than the normal ones purchased for cars.
It has some extra stuff like a 'Brooke's airway' still sealed in it's wrapper thankfully.

Always have the extinguisher and first aid kit in the car, thankfully so far I have not had to use them.

As AJGalaxy pointed out 50 minutes for an ambulance to arrive is a long time, so you have to be prepared to do what you can to help.
If I were to be in an emergency situation as others have described, then at least having the equipment in the car could possibly help someone.

Have a safe day everyone.

AJGalaxy2012 wrote:

Jeez Billie, you were unlucky there fella, do you know what caused the fire?

Apologies Maam!

Glad you got out safe thats the main thing, lumps of metal can be replaced. It's maybe a good thing the insurers were happy to pay out without a lengthy legal battle with the garage.

J BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6