Posted: 9/16/2007 3:08:16 PM EDT
|
I thought of this topic while white water rafting this weekend and thought we might have some fun with it. I'd like to suggest you post a recent "Think Fast" or die/seriously hurt. It not only will be interesting but hopefully we can learn something from each other. Here's mine. This weekend my son and I rode the motorcycle down to meet my nephew and friends for a white water rafting adventure. There was enough of us it was a private party adventure and the guide was a close friend of my nephew. Everyone knowing each other directly or indirectly and all pretty much adults, my son the youngest at age 16, made for a great adventure since we could pretty much do the more difficult stuff and some fun things the others couldn't. For example, we stopped at one large rock and the guys using the current not swimming against it, jumped off the rock into the roaring waters. Then they would swim back in the rocks eddy. This is us on the river and my son riding the bow.  It was great fun. Anyway, what brought this up was as other rafts had been doing, we stopped in a water feature called "The Washtub". This is a nice fall that the water spins in circles. Caught off guard by the down pull my son and nephew leaned too far towards the current. I grabbed my son and pulled hard the opposite direction. It was then the guide thought it would be cool to turn us over. Totally leaned the wrong way I went in head first bashing my nose on a rock. The pain shot through my head like a bullet. Here I am underwater in a loop current and all I could think was "Damn, my nose is broken." I naturally know to not take water in from years of water sports but instinctively held my nose with both hands. I don't know how long this was but eventually it dawned on me I was still underwater going in circles. I don't recall thinking OMG I need air so it couldn't have been that long. Now it was time to think fast despite the pain before air became a factor. I brought my knees up as I had been told in the safety briefing. This had only happened to me once in my life up until this weekend and that was accidentally going over a spillway fishing. I felt myself stop spinning and once again went back to holding my nose and trying to decide if it was broken. A few seconds later, I bobbed back up the surface. I don't know how far I went downstream before I could finally take my hands from my nose, but the pain subsided and then I just put my feet forward and enjoyed the ride so to say. I was far enough from the raft, I almost decided to make for shore but the water was deep and had only enountered a few rocks that were pretty smooth, so just rode it out till the raft caught up. I'm pretty comfortable in the water. Three of us had went in and oddly enough my son wasn't one of them, though he did take a plunge earlier on. There was no blood and I couldn't feel any broken bones in my nose but I hadn't taken a bang like that since my martial arts days and took a front snapping kick in the face. Of course that wasn't under water. Though I never really felt I was in danger of my life, technically I guess I was had I paniced. Still I was kind of dissappointed a little the pain of my injury slowed my reaction time when it counted most. Something to add to my need to know list I guess. Ok, here's a long one. Let's hear yours or any comments on mine is always welcome. Tj |
|
Workers save man from fire at Daytona Beach complex Gary xxxx July 30, 2007 Two workers at a Daytona Beach apartment complex saved a 65-year-old man this morning after they were alerted to a fire in his apartment by an alarm system. Donald xxxxxxx and David xxxxxx, employees of XXXXXX Apartments, ., not only pulled the man to safety, but also extinguished the fire, said John M. King, spokesman for the Daytona Beach Fire Department. The victim, who was not identified, was suffering from a diabetic episode when he was rescued about 11:10 a.m., King said. He was disoriented and suffered cuts to his face and neck after breaking out a window as he tried to escape the fire. The first time Don and david entered the apartment, thick smoke prevented them from reaching the man, King said. The heat set off fire sprinklers that helped hold the fire in check and the two men grabbed portable fire extinguishers and were able to reach the victim. They helped him out of the apartment through a window and then put out the fire, King said. The victim was taken to Halifax Medical Center for treatment of diabetes, smoke inhalation and the cuts he suffered. The fire was caused by discarded smoking material, King said. so i played hero for 30 minutes story is misisng some info LOL. like the fact that we evac'd 30 + units on 3 levels....... enterd the unit 3 times, trying to find the guy. Then had to administer 1st aid to him on spot . we were the only ones that attempted to help him( besides one resident that helped drag him out the window with us!). 50+ others stood by yelling " YO,,Tyrone you call 911 yet.....bring me my blunt..." all i gotta say is guys....take some 1st aid class's, and have some fire supression preps! that was a copy paste from another forum im on.. and is me. i dontthink,, just do,, its bad,, and good in ways.. but was a true learning experiance for sure... |
| Your my hero Protus... Not joking, that was a very brave and good thing you did... It is surprising what you find yourself doing in tense situations... You see some people panic, some just freeze up, some just look on as though to enjoy the carnage and damage, and some act. Those that act are often the unappreciated heros. For some its there job, and for some its instinct. You react without thinking about what your doing, you just do it because it has to be done... This is a good thread, thank you for sharing your stories... |
Situation as I was headed to work one day. End of the article is the pic of my lil friend. 
Funny part is, i was late for a meeting, when I walked in with blood all over my uniform, they understood why I was late. lol.  Working outdoors and in neighborhoods every day , day in , day out. Im frequently the first to call 911 for car wrecks, gas leaks etc etc etc. |
|
The only one I can think of offhand is when I went camping near a mountain river. It was sunny, I was wearing shorts, and a pool in the river looked deep and friendly so I jumped off a big rock into it. The water was so freezing cold that my body was shocked and I couldn't move, which turned out to be a very panic-inducing feeling. To make matters worse, once I could move again I realized that the rock I jumped from was too big to climb back onto so I had to stay in there longer in order to find a spot to get out. Probably not a big deal but I certainly gained a new appreciation for the dangers of anything related to hypothermia. |
good job with the ladder.... did you have a permit for it  LOL.... kudos....
|
|
A fellow firefighter was trapped under a pumper that had slipped into road gear, ran him over pinning him to the ground under the right side of the frame. Knowing that we didn't have rescue air bags on our ladder truck, I yelled to my crew to get the jaws. The worn Detroit motor in the pumper was in a runaway condition and revving at high RPM. I handed off the jaws to one of my crew, jumped up on top of the engine, discharged a water extinguisher into the air intake which slowed the RPMs down some then went to the drivers side engine compartment and cut a slit in the rubber coupling from the air cleaner to the intake manifold and discharged another water extinguisher and a dry chem extinguisher into it which finally killed the motor. Nobody on scene other than me, recognized that the motor was in a runaway condition, sucking crankcase oil past the rings and valve guides, billowing thick black smoke hampering our rescue efforts and revving almost to the point of disintegrating. The emergency shutoff had been pulled by the driver and it failed to shut down the motor. All this happened in a matter of two or three minutes and we saved our coworker. The fire engine was junked (as it should have been ten years ago). Can't wait to see the outcome of the civil suit that will be brought against the city. |
| A few years ago I was driving to a friends cabin in the Adirondaks. It was raining durring the day the tempature dropped to about 25 at night. The back road leading to his place turned to black Ice. One bad turn later and I was on the roof at the bottom of a ten foot enbankment. After a quick top to bottom bilateral eval, I released myself from the belt and wiggled around to sit on the inside of the roof. The motor was still running and I was concerned about fire. I turned the key and shut the motor off. The doors were jamed and the wind shield was pressed agaist the ground. so there was no obvious escape route. I briefly thought about shooting out the side window. Thankfully the brain housing group kicked in to gear and I realized I still had power so I rolled the window down, or rather up in this case. I Scrambled free, climbed the enbankment and hiked the last 1.5 miles to the cabin. |
The really sad part is, the gas station attendant jus stood in the door way and watched all of it. He never got involved, not even to the point of calling 911.  I kept yelling at him to call 911, eventually, i told him to fucking do it and not jus stand there. He eventually did, paramedics came ,etc. Cop told me if I had CCWd and shot the dog. it couldve been gray area cuz it was basically a dog on dog attack at the time i showed up, etc. it was jus strange. |
|
You said the "Guide" turned you over?? I see this as a clear water situation, not a muddy water one. In a muddy water situation, when you want to drown someone you don't care what color the water is, you just want to get the job done. With a clear water you want to see them when you hold them down. |
|
Well since this thread took a turn to have you seen action, here's a clip from my memoirs, condensed version. My wife and I are sitting in our apartment one day, when a buxom blond neighbor wearing nothing but a bikini walks in without knocking and sits in our rocking chair in the middle of the floor. She looks obviously nervous but starts talking small talk, weather etc. A few minutues later an obviously stoned out of his gord guy walks in without knocking and takes a seat on the couch. He doesn't say a word but stares at the blond. They're exchanging looks so its pretty obvious they know each other. A few more minutes pass as the girl continues to carryon small talk. The guy suddenly jumps up, back hands the girl, and rips her top off saying, "You PTing B..., I'm going to F... you whether you like it or not." I look at my wife, give her the look and a nod of my head. She knows what to do and leaves the apartment to go call 911 at my buddy Mooses apartment. I'm sitting there now on my couch with my hand under the pillow where my S&W 39-2 is as this guy is now fondling the girls breasts. She's a ball of tears gently sobbing. I then gave it my best John Wayne voice, "Leave the girl alone." The guy backs away from the girl then begins hitting himself in the chest like King Kong. He was hitting himself so hard it was amost deafening and red marks were showing on his chest. "You can't hurt me. You can't hurt me. You can't hurt me." He screamed. With all the seriousnous I could muster I say, "I'm not going to hurt you. If you even move, I'm going to blow your damn brains out." I meant it and he could tell it. His mouth drops open and his eyes turn wide. That was an intense second or two for I was sure I was going to have to kill this guy. Just then my door opened wide and there stood my buddy Moose. The guy turned and I came off the couch gun in hand driving the barrel into his solar plexus with all the effort I could muster. The guy went down like a sack of potatoes. Moose grabbed one arm and a hand full of trunks while I grabbed another. We carried him to my door and chucked him down the hill to the parking lot. He landed on his chest with a big whomph. We could hear the wind come out of his body and cringed as he slid chest first on the asphaul about six feet. HPD showed up. Took our statements and loaded the guy into the patrol car. That was some fast thinking that day and seconds seemed like hours. Yet really I wasn't in control of the situation and the situation was dictating my actions. I could influence the course of events but ultimately the course of events left me little options short of the action taken. Tj |
Some “fast thinking” happens slowly over time before an event. TJ I know that you are an advocate of family communications, so your wife did not need a long explanation that time. Reviewing events that happen to yourself or others can be used as a tool to be ready with a response to repeated or similar events. A friend of mine who spent some time as a deputy sheriff out west told me about a case he worked. A series of robberies occurred at filling stations. The thief would approach while the victim pumped gas. I forgot the rest of the details but I believe the thief smoked. The review was summed up by my friend when he said “somebody threatens me while I’m pumping gas, NO, They’re gettin’ hosed and possibly lit”
So as I read DT’s story I’m thinking “I see a rabid dog attacking while I’m pumping gas” what would I do? |