Too Early or Just in Time?

by

Jane Royce

It didn't happen often, but today it did. John Gage was actually early for work! Feeling quite pleased with himself, he decided to stop at the nearest donut shop and buy a box of donuts for his crew-mates.

"Two dozen donuts and mix them up please" John pleaseantly instructed the girl behind the counter at the shop.

He was greeted with a smile and a shy wink as the girl completed the transaction.

"Thanks, the guys will love these!"

Johnny climbed back into his truck and sped off to the station to surprize everyone. Traffic was clear, so he made good time.

Johnny's truck approached the station and Johnny found the bay doors closed with both the engine and the squad parked inside. He parked his truck in the rear parking lot.

"I wonder if the guys had a quiet night" Johnny thought to himself.

Quietly Johnny opened the rear door and walked in. All was silent, so Johnny assumed that the crew was asleep. He decided to put the donuts in the kitchen and check the squad for supplies to prepare for his own shift.

To Johnny's delight, the squad was well equipped.

"Oh good, I hate to do a supply run first thing in the morning, the guys must have had a slow night" mused Johnny as he closed the trauma box, satisfied that they needed little to begin their day when Roy reported in.

"I'll just make myself comfortable in the day room then and wait for the shift to change" spoke Johnny aloud to an empty bay.

Johnny made himself comfortable on the couch and turned on the television to watch the early morning news. Within minutes it seemed, his eyes felt heavy and he felt himself drift off to sleep.

"Strange, I am not tired at all, but I am so sleepy" Johnny thought as he felt a fog enter his mind.

~~~~~~~~~~

Roy pulled into the driveway of the station and manouvered into the parking lot just as Captain Stanley pulled in too.

"Morning Cap, another day another dollar huh?" Roy mused.

"Hey Roy, good to see you pal." the Cap responded.

"I see that Johnny is here, for once he got here early, can you believe it?" Roy asked, making note of Johnny's truck already parked in the lot.

"It's unusual, that's for certain. Lets go in and see how the shift was for the guys." Stated Cap as he held the door open for Roy.

Immediately they sensed that something was amiss. B Shift should be having breakfast by now, but instead, silence greeted the two men. The sound of the television in the day room could be heard off in the distance. So the pair wandered in that direction to see who was up. They assumed that the last shift was a rough one and the guys were exhausted.

"Must have been some night for them to still be asleep huh Cap?" Observed Roy.

"Yeah pal, it must have been rough. I guess that's Johnny watching the television, lets go in and start some coffee. I bet they will all wake up once they smell the brew." Cap stated.

The pair walked into the dayroom and found the television on, and two full boxes of donuts on the table and Johnny sleeping on the couch.

"Wow, not only is B Shift exhausted, but Johnny is too!" Roy exclaimed.

"Roy, you start the coffee, I am going to check the log to see what kind of night the guys had. I'll be right back."

Roy walked to the coffee maker, and marvelled to himself how soundly his partner could sleep. He went to the window and opened it to allow the fresh morning air come into the room. He knew that the heat would rise today and that the smog would make this small moment a distant memory, so he stood by the window and enjoyed the air.

"Roy, this is strange, according to the log, B shift last went out at midnight and they have had no calls since!" Captain Stanley informed Roy.

"Cap, that is weird, what kind of run was it?" Roy asked.

"It was a garbage can fire, their time out was 30 minutes."

"Lets go into the bunk room and see if everyone's okay" Roy suggested, a feeling of foreboding entering into his thoughts.

The pair quickly walked to the bunks and noticed that all men were in their beds, and seemingly asleep. Captain Stanley approached Captain Alperts and called to him.

"Stu, hey Stu, are you alright?" Cap urged.

Captain Alperts and the others failed to respond to the calls of both Captain Stanley and Roy.

"Roy, what's wrong, they aren't asleep, they are unconscious!" Cap shouted, just as a wave of dizziness threatened to overcome him.

"Roy, oh god, what's happening, I feel sick, Roy!"

Roy was busy checking the pupils of Captain Alperts and discovered that his lips were tinged blue and that his respirations were shallow and weak.

"Cap, we have to get them outside, I think they've been poisoned!" Roy exclaimed.

Cap tried to talk to Roy, but his mouth refused to work. His legs felt shaky and he felt like he was going to pass out.

"Roy, I....I can't ...Need help now" murmered Cap as he slid to the floor.

Roy acted quickly, he thought he understood what was happening and he rushed to open all of the bedroom windows. He was relieved to feel the fresh air breeze into the room.

Roy dragged Cap Stanley out to the front lawn and gently laid him down. He ran in to get another victim.

Minutes later, Roy appeared with Captain Alperts and gently laid him down alongside Captain Stanley, who was quickly arousing and looking better than he had a few minutes ago.

"Roy, let me help, I feel better now" Cap offered.

"No Cap, stay here and keep an eye on Cap Alperts, I will bring out the rest of the crew."

Roy moved quickly and was able to get all members of B shift out onto the lawn. He was about to go back to get Johnny when Captain Stanley stopped him.

"Let me help you get Johnny, I feel better now. Let me help"

"I won't argue with you now Cap, but we have to move quickly!"

Captain Stanley and Roy ran into the station to get Johnny.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Johnny!" Urged Roy. "Johnny, come on now, wake up, you have to wake up now!" Roy continued.

"Lets get him outside with the others, of all the days to be early...."

Quickly, Captain Stanley grabbed Johnny's legs while Roy gathered Johnny's upper half. Together, the pair took Johnny outside and laid him on the grass alongside the crew of the B shift.

"Cap, call in the alarm, I need two more squads here and 4 ambulances." Roy called

Captain Stanley was already moving toward the call station to make the call when Roy spoke. It was clear that time was of the essence.

"LA this is Station 51, I am calling in a still alarm at this location. We have a code I times 7, repeat, we have a code I times 7 at this location. Request 4 ambulances. Possible poisoning, request police assistance."

"Station 51, 10-4" acknowledged dispatch.

Captain Stanley went back outside to check on Roy when he was overcome with a wave of dizziness. He moved quickly to the door, hoping the fresh air would make a difference. Once outside, he fell to his knees and gulped fresh air, he did feel better but was weak.

"Cap" shouted Roy as he saw his Captain fall down.

"Cap, are you alright?" Asked Roy as he noticed Captain Stanley recover.

"Roy, I don't know what happened. I called this in and when I turned to come back out here, I got dizzy!"

"Cap, lie down here, I have to go in the get the equipment." Roy instructed.

Just then, Chet and Marco pulled into the station parking lot and saw all of the action on the front lawn.

"Roy, what the hell is going on here, what happened?" Asked Chet.

"Chet, go inside and get me my gear, the Cap and I got here at the same time this morning and found B shift asleep but not responding. Johnny must have shown up early, because he was unconscious on the couch in the dayroom. Something is wrong in the building, Cap got dizzy when he went in to call this in, so be careful."

"Right Roy, we'll be back in a minute" Chet answered as he and Marco ran toward the squad to get the gear that Roy needed.

Mike Stoker had silently approached the group and overheard the conversation between Roy and Chet.

"Roy, what can I do?" He asked.

"Mike, go and open the bay doors, something's not right in the station. Open both the front and the back doors and help Chet and Marco with the gear. The Captain called in the incident so help should be here soon." Roy directed.

"Right Roy." shouted Mike as he ran into the interior of the station. Seconds later, Roy could hear the sound of the bay doors opening, followed by the sounds of sirens off in the distance.

Roy had all of B shift lined up in a row, and all men appeared to be breathing on their own. Johnny and Captain Stanley were as well, but Captain Stanley was clearly struggling to focus.

"Roy!" shouted Bellingham, one of the paramedics to respond to the call Captain Stanley placed minutes before.

"Bellingham, good to see you. Cap and I got here at the same time today and found B shift unconscious. Johnny must have come early, we found him unconscious in the day room. Cap's has two significant episodes of dizziness with a loss of consciousness himself and he is coming around now. The rest of the guys are as you see them now. Lets get everyone on O2 and call this in." Roy instructed just as Marco and Chet returned with the gear from the squad..

The men moved quickly to place all of the victims on oxygen and began to call Rampart when the ambulances and police arrived with the final squad with two new paramedics.

Captain Stanley was the first to be aware of his surroundings and felt well enough to talk to the police about the events as he remembered them. He remained seated on the ground as he offered a statement of events.

Bellingham and Roy called Rampart and were instructed to maintain O2 on all victims and to begin IV's of saline prior to transport.

"Wha. Roy, wha happened?" asked a drowsy Johnny as the O2 began to revive him.

"Johnny, I am glad to see you're with us, how are you feeling?" Roy asked as he grabbed Johnny's wrist and began to observe his pulse.

"Oh man, I feel sick!" urged Johnny as he struggled to turn onto his side to vomit.

Roy helped him by holding his shoulders and pulling away the O2 mask. A shaking Johnny turned on his back again and gasped for breath.

"What's going on Roy, what happened?" Johnny asked again.

"It seems that you got to work early today, but you walked into the station when something was in the air. All of B shift was unconscious when Cap and I arrived and each time Cap goes into the station, he gets dizzy. I think it's carbon monoxide poisoning! You're going to be alright, Rampart is going to have to make room for all of you I think. Just lie here and wait for us to get you all ready for transport." Roy instructed.

"Roy, let me help" Johnny started, but felt himself being pushed down by Mike Stoker.

"No Johnny, relax, you are not doing as well as you think, and I have alot of help already."

"'k" mumbled Johnny, grateful for the opportunity to lie down and let the world around him stop spinning. He closed his eyes and waited for his turn to be loaded onto the waiting ambulance.

~~~~~~~~~~

"I want chest films on all the guys, maintain their O2 at 6 litres, draw bloods for chem 7, lets get some blood gases and lets work on getting them admitted Dix" instructed Kel Brackett as the crew from 51 arrived at the ER.

Once oxygen was started, all members of the crew began to slowly respond. The paramedics gathered in the hallway of the emergency department to discuss what had just happened when Marco, Chet and Mike entered the ER.

"So, what's happening with the guys?" Chet asked.

"I called the Battalion Chief and he has stood our shift down Roy." offered Mike.

"Good good Mike. The guys are all responding to oxygen. Some have come around and others are just starting to. Doctor Brackett wants to keep the here for a couple of days and is running blood tests now." Roy informed the men.

"What happened Roy?" Asked James, one of the new paramedics to LA county.

"Good question, it seems that the crew was poisoned. Johnny got to work early I guess and was poisoned as well. Doctor Brackett should be able to confirm it, but I think it was carbon monoxide."

"Carbon monoxide? That's a killer Roy, it should have killed them all, it must have been a small leak somewhere or it has not been going on long." Mike stated.

"I don't know Mike. I am just glad that we got them out of there when we did, if we had all been late, they could have all died!" exclaimed Roy with a shudder.

Just then, Docotr Brackett entered the hallway and approached the crowd of men.

"Alright men, we have some results. Roy, you were right, there are high levels of carbon monoxide in all blood taken from the crew. The levels were slightly lower in Johnny and Captain Stanley, but present nonetheless. All chest flims are clear, and all men are awake now and responding well to oxygen. We are going to keep them for a couple of days to monitor them, but they should all make a full recovery."

"That's great Doctor Brackett, thank you!" the men enthused.

"When can we see them?" asked Roy.

"Funny you should ask, your partner was asking for you. You can go in for a minute Roy. I have to call the public health department and the battalion chief and let them know that there was an incident at your station. The source of this will have to be located and dealt with." Doctor Brackett continued.

"I think I can shed some light on that Doctor" began Mike "the furnace was replaced two days ago. Maybe the B shift crew turned it on and there was a leak last night."

"That may be the problem here then Mike, someone needs to look into that right away." Dr. Brackett asserted.

Doctor Brackett left the men in thought as he made his way to the nurses station to work on admitting the members of station 51.

Roy quietly entered treatment room 2 where his partner and Captain Stanley lay on gurneys awaiting admission to their rooms.

"Hey Roy" whispered Johnny as he spotted his partner.

"Hey yourself partner, how do you feel?"

"Better, but man, what a trip!" Johnny exclaimed.

"Hey Roy, how is everyone else?" Asked Captain Stanley.

"Fine Cap, just fine. You are all going to be just fine."

"Well I am not ever going to be fine again" Johnny began. "This is the last time I ever go to work early Cap, the last time!" Johnny stated as he turned toward his Captain.

"That's alright pal, I think I can understand that!" Chuckled Captain Stanley.

The End