Jumpline magazine Q1 2023 - Flipbook - Page 46
46
I was There when it Happened
PART 1
1988 - 2019
During the hiring process for Metro-Dade Fire Rescue I was asked
in my interview if I would have a
problem leaving a department
where everyone knew me and
coming to a large department
where I am just another firefighter.
My response was that, as I did in
my current department, one day I
will make a mark on this department and won’t be known as just
another firefighter.
“He will be the Fire Chief one day,” was apparently a statement made by my Captain, Bill King, to then newly promoted
Battalion Chief Dave Brooks. Captain King was my primary
supervisor on Engine 9 during my 3rd probationary rotation.
Chief Brooks had stopped by Station 9 one day during his
rounds as Battalion 7. As we all sat around the table, Captain King was not there that day, Chief Brooks looked at me
and said that Captain King told him that “Downey was going
to be the Fire Chief one day.” Of course, I was floored and
simply said, “He knows more than me, I just want to make
probation.”
These are our protocols?
One of the glaring issues I had when I came to MDFR were
the protocols. Coming from Sunrise where we had what I felt
were very robust protocols compared to MDFR was enlightening. When I started at MDFR we had a “protocol manual”
that was comprised of individual “Special Orders.” Special
Orders were part of our department’s official correspondence
which included “General Orders” and “Administrative Orders.”
These collections of “Orders” were the precursors to our policies, procedures, SOPs and ASOMs that we know today.
When I started, we didn’t carry 1:1000 epi, didn’t carry Benadryl, did not use C-collars, secured patients to backboards with
ACE Bandages, immobilized the head with “blanket rolls” and
the bag-valve-masks had no reservoir. There were a lot of
other differences, but these are what I recalled. During recruit training the only question I missed on the protocol exam
was the dosage of Narcan. Back then it was 0.4 mg. Our
protocol manual, however, listed the dosage as (ZERO) 0-4
mgs! What kind of dosage is ZERO mgs? Obviously, it was a
misprint and it should have read “zero-POINT-four.” Oh well,
we all must miss some.
At my first meeting, I was the ONLY Firefighter in a group of
three Captain’s. As we started discussing the protocols, I
quickly realized that most of these guys were required to be
here as I asked the group, “Who is here because they want
to be here?” No one but me raised their hand. After the
meeting, I told Chief Alvarez I’d like to invite some other guys.
At the next meeting and those after were the composition of
what would become, the “real” Protocol Committee. Members included myself, John Gardner, Jeff Cole, Tom Cole, Jeff
Strickland, Phil DiMaria, Eddy Ballester, Jeff Rouse, Mike
Canfield and a few others I can’t remember right now.
Dave Downey, Ret.
The road to the development of our modern-day protocols was a rough one. Part
of the problem was that we simply
didn’t have the support of the Medical Director. In fact, he never
even attended a protocol meeting. A few years into battle, we
were blessed with the selection of Doctor Richard Furlong
as the new Medical Director.
Doctor Furlong came from
Jackson and was a young,
long-haired, progressive doctor. He embraced many (not
all) of the ideas of the Committee. I would credit Doctor Furlong
for bringing us out of the Dark Ages.
Unfortunately, we lost Doctor Furlong to
cancer. The others that followed included
Doctors Rosenberg, Romig, Shatz, Grossman, and
Job. All, like Dr. Furlong, made a significant contribution to
the protocols we know today.
One last piece of history. Where did the term Medical Operations Manual come from? I was tasked with trying to
assemble each of the individual Special Orders which were
the basis for the Protocol Manual into one document. This
was no easy task. When the Committee began working
on the layout for the “new” manual a couple of things were
embraced. First, we would number each protocol separately. This way, if we needed to change something, we could
change just that protocol and not the entire book. Second,
we wanted to incorporate the hierarchy of care from BLS
through ALS, thus the current sections. During one of the
meetings, Chief Alvarez put forth the idea of the Medical Operations Manual or MOM. His thought was where would you
go for permission? You would go to ‘mom’. Thus, the creation of the MOM.
MCI Plan
In the early hours of Saturday, August 15, 1992, gunmen
opened fire in a nightclub on NW 2nd Avenue called Taste
of the Islands. When it was over, 22 people had been shot,
4 killed. Rescue and Squrt 38 were dispatched initially for a
reported ‘330’ (shooting). Upon their arrival, they stated they
had multiple victims and requested a second rescue.
I was the Lieutenant on Squrt 11 and answered the “hotline.”
The FAO stated that Rescue 38 has multiple victims shot
and were requesting a second rescue. While I was on the
phone, I could hear Rescue 38 ask for Air Rescue so I confirmed Rescue 11 would be responding as well as Squrt 11
for the LZ.
Upon arrival I will never forget the site of the Driver of S-38
hosing down someone with blood all over them. As we moved
closer, I realized it was a MDPD officer. I asked where the
other victim was and he stated, “they’re all in there,” pointing
to the club in the strip shopping center. I quickly realized
R-38 and the other members of S-38 were in the back of the
February 2023 | JUMPLINE Magazine