Going to Extreme Measures

Chapter 11

By the end of the afternoon on the beach and hitting the waves Mike was on his own board. Lizzy proved to be a wonderful teacher, but it was Johnny's unusual technique with showing Mike about balance that had really made the difference. Mike rode wave after wave without falling off his board.

Johnny had quite a following of spectators as did Lizzy. "Johnny you still have it. Maybe you should consider surfing part time. I think you could still take first place against any of the guys on the circuit."

"No Lizzy, I like what I do." He smiled and nudged her playfully. "Surfing is your bag. It always was. I'm a paramedic, and I think I'm pretty good at that too."

The three friends relaxed in the sand watching the sun as it began to drop in the sky. There were still a few surfers trying to get in an afternoon ride before the sun got too low. Suddenly there was a commotion further down the beach. Out of experience Johnny and Mike sat up straighter trying to determine if their help might be needed.

"Help! Someone please! He's drowning!" A young woman screamed as she ran from the water. "Help!"

Johnny and Mike jumped up and ran in the direction of the crowd. "Lizzy tell Gus to call the fire department."

Mike stopped for a second and told Lizzy to ask for an ambulance and a squad and then he ran to catch up to Johnny.

"Ma'am please calm down and tell me what happened," Johnny had reached the distraught woman.

"Jason, he was surfing and he fell off. He didn't come up. I couldn't find him. Please help him." She pointed to the spot where she last saw her friend. Johnny could see the board in the water trying to come in with the tide, but something was keeping it out. He grabbed the girl's board and ran into the waves. Quickly mounting the board he began paddling to the area where Jason had gone under.

Mike also took a board from a bystander and followed Johnny out. They could hear sirens in the distance. Johnny reached the area first and slipped from his board into the water. "Mike can you stay up top?"

"Sure Johnny I'll be right here when you find him." Mike watched as Johnny went down to try to find the missing surfer.

Johnny came back up a few minutes later pulling Jason up with him. The surf board still tied to his ankle had helped Johnny find him. He was unconscious obviously he had hit his head on something, maybe his board. He wasn't breathing. Johnny swam over to Mike and together they pulled Jason onto his board. Johnny started mouth to mouth. He checked for a pulse, and didn't find one. He knew that he couldn't do chest compressions where they were, so he continued to give breaths as they headed toward the beach.

Once they got close enough to shore for Mike to get off the borrowed board he and Johnny pulled Jason's board up on the beach. Johnny immediately began chest compressions and Mike took over breathing for the injured man. A few seconds later a team of paramedics ran over with their equipment.

"Gage, Stoker, what have you got?" Craig Brice asked as he stopped in the sand beside the group.

"Hit his head surfing. He was under about three minutes. He wasn't breathing when we got to him. I couldn't find a pulse," Johnny huffed out between compressions. "Get Rampart on the line. We need to shock him."

"One thing at a time Gage, I'll need to get vitals."

"I told you Craig he's got no pulse," Johnny raised his voice.

Mike had switched to the oxygen, and Bellingham was assisting with breaths. Mike reached over and grabbed the bio-phone. "Rampart this is squad fif...uh...sixteen. Do you read?"

"Squad calling in please repeat," Dr. Brackett answered from Rampart.

"Rampart this is squad sixteen."

"Go ahead sixteen."

"We have a male drowning victim age..." he looked over at the girl friend.

"Seventeen," she said through her tears.

"Age seventeen. He has suffered a blow to the head. He was under about three minutes. We are not sure how long he was not breathing. When we extracted him he had no pulse. We have been administering CPR."

"Sixteen do you have vitals."

"Rampart all vitals are currently assisted. Respirations 16, BP is...." He looked at Brice.

"90 over 60."

"Rampart BP is 90 over 60."

"Sixteen start an IV D5W wide open, and patch me in. Continue CPR and prepare to shock."

The team of firemen worked feverishly to revive the teen. They administered the medications Dr. Brackett ordered and shocked Jason's heart back into rhythm. By the time they had him loaded into the back of the ambulance both Johnny and Mike were exhausted. Lizzy was amazed at what she had just witnessed.

"Wow I can't believe you just saved that kid. He was....I mean....you...you brought him back. That...that was really something. You really are good at what you do Johnny. Both of you." She smiled at Mike. "You were both really amazing."

They walked over to Gus' stand. "Johnny what you did with that kid." Gus couldn't finish the sentence. He just nodded his head. "I'm proud of you boy. Very proud. How about something to drink? A soda?"

"Water." Johnny was still a little winded from all the work it took to continue CPR for so long. The adrenaline from the rescue had left and he could barely stand. He sat at one of the tables near the counter and laid his head on his arms. Mike got the water from Gus and took it over to Johnny.

"Here," he sat it down in front of Johnny. "I'll get out things loaded in the truck. You take it easy for a minute."

Lizzy walked with Mike. "Is he okay?"

"He's just tired. CPR is hard work. He'll probably be asleep before we get back on the main road." Mike chuckled. "One thing about Johnny he gives every rescue his all. He will not give up on a patient until he's dragged away. He and his partner Roy rarely lose a patient. When they do they take it very hard. They really do have a gift for what they do. They really are the best."

"Well I think I saw part of what makes them the best." Lizzy took Mike's hand in hers. "You were pretty good too."

"What? I didn't do anything but help Johnny."

"Mike you're too modest. You breathed life back into that boy. You talked to the hospital, giving them all those details. You didn't have to be given any directions. You knew what to do." She rubbed her other hand up and down his arm.

"Oh." Mike blushed.

"And to think I didn't even get to see you fight a fire." She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder.

Mike and Lizzy came back from loading the truck to find Johnny asleep. Mike woke him up enough to walk over to the truck. He nodded off again as soon as he sat in the truck. Gus came up just as Mike was getting into the driver's seat. "Here you go Mike. I know he'll be hungry when he wakes up. There's enough for you both."

"Thank you Gus. It's been nice meeting you and Lizzy today." Mike shook Gus' hand.

"It's been my pleasure Mike. Tell Johnny not to stay away so long this time. We enjoyed seeing him. He looks happy." Mike could see the pride in Gus' eyes.

"I'll make sure he comes back soon."

"Mike I hope you'll come back soon to practice your surfing." She slipped a piece of paper into his hand as she leaned in and kissed his cheek.

"I will." He blushed again.

When he pulled up at Johnny's place he took a minute to look at the piece of paper Lizzy had given him. On it was her phone number. He smiled. "Come on Johnny we're home." He nudged Johnny who stirred enough to open one eye. "Gus sent dinner. Let's go and eat. Then I'll head home. I'll pick you up in the morning for work since your Rover is still at the station."

"Okay," Johnny said as he slowly got out of the truck. "Man what a day."

"Yeah what a fantastic day!" Mike agreed with a bit more enthusiasm as he slipped Lizzy's number into his pocket. "What a fantastic day!"