The Brigantine Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department responded to 25 fire calls and 70 EMS calls Oct. 16-29.
The fire calls included residential and commercial smoke, fire alarms and carbon monoxide alarms, a water rescue assignment, a malfunctioning electrical appliance, multiple motor vehicle accidents, a hazardous condition, a building with questionable structural integrity, a stalled elevator, a hazardous materials cleanup, a good-intent call, assisting at different community events, assisting with a few public service assignments, as well as assisting with EMS calls.
The EMS calls included cardiac and respiratory emergencies, several opiate overdose calls, medical emergencies including cerebral vascular accidents (stroke), syncope (loss of consciousness), seizures, anaphylactic emergencies (allergic reaction) and altered mental status, traumas due to sports accidents, household accidents, motor vehicle accidents and falls, cardiac arrest victims, as well as assisting with lifting and moving patients, and a few health and welfare checks.
On multiple occasions over this time period, members of the Fire Department responded for reports of unconscious and unresponsive victims due to suspected opioid overdoses, in IC 1, BLS Rescue 3 and Engine 1.
On each of these calls, they arrived to find patients who were barely breathing or not breathing at all, were cyanotic (blue in color) but still had faint pulses. The victims were immediately given Narcan (naloxone) to reverse the effects of the opioid, nasal airways were inserted and rescue breathing was performed using the bag valve mask device along with supplemental oxygen and airway suctioning. In all cases, the victims were conscious and oriented by the time the ambulance arrived at Atlantic Care Regional Medical Center, City Campus.
The Brigantine Fire Department would like to remind you that daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 5. Please remember that when you change your clocks, you should also change the batteries in your home smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. This simple act of making sure your batteries are replaced with new batteries could save your life or the lives of someone you love.
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