September FIrefighter of the Month

Sep 24th, 2008

On the evening of September 15, 2008 the crew of Engine 23 and Rescue 23, Shift 2 were sitting down together for their evening meal when at approximately 7:55 p.m. dispatchers set off the station alerting system to dispatch the units for a medical call reporting one burned at a local hotel. When the firemedics and firefighters arrived on the scene they were met at the rescue truck with a frantic mom carrying her 11 month old son with severe scald burns (1st and 2nd degree burns) down the front of his torso, covering his neck, chest, arms and hands. The skin was beginning to peel in some places. The sight was horrifying and the child was in a lot of pain.

It would be easy to say that it’s the classes that the department teaches or the way we run our stations and department that allows our personnel to rise to the occasion but it’s simply the caliber of people that are put in these types of situations that make the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department successful. Firemedic-Driver Ami H. Ingram, 29, with over 7 years on the department took the child from the mother and systematically delivered text book treatment and care. She, along with another firefighter, bandaged and restrained the child in the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department car seat. They then left the scene in only minutes as care continued en route to the hospital.

Anyone can imagine how emotionally crushing an injured child can be. Ingram continued her treatment with the trauma team at USA Medical Center. She held the fighting child while the physicians and nurses worked on him. After the vital morphine eased the child’s pain Ingram was able to release the burned child and then assisted the child’s hysterical mother. Ingram went to her and talked her through what to expect and told her how much her child needed her now. The mother had attempted to enter the treatment room earlier but became sick at the horrific sight. Now, with Ingram’s help she was able to attend to her injured son.

While Ingram insisted she didn’t do anything except her job the department still felt she deserved recognition for “Doing Nothing” except delivering complete and highly professional medical care to a critically injured child, for a dedicated and professional attitude in the event of a highly stressed call and for going above and beyond her duties with her actions at the hospital. Therefore, Firemedic-Driver Ami H. Ingram is the Mobile Fire-Rescue Department’s Firefighter of the Month for September 2008. The FFOM is sponsored by the Pleasant Valley Opportunity Club.