<i> -Tonight...</i>
-HOLLY:<i> Marker.</i> <i> on a special edition
of</i> Nightwatch... -Working nights, there's a lot
more violence. -Definitely. -They cut you right here.
-We got a go. A lady got struck on her bike... -(screams)<i> -she's missing
half the back of her leg.</i> Hey, sweetie, we're gonna
take care of you, okay? HOLLY: All right, baby,
don't move, okay? -But I saw her, like,
two, three days ago. -Really? I mean,
it's severed pretty clean. You remember the guy that
slammed his finger in a door... HOLLY: Mr. Glynn,
I have the tip of your finger. Life is all about the stories. ANNOUNCER:<i>
In the city of New Orleans,</i> <i> there are as many as 1,000
emergency calls every night.</i> <i> These are the stories
of the heroes</i> <i> who risk their lives
to answer those calls.</i> <i> Police officers...</i> <i> firefighters...</i> <i> and emergency
medical technicians.</i> <i> This is</i> Nightwatch. ♪ ♪ DAN: Nightwatch<i> is a big part
of our lives.</i> <i> With more than 30 episodes
under our belt,</i> <i> Nick, Holly, Titus and I
decided it was the perfect time</i> <i> to get together... and have</i> <i> a look back
at some of the craziest moments</i> <i> we've experienced
over the years.</i> HOLLY:
How long did it take y'all to get used to, like,
the cameras? Uh, that's a good question. -I think the one big problem...
-DAN: I'd say a couple of weeks. that-that we experienced, that,
uh, I'm sure you guys, too, is that when somebody calls 911,
they don't expect a camera crew <i> to be right behind
the paramedics when they go in.</i> <i> So that took a little bit...</i> -HOLLY:<i> Season one was hard.</i>
-NICK:<i> I think</i> everybody was nervous
until that first scene. That was me, I was like, "They are really gonna
make me look stupid." You know what I mean?
That's my biggest fear. HOLLY: When they said,
"We're gonna film what you do," I didn't ask
a whole bunch of questions. Like, I didn't ask, like, is
this gonna be, like, a series, like, what network
is this gonna be on? And so seeing it
for the first time, I was just like,
this is not what I imagined at all, and this is crazy. My most memorable thing was when
Gavin and I were still partners, like, one of those
very first days, like, very first call
was that shooting. <i> That was the very first
season opener for season one.</i> You've got two
in the left lung, one in the mid chest,
one in the left femoral. -The muscle, too.
-It's two here, -got one here.
-One to the right forearm... Hey, hey, hey,
just calm down a minute. Just drop it, I got it.
Where's the stitches, Gavin? You're not breathing. Who's riding? -All right, guys, y'all ready?
-HOLLY: Yes. HOLLY:<i> Soon after we got Anthony
to the hospital,</i> <i> E.R. doctors lost his pulse.</i> Bottom line,
that kid didn't need to die. HOLLY:
I agree, Gavin. But he was alive
when we got him here. If he was gonna die,
he was gonna die anyway. He got shot in the chest. It's not over till it's over. GAVIN: Well, it's over. -HOLLY:<i>
Maybe, like, an hour later,</i> I'm looking at one of
the camera guys, and he looked so bummed, and he's like, "I just watched somebody die
through the lens of my camera." -DAN: Right.
-And... -A real person.
-Like, yeah, like, -Right.
-and it was very shocking to me, because I felt like
the bad person for not being like,
man, these people aren't exposed
to what we're exposed to, you know what I mean,
so, like, I should have checked and made sure
that everyone was okay, and I didn't even think
about that, because we just, you know,
we kind of do what we do. And that's the moment that,
with our crew, like, we all kind of melded, and
it was, like, they just became, -They're our family.
-like... family. -And they were part
of the truck. -Yeah. But does it...
does it trip you out, though, like, now,
since from the first season to, like, you know, this season, when you go in
and there's people like, "Oh, that's<i> Nightwatch!"</i> How you doing, baby? How y'all doing?
(laughs) (excited chatter, laughing) Now, you realize
you can't be on the show if you talk about the show. It's like<i> Fight Club.</i> See, y'all notice the cameras,
but we're doing a documentary on the paramedics, on how
we treat our patients, bro. You watch<i> Nightwatch?</i>
Well, y'all gonna have to watch this one, too, bro. Say, bro,
you really do watch it. Now you're gonna watch... You gonna watch yourself, bro. NICK:<i>
Believe it or not,</i> I've been told
by people in dispatch -that they have requested
our unit. -DAN: Right. 911 call says, "Can you send
Holly and Nick to our house?" And I can guarantee you
we do not get sent. -(laughter)
-Right. HOLLY:
Which is, I mean, I do love the level of trust that it has
built between us and patients, because there's a instant,
like, visible sigh of relief when we walk
through the door together. People are like, "I know you,
I've seen your work, -I trust you."
-Well, and people that send those messages saying that, you
know, they had anxiety before about, you know, if they ever
had to be treated or whatever, and now seeing us, now they feel
like, you know, professional. The biggest thing for me
is I still-- even though I appreciate it--
I'm still not used to people just coming up to me,
you know what mean? I'll randomly, I'm buying
groceries or something, and somebody just walks up
to me, I'm like, "Wha...?" And they just sort of hug you
and you're like, "Aah!" Because you never know when
you're gonna be recognized and asked to take a picture, like, you can't go out
looking busted anymore. -(laughs)
-NICK: Like I say, I love it. I can handle it. I love it. I do, too.
I'm with you because, let's be honest, I mean
look around this room... HOLLY:
It's cool as (bleep). Look around this room right now,
our lives have changed. -ALL: Yeah.
-I mean... -Yes.
-I love it, I ain't gonna lie. I do love, like, I love to see a kid, like,
running up and being like, "You're Holly from<i> Nightwatch,"</i> and I'm like, "Hell yeah, I am,
you little cute butt." It's kind of like our last name
is "Nightwatch" now. 'Cause it's never just "Holly,"
it's "Holly from<i> Nightwatch,"</i> it's "D-Dan from<i> Nightwatch."</i> I love, like, how people's
go-to question to, like, paramedics,
they're, like, really health care providers, is like, "What's the craziest
thing you've ever seen?" Do you remember the guy we
had that, uh, slammed his finger in the door, and, like,
the tip got cut off? <i> When we arrived to
the apartment complex,</i> <i> the fire department is trying
to get into the residence.</i> <i> The guy won't open the door.</i> PARAMEDIC 1:
Sir. PARAMEDIC 2: It's the
Fire Department and EMS, let us check you out. -PARAMEDIC 1: Where was it?
-Oh, his finger was stuck? <i> The patient's neighbor
from across the hall</i> <i> had accidentally
slammed his door</i> <i> on the patient's finger
and severed it.</i> PARAMEDIC 2:
Hey, can you come open the door? -Ho-ho-hold up...-Yeah, like,
I will remember that forever. The neighbor took the finger out and put it in a bag, and put it
in his own personal fridge? They were arguing
about something. DAN:
Why was the neighbor involved? That's what I was
about to say, yeah, they were arguing about
something, he finally got mad, or something,
and slammed the door, but his finger was in the door and just snapped it right off. (man yells indistinctly) What? HOLLY:<i>
We finally hear him,</i> <i> so now we at least know
that he's conscious.</i> <i> And it doesn't sound like</i> <i> he's in too much distress.</i> <i> Really just sounds like
he's angry.</i> I mean,
it's severed pretty clean. Mr. Glen, I have the tip of your finger. We might be able
to put it back on. (man groans) -What'd he say?
-(imitates groan) -(paramedic laughs)
-That's not what he said. That's what I heard. -There it is.
-There we go. NICK:
Hey, Mr. Glen. HOLLY:
Hey, buddy. PARAMEDIC 1:
There you go. HOLLY:
I have the end of your finger. So we can take you to the
hospital and get it put back on. Yeah they can, I have the end of
it, it's a very clean cut. Hold up, the dude didn't holler? No! He was drunk? Yeah, oh, he was, he was drunk. -(laughter)
-I mean, it's New Orleans, -everybody's drunk.
-Right. But, you know, it's, like, that's a crazy story. Like, a nor-- I guess
in another city, like, "Oh, yeah, you slammed
your finger in the door, that's cool." But of course, in New Orleans,
it's because -you was arguing
with your neighbor, -Right. and he slammed your finger
in the door, and then you walked away
not even knowing. He opens the door, puts it in a Ziploc bag, and puts it in the freezer,
calls an ambulance. Probably goes and sits on the
couch. (imitates opening a can) TITUS:
So how did it wind up? NICK:
He didn't get his finger back. TITUS: No, no, no, I'm talking
about did he get transported -to the hospital?
-NICK: Yeah, we made him go. DAN: That's the great thing
about the show, is we don't what y'all done,
so in my head, when the call came out of somebody's hand
slammed in the door, -I immediately thought,
like, of a car. -HOLLY: Right. So I'm expecting, to see a dude
with, like, a bruised finger, maybe a broken finger. -Right. -Then when y'all took
him out that apartment, and he had his hand up and,
like, half his finger, I was like, "That dude's
finger's gone." -(laughter) -Right.
-DAN: Like this is not a door. <i> This dude's finger's gone.</i> Here's your finger.
You want to hold onto it? Don't drop it. Okay?
And don't take it out. -(laughs)
-Yeah. Long as it's not
the middle finger, we're good. Life is all about the stories. TITUS:<i> I mean,
the people of New Orleans</i> -are just so... different.
-HOLLY: Unique? Unique, eclectic. And it makes everything
so memorable. Like, there's so many calls
that are just so memorable. Like, you know,
just a random patient that you will never forget. TITUS: Like the young lady
that we picked up... -DAN: That's perfect.
-...the singer. Awesome lady. She wasn't even
from New Orleans, but she embraced the culture
so much, <i> and her craft and singing,</i> <i>that she actually got a tattoo.</i> -DAN:<i> Right. Right.</i>
-TITUS:<i> How dope is that?</i> -I like that. -I love this city
more than anything in the world. DAN: You sing, like,
in clubs and stuff? I sing, too. We got to pick
a song we can sing together. Let's see,
we were walking down the street. -The sidewalk...
-♪ We were walking ♪ ♪ Down the street ♪ ♪ You and me ♪ ♪ All saucy ♪ ♪ And the sidewalk, it came up ♪ ♪ To beat me, well ♪ ♪ It didn't sing so sweet. ♪ (laughs) That was awesome. So, the only thing
I can relate to that is: we get so many patients over
and over again that we know. Like, last night,
I was at Tulane. And remember that dude that,
like, fell in love? We picked up a couple times. One of the many men
who have loved... -Oh, he had a crush on you.
-Yes. -Yeah, yeah, yeah.
-He had a crush on you? -Yeah, yeah, yeah. -Oh,
I remember that. Right, right. HOLLY: Nick? Tall and luscious. I think you might like him
more than his wife does. (laughs) What's up? Feeling better? -I got all you want, boo.
-(whoops) Let's do it. All right,
we goin' inside together. Let's do it. (Nick laughs) DISPATCHER:
10-4, I'll make note of... -Yo! -He had to be
one of the coolest dudes, ever. All-- you know, and I saw him
at Tulane last night and he's sitting there talking,
just sober, cool, just a nice dude. But that's not the first time. <i> There was also that white,
blonde-headed guy</i> <i> that we picked up,
that was in love with you.</i> -Are you married? -Um...
-NICK: Yes. -(bleep)
-(laughs) Ever check what hospital
you want to go to? -Tulane, of course.
-Okay. The best hospital in the city. NICK: Well, my wife would
appreciate you saying that. -I'm sure.
-Why, is your wife a nurse? -Uh-huh.
-I'm dead. (laughs) She might let you have him
for a little while. -I'm dead.
-(laughs) If she works there, she's good. NICK:
Yes, she is good. -We appreciate it.
-No, we appreciate it. NICK:<i> Most people
don't like us that much.</i> Oh, (bleep). I do. -God, I love you! Oh.
-(laughs) I just died and went to heaven. -(Nick laughs)
-All the way around in here. I think that is another part
that's, like, so New Orleans, is, like, the level--
the extent that we will go to <i> to watch out
for another human being.</i> <i> Even if we don't know.</i> Should be right up in here. NICK:
Yep. Snap. -Wow, she's on the ground.
-HOLLY: Ow. She's moving.
So, that's a good thing. One of the craziest traumas
that we, um, went on was a lady that got struck
on her bike. So, I hop out of the truck
and as soon as I see her, <i> I just do an about-face
to the truck,</i> <i> because her leg is,
like, mangled.</i> -(groans, yells)
-HOLLY: Ooh, (bleep). <i> probably one of the worst</i> <i>his is</i> <i> -leg injuries I've seen
in my career.</i> -(yells) She's missing half the back
of her leg. Hey, sweetie.
We gonna take care of you, okay? HOLLY: All right, baby,
don't move, okay? -(patient screams)
-NICK: All right. -Listen, listen.
-(screams) Listen, your leg's broken, okay? We got to straighten it out
to make sure you don't lose it. -Okay?
-Okay. So you got to be tough
and strong for me right now. HOLLY: That's it, baby.
The worst part's over. -Just relax. We're gonna put it
up-- that's it. -(screams) Put your arms on your chest,
I got to put you on this board, -all right?
-Oh, my God. -(yells) Please.
-Okay. Please give me something. Baby, I can't give you anything
right now. Oh, my God, please! -NICK: Can you wiggle your toes
on your left leg? -No! -I can't move it at all.
-All right. (screaming) -Do you feel that?
-No. -No, you can't feel that at all?
-No. Okay. HOLLY: Relax that arm
right there, okay? PATIENT:
Oh, my God. NICK:
3232, show us en route to U.H. (siren wails) I don't think I've really seen
a leg fracture that bad. Even since then,
but I saw her, -like, two or three days ago.
-Really? -Yes.
-Walking? Yes. And that's the crazy thing,
is she, you know, -she was like, "I recognize you
from somewhere." -Mm-hmm. And so, you know, we kind of
start talking a little bit. And, um, she's like, "You picked
me up when I got hit by a car." And, I mean, as soon as
she lifted up her pants leg, I was like,
"I know exactly who you are." -Wow. -Because, I mean,
as you can imagine, I'm sure they were not able to,
like, put all that back together -like it was. -TITUS: Right.
-DAN: It goes back together, -just not perfect.
-HOLLY: Right. Isn't that weird?
Our professions, you-- you can't recog--
you don't recognize somebody by the face, but their--
their injury. -HOLLY: You recognize them
by their injury. -Right. -Absolutely.
-It's, like, it's crazy. And so,
as soon as I saw that leg, I was like,
"I know exactly who you are." And she's like, she's like, "What's so crazy
is I just started walking -on my own again."
-BOTH: Wow! Like, she's just able to walk
without a walker -or any assistance or whatever.
-DAN: That's cool. And you can see-- I mean,
you can still see she has-- she has trouble, but to see her
and, you know, -have that positive experience
is crazy. -TITUS: Right. -And-and how she remembered me.
-DAN: Yeah. My face in that time
is insane to me. TITUS:
I know, right? Right. 'Cause I don't think
I would have remembered -much of anything...
-TITUS: Right. ...outside of the fact
that my whole body hurt. -(Titus and Nick laugh)
-Do you really ever-- I mean, do y'all really
ever wonder, though, like, what we're gonna be like
when we're, like, 60? -DAN: We'll be...
-And we're, like, really, you know, like,
you really start to realize that you have seen nothing
but human tragedy for the past 30 years
of your life. DAN: I'd want to concentrate
on the good that I did. -We see so much. -HOLLY:
'Cause I think about it now. I know that there are negative
ways in which it affects me. Like, I know, like,
we all compartmentalize and we all think that we do
such a great job of it, but I think we all
have little quirks that are a part-- that are--
stem from all the... -From the trauma.
-...the trauma that we see. To be a medic and especially
in a place like this, you have to have
some sort of box that you just
put your (bleep) in, -that you never open. You know
what I mean? -TITUS: Right. People burn out left and right,
we know. Maybe they last
two or three years, that's about the limit.
And then, you see people just (scoffs) done.
And you just see 'em change. -You know? -And what's sad is
it's not the call volume. -Mm-mm. -It's not the people,
it's not the service. <i> It's literally
the mindless violence</i> <i> that takes its toll on people.</i> NICK:
You got a tough head, man. I think my neck's hurt. You got it right
on the vessel, so... We're gonna take care of it
for you. -Don't move.
-You look at me. -Open your eye. (bleep)
-Yes. -Yeah, that's arterial
like a mother. -Yeah! NICK:
Craziness. <i> We have something
called Combat Gauze</i> <i>that has chemicals in it that's</i> <i>supposed to constrict the blood
vessels as much as possible.</i> <i> And you want
to put a pressure wrap on it</i> <i> to stop the bleeding.</i> HOLLY:
You got a lot of hair, bro. NICK:
You do. I like your hair. Oh. (laughs) Wrapped it around
like a refrigerator. We en route to a female
that's been shot. 3232, we're on scene. DISPATCHER: 1-19. Somebody robbed y'all? NICK:
It's gonna be okay. Take clean breaths.
You're all right. There was some type of party
going on. <i> And, um, masked gunmen
barged through the doors</i> <i> with guns drawn,
robbing everybody.</i> HOLLY:
Just one shot? NICK:
What happened? I look out and I see--
I just see one really tall guy holding a gun to my sister. I turn back around, run in the
bedroom, lock the bedroom door, go in the bathroom,
lock the bathroom. -Don't forget that arm.
-They shot three times. I was laying on the ground
by then. -Right. -'Cause I was trying
-to hold the door. NICK: Yeah,
that's definitely not fun. <i> Well, I mean,
that's thing about bullets.</i> When they come out,
they're really hot. So, the good news is the burn
actually cauterized the veins, so that's why
you're not bleeding. What's the tattoo say? -"Live life"?
-(Nick chuckles) (laughter) You know, working nights,
there's a lot more violence. Definitely. If something happens
at 3:00 in the morning, usually it's bad. TITUS:<i> We get a call
for a female</i> <i> that's stabbed in the face.</i> <i> It was a very severe cutting.</i> DISPATCHER:
...27 on 3rd Street... <i> Lady was missing half her lip.</i> <i> Our initial treatment is just
protecting the airway.</i> DAN: Open your mouth.
There you go. Say "Ah." -Ah.
-All right. TITUS: I'm seeing a few
abrasions to the top of the head,
which means that she might have some type of head trauma. No, we know, babe. We'll get you fixed up
at the hospital. (siren wailing) In other cities,
they don't have shootings and run, you know,
traumas like we do. There are days when it's, like,
shooting, shortness of breath, -shooting, chest pain, shooting,
abdominal pain... -TITUS: Right. -Shooting, shooting, foot pain.
-Right. And it's like, you know,
you're running so many a day, that gun violence
is astonishing. NICK: So the one thing
that amazes me about this city, we don't have
a lot of gangs here, we just have a lot of kids
with guns and a lot of... -I know. It's amazing. No gangs,
but like... -So I always say, most of the time, when somebody
gets shot, they just happen to be at the
wrong place at the wrong time. Somebody trying to prove
something to somebody else. Right.
Or when they get shot, like, they don't care
if it's a holiday or not. -Like, uh... -No.
A family party, Mother's Day. TITUS: Like,
one of our worst shootings got shot on Mardi Gras,
which is a time when New Orleans
is supposed to be festive. You know, having a good time,
you're taking your kids out. TITUS:<i> I remember us
driving to the call</i> <i> that came out,
somebody shot to the head.</i> DAN:<i>
Mm-hmm. So how many times</i> <i> -have you gotten that call?</i>
-HOLLY:<i> Right.</i> <i> And we pulled up,</i> <i> there was a supervisor
on scene,</i> <i> and we walked up, it was like,
I said, "Is he awake?"</i> <i> He was like,
"Yeah, he's talking."</i> DAN:
What you got, Der? Entrance, exit? -(man groaning)
-DAN: 3220, contact. TITUS: Hold up. He's awake,
and he's been shot in the head? I got you... I got... All right, man. I'm-a put
this on your neck, all right? DAN: Let's get him going
while we got a chance. (groaning) <i> with multiple gunshot wounds
through the head.</i> DAN: We're gonna
get you taken care of, man. <i> I just couldn't believe,</i> with the injury that
I'm seeing, in his head, that he was awake and speaking. Hey, man. You awake? My name's Dan.
I'm a paramedic, okay? I'm the one taking you
to the hospital. DISPATCHER:
877... DAN:
What is your name? -Charlie Hampton.
-Charlie Hampton? -Yeah. -TITUS: Hey, look,
I need this arm, Chuck. Keep talking to me.
Tell me what's going on, man. You remember what happened? DAN: You were shot
from temple to temple. DAN:<i> I mean, that pretty much,
may have destroyed his eyes.</i> But, I mean, he was awake,
and talk... He could've walked
to the truck. TITUS: I mean, having
a full conversation with Dan. All the way, he wasn't...
He didn't have any type of shortness of breath,
any type of distress. I mean, answering everything,
complete sentence. -DAN: It was, it was wild.
-It's insane though, that with all
of the gun violence that we see on such
a regular basis, that you would really have
any defined recollection of any call. -Because there are
so many of them. -Right. It's such a constant. It's crazy, man. I want to say
I was on my second shift, I had two shootings. -Mine, two hours into
the first shift. -TITUS: Wow. The hardest thing about our job is when you go somewhere
and there's nothing to do. -Right.
-That's the biggest thing. Baby, what happened? TITUS:
Oh, hold up. -Hold up, hold up.
-DAN: Excuse me, sir. TITUS: Hold up,
you got to calm down, baby. Calm down for one moment,
all right? DAN:<i>
We walk into the room,</i> <i> and obviously
the guy's deceased.</i> <i> It's not something
that happened ten minute ago.</i> I mean, he-he's been down
for a little while. TITUS: Who was the last person
that talked to him? WOMAN:
I am. Please, don't touch, but you can
pray. I'll let you later... but don't touch him, all right? -DAN: I'm coming around.
-TITUS: Right, right. Hold on, shorty. What's your name?
What's your name, sweetheart? -Patricia, his cousin.
-Patricia. We've done what we have to do. A police officer is gonna be
here to, kind of, walk you through
the next steps of this. And we're gonna get
out of your hair, okay? But if you have questions, the police officer
will be happy to address you. And we're sorry for y'all's loss
today, all right? It's gonna be okay, though.
All right? It's gonna be all right.
You'll be okay. -PATRICIA: Thank you.
-The Lord will take care of you. -All right?
-I believe in that. -I know. -TITUS:
Everything's gonna be all right. You just pray on it,
all right, Mama? All right? DAN:
Oh. 3220. What we have now,
what they give us -to do our job is...
-It's amazing. -NICK: Second to none.
-Yeah, it's leaps and bounds. HOLLY: And it's better
for patient care. Think about the hospitals
didn't get LUCASes <i> until we had been using
LUCASes for four years.</i> -TITUS: Is that right? -HOLLY:
Yeah, a lot of EMS services... We-we really are, like,
super progressive. TITUS: Doing without the LUCAS,
I can't even imagine. Do you really think somebody,
a human, could do manual CPR correctly -for 30 minutes?
-No. No. -Absolutely not. There's no way.
It's a machine. We're human. -You give him anything yet?
-No. Pull him out of neural. He was breathing
when y'all got here? NICK:<i> Our sprint units
are already there,</i> <i> doing CPR
with the LUCAS device.</i> HOLLY: All right.
Just get him on a stretcher. The LUCAS machine
that we use works so well <i> -doing chest compression.</i>
-HOLLY: All right. Let's go. -Up.<i> -They're doing better CPR
than any person</i> <i> could ever do,
and it never gets tired.</i> So New Orleans is,
obviously, the land of unfortunate fried chicken. -Right. -And fried fish,
and fried everything. -Fried eggplant.
-(laughing): Right. So I mean, we do get a lot of
chest pain, heart attack calls, and a lot of people
with cardiac issues. For people that come
and visit the city, they might eat
that fried food twice a year. -Right.
-For us, we eat it -twice a week, or more.
-Right. -Right. Yeah, well, a lot of people
don't realize that there's salt, -more salt in everything down
here. -TITUS: Oh, man. So, it's just like, we get
those tourists come down here, and their blood pressure's
through the roof. -Eat the crawfish, and
the next morning... -Crawfish? -(Nick laughs)
-Were you sucking on them heads? Man, that's so much salt
and sodium going in you, dude, my feet
literally swells up. I learned to take my ring off
before I go to bed. You gonna be one
of the cardiac patients we treat one of these days. NICK:
With that comes heart disease. We see a lot of patients
with heart disease. All kinds of stuff.
CHF, you got, you know, of course, that leads to dia-- you know, --betes, with obesity,
you got high blood pressure, So we do a lot
of cardiac patients. NICK:<i> Unfortunately, kind of
looks like he might be having</i> <i> a little hard time.</i> Yeah. But... Yeah. Well, it's not like
they go away. <i> Good news is,
you finally did decide to call,</i> the bad news is you just waited
a little bit too long. But the good news
is you're gonna be fine. We just got to get
a cardiologist involved to see what the best method
of treatment's gonna be. All right?
So don't worry about it. We gonna take good care of you. We get so used
to that type of person. But then, when we run
into something different, you kind of get taken aback
by it. -Like the call Tommy had.
-Yeah. -Right. He had... That was not
the classic cardiac patient. But he had significant history. -TOMMY: Gotcha. So you feel
the irregularities? -Yeah. This feels like it's been
racing? Like palpitations? Palpitations? -Racing?
-Okay. ARKADY:
Does it still feel like that? Oh, yeah, it's beating. ARKADY:<i>
His heart rate is almost 240,</i> <i> which is honestly,
the highest heart rate</i> <i> I've seen in my career in EMS.</i> Oh... All right. -How old are you? 31?
-MAN: 31. TOMMY:<i> You have
to treat him really fast,</i> <i> to get the heart rate
slowed down.</i> <i> Because someone
who's had open heart surgery,</i> <i> you're worried
about his heart stopping.</i> <i> He's what you would label</i> critical. All right, darling. So listen. Um, I've never had this before,
but when it works, it feels like somebody punched
you in the heart, okay? It's all right. Just try to slow
your breathing down. You doing really well, man. ARKADY:<i>
Out next step</i> <i> is to give him a medicine
called adenosine</i> <i> I won't lie.
It's scary for me to give.</i> <i> My heart stops
when I give this medicine,</i> <i> because that's exactly
what it's doing to the patient.</i> (man groans) DISPATCHER:
2154. -TOMMY: Okay? One, two, three...
-(screams) We got you, baby. We got you. TOMMY:
You're doing really well, man. <i> The adenosine didn't work.</i> <i> At this point, you want to
start getting yourself</i> <i> en route to the hospital.</i> Hey, it's Kady, I'm on scene
with a 31, 3-1-year-old male. <i>I'm calling the hospital to get
permission to use Cardizem,</i> <i> which is another medication
we can use</i> <i> on an increased heart rate.</i> He's awake. He is having
a little bit of pain. (siren wailing) <i> 10-4, Doug.</i> <i> I get my orders en route</i> <i> for the Cardizem.</i> Here you go, babe. You just relax, okay? (indistinct radio chatter) I like that better
than where you were. If that stays like that, you gonna start
feeling better, okay? <i> The Cardizem does exactly
what it's supposed to do.</i> <i> His heart rate went from</i> <i> 240s down to 114.</i> I'm okay with that. DAN:<i>
The old school way of thinking</i> was, you know, you gust get
to the hospital real quick. -Yeah.
-Whereas, nowadays, we are actually
practicing medicine. Now, it's like, look,
he's kind of unstable, and let's just be
calm, let's fix it, we'll get him something
to lower his heart rate, and then everybody can be happy. HOLLY:
To be so young. Like, that's really insane. I just can't imagine, like,
that's too much. -It's just on my little heart.
-NICK: Yeah. There's some people that I will
go above and beyond for. DAN:
Right. For me there usually is,
like, a vulnerability associated with it. Like, it doesn't matter
if you're, you know, a heroin addict
that's looking for detox, but, you know, it's-it's
genuinely in a bad spot. They might've lost their kids
over, lost their spouse, or their home, like--
or you could be, like, the battered woman who's
trying to live a good life, and she's clean and, you know, now she's got this dude
beating her up. She was telling me about
beating her up, and threw lighter fluid on her -about to light her.
-DAN: All right. It's like there's so much going
on for this lady. We want that out, baby girl. -That's messed. That's not okay.
-TITUS: Yeah. DAN:
Who is this to you? Boyfriend? Yeah? Okay. Baby, next time
I ask who that is, I want you to say,
"Ex-boyfriend." Do you take any medications
for anything? What you take that for? <i> For a guy to take his boot</i> and kick her in the stomach, that's almost an assurance
for a miscarriage. -All right, man, we'll get her
to the hospital. -All right. TITUS:<i> Definitely gonna take
care of you, sweetheart.</i> I don't want you to look down on
yourself, anything like that. We're equals in the back
of this truck, and I'm gonna hold you down,
all right? <i> Treating this
patient is personal for me.</i> <i> When I was in high school,</i> <i> my mom was a counselor
to battered women.</i> <i> In some cases, she had to go</i> pick them up and even bring
them to the house. So I can empathize
with these women, you know? I know what they're
going through, 'cause I seen it firsthand
at a young age. It just seems like it's
not getting better, baby. You seem like a cool, cool,
little mama, and I just don't want
nothing to happen to you, baby. Baby... I do not want to come there and
work some type of trauma code, all right, love? Since this happened, at least
you did this first step. DAN:<i>
Well, I think,</i> <i> what you end up connecting
with people is 'cause it's,</i> it's all of our
individual secrets. So you'll connect with these
patients for reasons unknown to everyone else because
it's literally a moment only you and
that patient understands. 'Cause you've been in that... You can empathize
with that patient. DAN: You're finding them in
their worst of the worst. Right. How did y'all deal
with, uh, like, violent family members on scene? You make them go
as easy as you can. When family members
or friends get aggressive, it's not so much that people
don't want us there, it's, a lot of times,
they don't understand -what we do.
-TITUS: Do, right. DAN: And, they either want
something to happen immediately, they want you to put them
in the car, and both of y'all get
in the front and leave, like it's a taxi. Like, it's usually that
they don't understand. -I think it's...
-They don't want to listen -to the explanation. -It's more
of an emotional-type scenario. It's easy to become infuriated when you're already on
high-tension alert because somebody's sick. And that can turn bad
really quick, like what happened to Ted. -Right. -You know, Ted's back,
in the back of the truck, helping to treat a patient, <i> and here comes
this family member</i> -(men yelling)<i>
-that's just acting crazy,</i> <i> and physically assaults him.</i> -Man, I don't have to go no
mother(bleep) where. -Get out. I don't have to
go nowhere. (bleep) Man, don't put
your hands on me, man. BOUVIER:
Need P.D., need P.D. Step out of the way. Step out of the way.
Fire, need your help! Get out the truck,
get out the truck! Get out the truck! HOLLY:
Let's go. Let's go. <i> Someone hit their
emergency button.</i> 3232 en route. <i> Immediate response is fear.</i> <i> Are my co-workers okay?</i> Is my family okay? <i> Because if somebody
hits that button,</i> <i> all hell is breaking loose.</i> -At Tulane...
-HOLLY: We were at Tulane and we jumped in the truck
so fast. NICK:
So we're just flying, we're just jumping
over everything. I mean, because when one--
as we already know, it doesn't matter, police,
fire, or us, when somebody in New Orleans
goes down, -we got to be there.
-The cavalry's coming. It's like, "Let's go, let's go," but you just, you never expect
that to be a possibility, and then it is. (indistinct yelling) BOUVIER:
Taking care of your mother! (bleep) (bleep) take your hands off me! He's in here trying
to (bleep) choke me, man! BOUVIER:
All right, P.D.'s here. Officer?
I'm the deputy chief of E.M.S., and I want that man booked. For assault on an E.M.T. You all right? TED:<i>
We get back in the truck,</i> <i> and I was feeling a lot
of pain in my shoulder.</i> And my left hand
was numb at the time. -(radio beeps)
-6240. (over radio):
I got an injured employee, I need another truck out here. -(radio beeps)
-3232, show us on scene. HOLLY:<i>
It happened to me once before.</i> <i> I mean, I got my ass beat</i> in the back of that truck. -TITUS: What happened?
-Sure did. Um, we had a guy, military guy, somebody cracked him over the
head with a bottle on Bourbon. Totally set him into,
like, PTSD-mode. Like-- I mean, he was on,
like, the battlefield. I mean, this dude was like 6'4", and probably like 230. And, I mean, he came up off the spine board,
off the stretcher, ripped the C collar off. He punched me right in the face, and then when he punched me
in the face, I fly into the I.V. stuff,
right? He punches me again, boom,
all the way across the truck. And bef-- like, I'm-I'm,
you know, hitting my button, and so they hear all this going
on, so everybody starts going. My face is bleeding,
like, this is for real. And, I mean, like,
people were there so fast. You know, they were able to
jump in and grab him. And I'm screaming, even with just being
assaulted by this guy, "Don't hurt him,
it's not his fault," because I knew that
this is PTSD. You know, he's, like,
straight battlefield-mode. Like, literally, that dude
could've killed me. -NICK: That's crazy.
-Kudos to you. -That's some strength. -HOLLY:
That was several years ago. Another thing that I just
kind of noticed is like, our job is kind of like a
steady, strenuous activity. -And sometimes, you know, in
spurts, like dangerous. -Right. But, like, even though
every one of fire's calls is not, like,
dangerous or strenuous, when it is, it's a big deal. Like that tanker fire. What a lot of people don't
know about the tanker fire is that we're sitting there
kicking it with the firemen. Like, those dudes
were about to go bed. -Oh!
-Oh (bleep)! DAN: Oh, this is gonna be bad,
though. (bleeps) -Away from this.
-Yes, indeed. That bitch can blow. Let's hump it, let's hump it! DAN: Hope the driver of
that truck got out. I don't like this at all. -(radio beeps)
-FIREMAN: Demanding 27. Backing throughout. (explosions) TITUS:
It's getting hot. DAN:<i>
Having been a fireman before,</i> <i> that was the first thought
in my mind,</i> <i> was "We're too close."</i> <i> Told Titus a fireman's trick
that they teach you</i> is to put your thumb up,
and look at the scene. And if you can still see it
around your thumb, you're still too close. -Dude, we got to back up
some more. -Right. Come on, move this truck. Dude, that's getting way too
big, way too fast. TITUS:<i>
It was so hot.</i> <i> They walking towards the fire,
and I'm like,</i> "I am not, I'm going this way." I mean, it was so hot, it felt
like my skin was melting, and I'm still like
a half-block away. And those dudes are going
towards it, and I'm like, "Hey... have at it,"
like, you know what I mean? And they're-they're so close.
Like, if this thing explodes, we're far enough back
that we're fine. -TITUS: Right.
-But they're not. -Right.
-You know what I mean? -We got a firefighter here.
-Right. -I mean, how many fires
you worked? -A lot. -Yeah. That's why I say,
-(Titus laughs) I can't say I couldn't do it, 'cause I did it
for eight years, but, um, <i>it's just-- it is so different.</i> <i> One of the things
that always got me was:</i> <i> all right,
I'm sitting at the house,</i> I'm washing a truck,
I'm, you know, studying for my next test, -I'm taking a nap on the cou--
whatever. -Right. -(alarm bell rings)<i> -But then
that alarm goes off. And now,</i> <i> you got to go
zero to a hundred.</i> Let's roll, fellas! DAN:<i> You gonna run ten blocks
down the street,</i> <i> a house is on fire. You got
somebody saying, you know,</i> -"Oh, my-my kid's
still inside." -NICK: Right. -Right. -Six minutes ago,
you was washing a truck -or taking a nap.
You know, so, like... -Right. ...you really got to get awake and get yourself to that level, put on a hundred pounds of gear,
you know, and hope that everyone else is gonna <i> contain the fire while you go</i> <i> and search this house.</i> Let's go look! 427, on the scene
of a wood frame dwelling. So, we already know
that you couldn't do that. -She can't wake up.
Like, literally. -(Titus laughs) I'm telling you, that girl
be sleeping and she'll-- she'll answer you and she will
not remember the conversation -she had 30 minutes later.
-I have no recollection of this. -It's obvious.
-DAN: Firemen work, man. Yeah, it's crazy. They-- dude, when they're
at a fire, that is-- that... -TITUS: And they love it, too.
-Dude, the-the heat that they deal with
inside the gear, like, -yeah, yeah-- it's crazy.
-Yeah. Man, I remember the first time
I melted a-a-- <i> a shield on my helmet.
We went in and we had, like,</i> <i> a flashover, you know,
in the house.</i> And man,
this big just rush went, blew us out the front door. It was in Greenleaves,
Mandeville. And man, I came out and I just remember my ears just felt like
they were on fire. Like, I'm-- literally on fire. And I took my helmet off
like that, and when I grabbed my shield,
it just crumpled in my hand. I was like, "Holy God." Like-- like you-- I mean,
you, like, you close. -Them firemen get close.
-Close, right. Like, it's-- that's real stuff.
Like, them-- them dudes work. (alarm bell ringing) CHRIS:<i> We got a dispatch
on the first alarm</i> <i> of a two alarm fire</i> in a, uh, massive blaze
in the Bywater neighborhood. (siren wails, horn blows) Hey, so what's going on
down here? Right now, responding. See it! Right over there. Yep, there it goes. Whoa, whoa, whoa, watch it. Fire 9's on the scene. DISPATCHER: I think one
just went in on three. CHRIS:<i>
When we arrive,</i> the house is fully involved
in flames. <i> I see a woman screaming.</i> (woman screams) <i>First, you wonder if, you know,
there's people in there.</i> We're just gonna pull it! We're just gonna knock it.
Don't charge it. -Stop, stop!
-I got it, go. We get our ass in there
and let's put it out. I see it right on the wall! ad a. Line's good. <i> CHRIS: When the building
is fully involved,</i> <i> it's important</i> to quickly get on the exposures,
the neighboring buildings. <i>'Cause it could quickly go from
fighting a single house fire</i> to fighting a five-house fire. <i> After we know everyone's safe
and evacuated...</i> <i>...we can start to aggressively
fight the fire.</i> Hey! I got a lot of fire up here. Look at the fire over there,
in that peak. It ain't gonna make it.
I got a clear shot. I need three feet.
Three feet, bondage. -Tell 'em we got it.
-I got it, now. Well, in that back corner--
they can get to that? That's what you got to get. Division 2, we got it. Repeat, we-we all clear. JASON:<i> That's it.
The fire's officially out.</i> Vic, that ladder truck could be
just (bleep) perfect. JASON:<i>
It's a good feeling, you know.</i> <i> We got great firemen
in the city of New Orleans</i> <i> and, uh,
Engine 29 did a tremendous job</i> saving these other houses. Shut it down? All in a night's work, my boy. (laughs) <i> That was like the old days,
buddy.</i> I worked for the fire
department, um, a long time ago. They both have their advantages. But I always tell people
that EMS is the more fun job. But there's always gonna be
calls that are gonna come. Like, even now, I say, like, there's always gonna be
something that you see and you're just like,
"What the hell?" I'm gonna put it this way: I always say the same thing, -"Never get tunnel vision."
-TITUS: Right. 'Cause whatever
comes over that radio, is not necessarily
what you about to walk into. I mean, sometimes the most B.S.
calls can turn into something that, you know,
actually means something. Right. Like,
we received a call for, uh-- what was it? A man down or... -No, foot pain.
-It was foot pain. DISPATCHER:<i>
3220.</i> 'Cause his foot hurts. Dude called an ambulance
'cause his foot hurts? -(siren wails)
-DAN:<i> Right.</i> <i> Shouldn't be walking anyway,
should be in his bed.</i> TITUS:<i>
Right.</i> DAN:
Oh, I see it now. 3220. TITUS:
What happened, man? Did you hit it or what? What were you doing?
You was walking... ...and then
it just started hurting? -All right.
-DAN: You just got off work? -Oh, you was on your way.
-TITUS: All right, we're gonna take a look
at your ankle, all right, John? All right,
where were you walking to? You was gonna from here
all the way to Walmart? Do you do that regularly? TITUS: To go to work? Man,
I got to give him that, man. You got to give him that. I got to shake your hand
on that one, man. <i> Hey, man, this dude--</i> he's a working man,
which I respect so much. Uh, his car was stolen.
Like, he doesn't have a bike. He lives in a trailer, like,
way off of Sheff. Walks to work, -over two bridges...
-NICK: Yeah. ...and walks back after.
He have to leave six hours -before the start of his shift.
Can you imagine? -Oh, my God. -I couldn't walk half that.
-He wanted to go to the hospital in Chalmette.
That way, he could get out -and go straight to work.
-HOLLY: And go to work. That's-that's why I tell you,
that's why I told you, like, you had-- you don't know what's
going on in somebody's life. -All you got to do
is talk to 'em. -DAN: Yeah. -TITUS: Right.
-'Cause you never know. Now that you said that,
I remember the social media outburst
with that, though. -DAN: Right.
-HOLLY: What happened? They had so many people
go into Walmart and just buy a bike
and just say, "All right." -And just left it there.
-That's all. And then, not just bikes,
but helmets. So they was conscientious
with that, too. DAN:
Got to be safe, right. -That gives me faith
for humanity. -Right? That's the type of stuff I love. Actually, he got donated
a couple of cars, too. -Like, I mean, the guy-- yeah.
-NICK: Are you serious? One of the, uh, nurses--
what was it, wasn't it Rachelle? -Rachelle, yeah. -Like, she
drove over there the next day, bought the bike and the helmet,
left it there, -said, "When he comes in,
this is for him." -TITUS: Right. That start-- that starts things.
That's how you start a movement. -You know what I mean?
-TITUS: Yeah. And so, he could in turn,
take all those bikes -that were donated to him...
-TITUS: Right. ...and donate it to other people
in similar situations. -DAN: Yep. Yep. -That's
beautiful. That is amazing. And that would have
never happened -had it not been for<i> Nightwatch.</i>
-Right. -Had it not been for the show...
-TITUS: 100%, right. ...and people seeing stuff,
that would have never happened. One thing, you know
that's what I've always said, like, my favorite thing
about this show is that everyone was like,
"Oh, it's an ambulance driver." -Mm-hmm. -And now people know
the word paramedic, and there's eight-year-old
children out there saying, "I want to be a paramedic
when I grow up." -I think that's so cool. -That's
on the same level as that dude that's been doing it
for 35 years and, like, sends me a message saying, "Hey, I finally got something
to show my kids." -Yeah, man. -"This is what I do.
They can't understand." Or, like, I had a message
from this guy once, that, like, made me cry. And he's like,
"I've been doing this job "for 25 years and probably
for the last, uh, 20, "I've been completely
burned out. I hate it. You know, I was just miserable." And he's like,
"The show came out and I realize what we look like
to other people." -Mm-hmm. -"What heroes
we look like to other people and how what we do
really matters." And he's like, "Watching y'all
totally renewed my love for this profession
that I've done for so long." <i> That's so crazy how</i> <i> we would have never thought,
being a paramedic,</i> <i> that you would just randomly
be on some TV show.</i> <i> And then, to do that
and have such a big impact,</i> <i> is just-- it's so humbling.
Like, it's-- it's crazy.</i> We 'bout to roll out.
We got to go get some fuel -or whatever, little mama.
-(Holly imitates laughter) Let me take a y'ally real quick. -A y'ally?
-That's the new word for selfie. A y'ally, when there's more
than one person now. -All right? Yeah.
-(camera snaps) Got it. Be safe, y'all. HOLLY:
Y'all some picture taking fools. <i> -(all laugh)</i>
-HOLLY:<i> They came for that.</i> CAPTIONING PROVIDED BY
A+E NETWORKS
