Fire Escape Devices

22YOM IN MVA, RUNNING OVER FIRE HYDRANT. BRUISE TO LOWER ABDOMEN. INTOXICATED, BAL 296 DX: MVA, ALCOHOL INTOXICATION

19YOF PRESENTS TO ED FOR CONCERNS OF ALCOHOL INTOXICATION. EMS REPORTS PTS FRIENDS BECAME CONCERNED THAT TOO INTOXICATED SO THEY CALLED EMS. TRIED TO CLIMB FIRE ESCAPE TODAY BEFORE STOPPING DOING THIS AND MAY HAVE HURT HER LEG. ETOH: 2291 DX: ALCOHOL INTOXICATION W/O COMPLICATION

30 YOF SLIPPED DOWN TWO STEPS ON THE FIRE ESCAPE OF HER BUILDING. DX: SPRAIN OF RIGHT ANKLE.

60YOF - PATIENT PRESENT FOR FALL AND BACK PAIN. PT STATES SHE WAS ON THE FIRE ESCAPE OF THE 3RD FLOOR AND FELL FROM THE SECOND FLOOR TO THE GROUND BECAUSE IT WAS WET, PT C/O BACK PAIN, ABRASIONS TO B/L ELBOWS, PER REPORT THE POLICE CAME TO THE DOOR. DX: PELVIC FRACTURE AND MULTIPLE RIB FRACTURES

36YOM PRESENTS TO ED AS TRAUMA ALERT AFTER FALLING FROM 2ND STORY FIRE ESCAPE. PATIENT STATES HE WAS SITTING ON THE ESCAPE PLATFORM HAVING A BEER AND SLIPPED OFF, LANDING ON HIS FEET. EXPERIENCED ACUTE FOOT AND KNEE PAIN BILATERALLY, AND LOW LEG PAIN BAL UNKNOWN DX; FALL FROM HEIGHT GREATER THAN 3 FEET, KNEE INJURY

63YOM P/W ARM PAIN. PATIENT REPORTS 4 MONTHS AGO, WAS GOING DOWN FIRE ESCAPE AND THE PLATFORM WHICH WAS LOOSE AND PREVENTED HIMSELF FROM FALLING BY HOLDING ONTO THE RAILING WITH HIS L ARM. DX: CHRONIC LEFT SHOULDER PAIN

29YOM X PRESENTING TO THE ED AFTER BEING FOUND DOWN. PT WAS FOUND AT THE BOTTOM OF A FIRE ESCAPE, THOUGHT TO HAVE FALLEN OR JUMPED FROM 3 STORIES. PT HAS HEAD LAC, SHOULDER AND HIP ABRASION AND WRIST SWELLING DX: CRITICAL POLYTRAUMA

21 YOM FELL OFF FIREESCAPE DX CLOSED NON-DISPLACED FX C2 VERTEBRA

28YOF BIBEMS AS A TRAUMA ALERT AFTER THEY REPORTED SHE JUMPED FROM 3RD STORY FIRE ESCAPE. PT REPORTS SHE HAS CONFLICT WITH HER BROTHER, SO WHEN HE CAME TO HER DOOR, SHE LEFT HER APARTMENT OUT THE WINDOW, CLIMBED DOWN TO THE LOWEST LEVEL OF THE FIRE ESCAPE AND THEN JUMPED THE REST OF THE WAY TO THE GROUND. HAS LOW BACK PAIN AND ENDORSES ETOH USE BAL 117, NOT INTOX DX: LOW BACK PAIN

46YOM BIBEMS FOR A REPORTED FALL FROM A HEIGHT OF 25 FT. HE STATES THAT THE FALL OCCURRED LAST NIGHT. HE STATES THAT HE DROPPED HIS PHONE OFF THE FIRE ESCAPE AND WAS TRYING TO RETRIEVE IT WHEN HE FELL. PT HAS LOWER EXTREMITY PAIN AND LOW BACK PAIN. DX: CLOSED DISPLACED FX OF ANTERIOR PROCESS OF RIGHT CALCANEUS , NONDISPLACED FRACTURE OF POSTERIOR PROCESS OF RIGHT TALUS

59YOM PT PRESENTED WITH COMPLAINTS OF RIGHT LOWER EXTREMITY PAIN S/P FALL. PT REPORTS BEING ON HIS FIRE ESCAPE WHEN HE TRIPPED AND FELL WHICH RESULTED IN RIGHT LEG PAIN, DX: PERIPROSTHETIC FRACTURE OF SHAFT OF FEMUR

42 YOF WAS WALKING UP HER FIRE ESCAPE STEPS CARRYING GROCERIES ABOUT 10 DAYS AGO WHEN SHE ROLLED HER RIGHT ANKLE AND HAS BEEN HAVING SIGNIFICANT PAIN AND SWELLING SINCE. DX RIGHT ANKLE SPRAIN

WHEN I TESTED THE BABY RESCUE FIRE BAG for babies and children (which is for lowering a child down during a fire), IT BROKE AND FELL 3 STORIES. IT WILL KILL YOUR CHILD! I just tested my Baby Rescue Emergency Rapid Evacuation Device and IT SNAPPED IMMEDIATELY. If my child had been inside it would have killed him! Two hours later, I’m still shaking. Here is what happened: I wanted to test the bag before an emergency so I filled it with 22 pounds of heavy material. I wrapped the rope around my wrist about 5 feet up from the bag, braced myself, then pushed the 22 pound bag out out window. It free-fell a few feet then snapped immediately and the baby bag dropped 3 stories to the ground. Thankfully no one was walking by or it probably would have killed them. It definitely would have killed my baby inside. Note, I wanted to let it free-fall for about 5 feet as I figured this is would would happen in a true emergency. My son is 45 pounds (5 years old) and the window is on the higher side. I was trying to simulate how I would get him out of the window. I am not tall enough to lower him slowly at the beginning (even though I'm 5 foot 9 in) so I figured I'd have to put the bag on the sill, brace myself, then “push” him in the bag out the window while holding the rope or securing it around a piece of heavy furniture. Anyway, when I checked out what happened, the thread broke (which was sewn from the bag to the rope). I’ll attach pictures. Looking now, I see that the thread doesn’t look reinforced or thick at all. The rope is unimpressive, but the thread is worse. In fact, all the strings look cheaply sewn up and down the line on the “loops” too. These loops would be what you would naturally hold onto or loop around something to secure the line. Likely these threads would spit at many points. There are hundreds of “weak points” all over this product. No rock climber would dare use this. It also wouldn’t take a fireman much to look at the line and see how flimsy it is.