Once the fire started, the parents grabbed their children and dog. When they got outside, they realized they were missing a daughter. The mother pushed past the father and went back into the house. Firemen pulled the mother and daughter out of the house in cardiac arrest. Both were brought to Bayshore. I am not sure where ROSC was achieved. The daughter was transported up to Saint Barnabas. She was burned on her back and was soot in the ET tube and was brought to Saint Barnabas. The crew was told the patient would probably die, but they had to try something.

The mother remained at Bayshore. She was critical with an extremely poor prognosis. The administration at Bayshore, and from what I understand the CNO, pulled in favors to get the mother accepted to Saint Barnabas so she could be next to her daughter before they both died. Jessica Mastrocola RN and an EMT were assigned to bring the mother to Saint Barnabas.

The mother was intubated, on three pressers, no sedation, and no gag reflex. She was unstable. Jessica was determined to get the woman to her daughter. "I did not care what I had to do, she was going to get there." There was a hand-drawn card from the other daughter who made it out of the fire. The daughter thanked her mom for protecting them and said can't wait for her mom to get better and come home.

Once the patient was moved to our stretcher and equipment, Jess tucked the card into the blanket over the mother's heart. The mother was a federal agent. There were a lot of family and police at Bayshore. On the walk out to the ambulance, the police and Bayshore staff stood for an honor guard. The police provided an ambulance escort to Saint Barnabas. The EMT with Jessica said he had to stare at the lines on the road because of so many police flashing lights.

With critical patients, we usually had the family member sit up front. Jess allowed the husband to ride in the back next to his wife. He cried most of the way, often mentioning how upset he was his wife went back into the house instead of him. Jess sat next to him. Once they arrived, the mother was brought into the same room as the daughter. Their beds were next to each other. Jess helped the nurses discontinue all of the drips as palliative care began. The mother passed away within a few hours and the daughter the next morning.

While everyone would have liked a better outcome, Jess and teh EMT gave the mother a chance to be with her daughter. They gave the husband the ability to be both with his wife and daughter in the end. I told Jess how amazing a gift she gave to the family.