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Summer in Austin.
The normal Texas heat was about, with temperatures regulating hitting the “beyond hot why does anyone want to live here” range. The amount of visitors in the city seemed to rise with the temperatures which led to many calls of heat exhaustion and collapse.
Every visitor emergency they attended, they all heard the same thing. “I normally don’t have a problem back home.” But that was because there was a difference between dry heat and humidity heat. Not taking precautions could have deadly results.
For TK, he still ran into a bit of trouble every year when summer came around, because New York’s summer felt… different, at least in comparison. Here in Austin it felt like he was breathing in water and yet was still overheating. He made it a point to have extra water bottles and ice packs tucked away at the station and in the ambulance, just in case. He was confident that they wouldn’t need his extras, they kept the ambulance well stocked, but it was better to have it.
Especially when it came in handy.
The 126 paramedics had been called down to the convention center after reports of guests collapsing in the July heat. Apparently, they were all outside waiting to go into one of the ballrooms and the heat was just too much.
They ended up being just one of a few ambulances pulling up, quickly surveying the crowd. Teens and adults in elaborate costumes milled around or tried to provide shade for others, while a few were coming back with bottles of water to help. A few people with shirts that had STAFF printed on them in overly bright colors were trying to take control and push back the onlookers to give space to the paramedics.
Their team quickly headed towards the closest person, a young girl in a thick coat, who couldn’t have been more than sixteen. She had her head on her friend’s lap, with said friend fanning her down with a booklet. The friend looked up just as they approached.
“Annie doesn’t do well in the sun, but we didn’t want to miss our signing. Our friend was getting water. It’s just so hot,” she said.
Tommy had quickly ordered Nancy to help the teen by carefully removing the coat, which did wonders to start cooling her down. Once she was free from it and was eased into the shade with a few cool compresses, the friend carefully folded the jacket up with one arm, the other never stopping her fanning. Luckily, Annie was already waking thanks to the coolness of the compresses and some well timed water from their friend.
After spending nearly an hour at the convention center (and TK getting a thorough introduction to the anime convention scene, which made Nancy burst into laughter at his cluelessness), they were called to a summer camp, then a theater who’s air conditioning had broken and three people had fainted from the heat. Finally, they ended up back near the 126, only to be redirected to a house fire.
Once those two hours were completed, they finally returned to the 126, more than half a shift after leaving that. All three were almost dead on their feet from the heat and only having a break inside the ambulance. Luckily they had arrived back at the perfect time, as someone had prepared a cool summertime dinner, mostly salads and sandwiches.
TK bypassed the food, instead grabbing a water bottle and heading for the showers. A cold shower was all he wanted, he had decided on the way back to the station, and that was what he was going to get. He downed the water before heading into the shower.
The next time he was aware, he was laying in his bunk, ice backs on various parts of his body, and Carlos sitting next to the bed, looking a strange mix of worry and annoyance, but that was probably due to the chair that someone had dragged over for his fiancee.
It only took Carlos a moment to realize that TK was awake and aware. He kept the lecture to a minimum, instead just checking that TK’s temperature had dropped, which was enough to send adrenaline through TK’s system and get him to try to sit up. Carlos leveled a glare at him to keep him in bed before calling over to Owen to let him know that TK was awake.
As it turned out, TK had been on the verge of hyperthermia for most of the shift due to the heat. While they had been drinking water and doing their best to stay out of the direct sun, the extreme heat in Texas had gotten to the man, as he still wasn’t quite used to it yet. When he stepped into the lukewarm shower, it had been enough of a shock to his system that it had caused him to collapse. Only because they were able to get him cooled down quickly and safely, they didn’t have to transport him to the hospital. That, and that he woke up before the end of shift. He’d only been unconscious for about an hour, just long enough for Carlos to get the call and drive over.
Tommy soon cleared TK to head for home, with Carlos dragging him out of the station grumbling about scaring him into an early grave. For his part, TK looked chastised, not even trying to defend himself.
He really needed to get used to the Texas heat. Considering this was the third time he’d had issues this summer… And no, he was never going to tell Carlos that. He already had a terrible track record.