I called our local fire station directly the first time. Worried that we would be diverting an ambulance from a true minute to minute medical emergency I couldn’t pull the trigger on dialing 9-1-1. After all, Liam was still as warm as he needed to be and the weight of the added blankets seemed to have had a calming almost soothing effect and he still hadn’t woken up. The dawn, while surely not doing any actual warming, brought with it the confidence in a new day. Cold in complete darkness is different then a well-lit nip to the air, maybe things would work out anyway.

“My name is Eric Olson and my 4-year-old so is ventilator dependent and also wheelchair dependent. We have no power and no heat. We still have battery power and he is not in any distress. We are all fine at the moment but if this goes on much longer we will eventually need a to get my son to somewhere with heat, power, and also available oxygen. I’m not looking for you to come right this minute but I need some information.” I tried to be as efficient as I could with my words to give him as much information as he needed.

“Well I don’t have any information on when the power will be back.” He sounded a bit drained already, like he had been answering the same question over and over already.

“No, no!” I didn’t want to lose him. I did have questions he needed to answer. “I know about that, I need to know what will make it easier for you guys when we do need to get out of here.”

“Well you just call 9-1-1 when you need us and someone will come and get you as soon as we can. You said that your son isn’t in any distress at the moment sir?” His tone changed to one of someone who wanted me to be sure that if I needed them they would be there. Into that of a Fire Fighter.

“No, he’s fine but I don’t know how much longer we’ll be able to keep him warm and I think I have about 8 hours of battery (really I thought I had about 12 but he didn’t need to know that.) but those seem to holding less charge with the cold and I’m worried about his suction. We have time though.”

“Look I’m gonna be honest with you, right now even our trucks are getting stuck out there right now, but when you think it’s the right time to go then we’ll be there to get you out. Just call 9-1-1 and we’ll be there.” he said.

My next call was to the Emergency Room at Hasbro Children’s Hospital to ask if we were brought in by an ambulance was there an immediate intake and admission process or could we simply walk through the tunnel into the separate hospital I work in. For sure we could hunker down in my office for a while and get warm provided we could get there.

“Well we’ll probably just find some open space somewhere for you guys to plug-in and you would take care of him, if you work next door why don’t you just have the ambulance drop him off there?” the nurse asked.

“Because it’s an ambulance not a taxi.” I said, surprised that an ER nurse would think that the ambulance would bring us to the emergency room of a hospital that only treats women and newborns (of which Liam is neither). I ended the conversation a bit concerned that I didn’t fully explain our needs to her but we would figure it out. If we needed to get out of here for his safety it wouldn’t matter which hospital we ended up in. [Spoiler Alert: It ends up being both!]

Karin made contact with my parents who while awake now, were also snowed in. Hours away from being able to go anywhere since apparently not everyone spent the night shoveling every two hours. I suited up again to clear out the path for a stretcher. I had just gotten the ramp done and was a few feet from the driveway when I heard the rumble. I threw my hands in the air and waved to the big burly guy with his head out the window as his plow threw snow at my front fence and cleared a beautiful ice-covered asphalt path down the street. At least now an ambulance could get in.

Overjoyed by the appearance of the plow and naively thinking that it signified a round the clock effort that had kept things clear all over the city I dug in with gusto and cleared the whole driveway all the way out to the plowed path. I could get out now in the van if I wanted, I kept thinking. I just didn’t know how far I’d get. It’s not a risk I was willing to take with Liam in the back.

By the time I got back inside Karin had gotten our little weather radio to the local news AM feed and reports were grim. 190,000 without power just in RI. impassable roads everywhere. Travel bans enforced with tickets and fines for being caught on the roads, which I was exempt from since I am considered “essential personnel” for the hospital (patients have to eat!) just a general, batten down the hatches and don’t leave your house kind of vibe. I wished that was the vibe that would be possible for us.

And then a really strange thing happened. By now it was still only about 7:35am. With a cozy Liam STILL ASLEEP?!! Karin and I laid down under to the covers on the floor mattress to discuss the next move. To listen to the coverage and to tell each other that we would be ok. But instead we both fell asleep.

It was 9:15 when we woke up. Pissed that I had fallen asleep at all I was glad that it was only for a short while.  My first thoughts were of what we would do now that Liam would undoubtedly need a new diaper now. I was still so worried about how cold removing all the blankets would make him. It was time to make a move.

I did the only thing I felt I could do to feel like I was protecting and helping my family. I grabbed my shovel and hit the driveway again. There was some snow back on the road but not enough to keep us home.

My father called to say that he could hardly walk up his street and the cross street to his hadn’t been touched either. I’m not sure what either of us could have done to help the other, but even though we live only a few blocks from each other, it was moot. There was no getting around town yet. I better make the call.

Karin greeted me at the door holding my phone when I came inside and said “It’s time”. She was right of course. But foolishly thinking that a rescue would arrive in only minutes I made us pack all of our emergency gear for the trip first, which consisted of Karin double checking all the emergency packing she had already done the day before, and me pacing around, getting in her way, and shouting about how  our portable oxygen tank leaks at like a 1/4 liter an hour.

I made the call.

 

2 of the 3 fire fighters who arrived about 6 minutes later have been here before for at least one of our calls for an ambulance. One of them even commented on our new pass through window from the kitchen to the living room. I explained the situation to them on our walk from the truck into the house but once the lead guy with the radio saw Liam all bundled up he called into his radio “Yeah we are going to need that rescue here now, go ahead and send that rescue through.”

Until I started asking some questions.

Could they bring his chair with him? No. Wouldn’t be very helpful to get him there only to be separated from his only way of getting around.

Could we both ride in the ambulance with him? No. looks like I would be driving behind them in the van with his chair anyway. No way I was going to be separated from them now.

I didn’t even bother to ask him whether or not they would drop us off at my hospital to avoid being admitted at the Children’s Hospital. I was already seeing what our new best option was.

“It’s going to take a little while for them to get here since we had to call in a rescue from another town but it will get here before you run out of battery power.” The lead guy said.

“Let me ask you guys this. If I can get my van down to Pawtucket Ave, (the main road through town to the highway, only a few blocks from our house) will I be able to drive that van to the hospitals?”

They all looked at what seemed to be the oldest fire fighter. He thought for a second but then said “yeah, I just came from there, you should be able to make it.” The lead guy with the radio nodded.

“Cancel that Rescue.” I told him and looked toward Karin. “let’s go. It’s the only way to get him, us, his chair, and everything else we’re going to need. We have to go for it.” I said, unsure of her reaction. Silly me. She nodded enthusiastically without hesitation.

“Let’s do this.” She said.

“Are you sure?” Radio guy brought up his radio waiting for our say so.

“Cancel it. If we can pass the roads we’ll get there. save that rescue for a real medical emergency.” Karin told him sternly.

Radio guy made his call while the other two offered to help carry stuff out to the van. We thanked them kindly but assured them that we have a system to loading up and they would only be in the way.

And then next is when it all got real. We made it through the night but now the real discomfort would start. At least at home there’s some comfort in the cold. Not a lot of comfort to be found at a hospital. Not in furniture, the ambiance or the food, and it was the food that made me realize what we were about to do, when Karin picked up the pan of Brownies.

Our “snowed-in” brownies with the chocolate chips in them and everything. She picked up the pan, looked up to the three men in her tiny kitchen and said “Looks like we’ll be in the hospital for a while guys. Want to take these back to the station?”

“Sure we do!” The youngest and quietest of the three stepped up and took the pan as they all thanked us and made their way back to the truck.

I hope they enjoyed those damn brownies. I know I would have.

******

Editors Note: 1.) I want to make sure that I mention that throughout these pieces all of the photos are by Karin. I was in no shape to think of taking pictures through this all, I’m glad that she was. 

 

 

Friday 2/08/13 4:30pm Home from work now. only a couple inches on the ground so far. Nothing really stuck until the sun went down. the roads were slick but passable. Karin made brownies! I’m glad we went food shopping yesterday and we have plenty to eat. Getting to work tomorrow morning is really going to suck but that’s alright, at least I get to ride out the storm’s impact at home with Karin and Liam. It’s moving faster than they said it was going to. The snow now is supposed to stop before I have to leave to get to work. I’m glad I left work early enough to get home this early though. Karin already got everything together though so all I have to worry about right now is keeping the ramp and the driveway clear. Who knows if we’ll have to call an ambulance for him. last thing we need then is to have to shovel two feet of snow before they can get a stretcher in here. Better safe than sorry.

6:30pm The Mac & cheese Karin made for dinner is delicious and the best kind of comfort food for an incoming blizzard. The local TV news coverage is equal parts stressful [THE WORST IS YET TO COME!!!!!] and hilarious [and remember folks, it is NOT recommended to use our gas grill indoors.] After dinner I’ll go get the first round of shoveling done.

6:50pm Karin had a great idea and so we moved the coffee table out of the living room and put our mattress into the angle of our corner couch. We’re having a snowed in sleepover. It’s like making a couch cushion fort. We’ll watch movies and it’s perfect for Liam to stretch out on the couch or come down to the floor with us. This is going to be fun.

7:25pm Almost 4 inches already! heavy wet stuff that sticks to and ices everything up. starting to come down really fast too. By the time I had the ramp and driveway clear I could have started all over again. I better get out here every 2 hours If I’m going to keep the place accessible, for someone to come get us or for us to bug out.

8:30pm Couple of flickers here and there but power is fine. The snow is getting lighter and dryer. not really sticking but blowing around. Second shoveling session was much easier. Driveway is clear again but it’s getting deep enough in the street that I’m not sure we will be able to get anywhere soon. Wind is gusty but Sandy was worse.

8:45pm That’s it, I can’t watch anymore news coverage. All we can do now is hunker down for the next 4-8 hours. Time to watch some West Wing on Netflix, the local news team’s banter is hardly Sorkin-esque.

9:00pm Still have power. At this point we have plenty of battery backups to get to the morning anyway. If we don’t have power by then at least Nan or Mom and Dad will. Karin’s got the supplies ready. Wind is whipping that snow pretty good, we aren’t going anywhere until the morning no matter what. If that damn fuse on the utility pole across the street, that always used to go out, hasn’t gone out by know I don’t think it will. The ice isn’t getting bigger or heavier anymore.

9:11pm Damn. Spoke too soon.

9:30pm The 6 D Cell Mag-light I bought for Boy Scout camp as a kid pays off again. By sticking it between the couch cushions pointed up, it lights the whole living room. The whole neighborhood is out. Liam’s vent is on our oldest lithium battery. It was taken out of daily rotation almost a year ago because it was so old but I figure it will give us three hours. At least we fully discharged his marine battery last week. 11.5 hours there we know for sure. The day-to-day lithium has always given us 8 so we’re looking pretty good there. Feeding pump battery is charged so he’ll eat. I have to go shovel.

10:00pm The wind and the warmth of my breath is starting to build a layer of ice and snow on my beard whenever I go out there. looks like it had to be 4 inches just in the last 2 hours but it is still dry and easy to move off the ramp. Keeping enough room in the driveway for the ramp to extend from his van for us to get out of here is harder. The wind wants to put it all right where I’d like it not to be. We’re thinking about how late we should wait before starting a DVD in the laptop. The big battery/flashlight/radio/thing that Mom gave us can’t charge a vent but at least we can charge our cell phones and the laptop if we have to. No wifi though. Oh well, kidd-o is warm and we’ve got plenty of blankets.

10:15pm Belush lost power too and he’s in Seekonk! Mom and Dad lost it and they all say they lost it at the same time we did. It’s a huge outage. That’s good news. A downed power line knocking out a few blocks is hardly a priority but two or three whole towns? This will get back up soon. It’s a substation or something. Has to be.

11:30pm Just remembered that even though we put in a HME, Liam’s line has still been hooked into the humidifier. Ugh, I hate missing things like that. The water hadn’t cooled down much at all. Glad I caught it now. bypassed that so the moisture in the line doesn’t cool him off more. No movies yet. I can’t get the damn Battery/Radio/flashlight/thingy to pick up any radio station. Radio part being an afterthought the tiny dial just can’t dial in to anything. Wondering how widespread the power loss is. Taking turns charging cell phones but also not using them at all to preserve the batteries for morning. I have some shoveling to do.

11:50am The Pulse Oximeter battery is always a little wonky and I’d like it to get us to morning so we’re shutting it off and only doing spot checks. Turned on a whiff of oxygen just in case.

Saturday 02/09/13 12:10am I’ve never seen it pile up this fast. Drifts are starting to put more and more on the top platform of the ramp right at our door. Driveway is clear but what’s the point? The snow in the street is halfway to my knees.

12:30am All of the shoveling is keeping me warm but Karin says it’s getting cold in here. Liam is still asleep but she had to add another layer of pants and socks and put another blanket on him. He does look adorable in his hat though. His cheeks are getting cold.

1:00am She’s right. It’s getting cold. But under the blankets we’re doing ok. Lying down to try to get a little sleep. Hoping that by the time I open my eyes it’ll be 4 or 5 in the morning and we can find out who has power and get going. Don’t want to wake him and move him to between us on the mattress but we can if we need to keep Liam warm. Getting a little concerned that if we totally cover him in more blankets that the cats will see him as a comfy bed.

1:30am Get some sleep. Ha, that’s funny. Time to shovel.

2:00am I can’t wear the my coat anymore because the sleeves are frozen shut. My gloves also froze into blocks so I found a few more sweatshirts and a lighter but more waterproof jacket. Karin’s mittens were on the kitchen table. knit mittens in a Blizzard.

2:18am Lithium battery just ran out of juice. That’s like 5 hours out of it when I only expected 3. hooking up the marine battery now which will give us 11.5. We better not need that much. I’m realizing now that ventilator power was never the real issue. The suction rig power is much less reliable. Once he wakes up he’s going to get juicy for sure. I’m a little worried about that now. I don’t expect the power back until the morning, but still hoping it won’t be days like they are predicting on the local news cell-phone app. I hope Liam stays warm enough and asleep until they get it on.

3:00am I’m getting scared now. Liam’s feet and hands are nice and toasty under the 9 blankets we have on him now but what about when we have to change him? How are we going to keep him from catching a chill? There’s no way we can get out now. They better get the power back up.

4:15am What the hell am I going to do? I stopped shoveling around the van. I have a path to the ramp wide enough for the stretcher when the Rescue comes. Karin hasn’t slept either. It’s getting really cold. Liam still hasn’t woken up. How am I going to keep him warm when he does? My hands hurt. What if no one can get to us?

4:45am The sun won’t be up for a couple more hours. Shoveling doesn’t warm me anymore. All of my jackets sweatshirts freeze between sessions outside. We’re waiting for daylight. It’s still too dark to see anything. There’s a light on a little more than a block away. I’m not sure if it’s a house with a generator or the school department building emergency flood light. At daylight I’ll walk up and find out. Maybe if it’s a house they’ll let us come inside and warm up. We’ll have to wrap him in all the blankets and walk or something. It’s up to my knees in the street right now. When the sun comes up I’ll try to walk up there.

6:00am I can’t believe that Liam is still asleep. Not exactly sunrise but the sky is getting brighter. We can’t stay here much longer. I guess we could get the van running and put him in there for some heat but I don’t want to give him a chill bringing him out in this wind. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m going out to shovel again.

6:35am The sun must be up by now but the clouds and wind haven’t let up yet. The snow is much finer making my beard and face hurt more now. I’m not sure that the Ambulance will drop us off at my hospital and we can plug-in at my office or they’ll make us get admitted to the CHildren’s Hospital. If they bring us there what if they make us stay for a week after taking cultures or something?

At this point it doesn’t matter.

Either one is safer than staying here.

6:48am It’s time to call 911

******

Part II will come tomorrow (hopefully).

Throughout this whole ordeal, Karin kept trying to calm me by saying things like “This! This is where you’ll leave the cliffhanger when you write the blog about this mess.” It was adorable and actually it did calm me down. So I guess you can all blame her for dragging this story out. They won’t all be this long and they won’t be in this style anymore. I’ve got other tricks up my sleeve. I Just thought this would be a fun way to tell the first part.