December 11, 1977

All it took was a 'group effort'

      The problems associated with weather conditions like those experienced throughout Johnson County this past week can bring out both the worst and the best in people. Sunday, during a 12 ½ hour power outage in White River Township, the Thomas Hoffman family saw the best. Hoffman is bedridden. He suffers from emphysema. Except for short periods to hook up the equipment, he is able to breathe only with the aid of a respiratory support system with trachea tube attachment. The machine is run with oxygen and electricity. In emergency situations, compressed gas and bottle oxygen can operate the machine. Because they had made emergency runs to the Hoffman home before, the White River Township Volunteer Fire Department contacted Mrs. Hoffman shortly after the electricity went out at 4:30 a.m. Sunday.

         White River Township fireman Bill Wire said Mrs. Hoffman told the firemen then that her husband would be okay if the outage did not last long. With power still out six hours later, Mrs. Hoffman notified the department that the compressed gas needed to run the machine was running out. White River Township firefighters made an emergency run to Perry Township Indianapolis Fire Department to pick up 2-200 pound bottles of compressed gas. When the bottle was brought to the Hoffman home, it was discovered that the fittings on the bottle were larger than those on the machine. “By this time, he was down to 400 pounds in the tank,” Wire noted, “and they told us it goes fast after it reaches 300 pounds.” A call was made to the Greenwood Fire Department, where a bottle of compressed gas was picked up by Myers Ambulance of Greenwood and rushed to the home. That fitting wasn’t right either. A call was made to Medical Oxygen Supply Service Inc. at Indianapolis, the company which services Hoffman’s machine. Wire noted that a representative from that company had been to the Hoffman home earlier that day but it wasn’t realized that more compressed gas and oxygen would be needed. “By this time,” Wire noted, “it was getting pretty cold in the house.” One firefighter said that could temperatures add a hazard in themselves to a patient suffering from emphysema. “About that time, a guy from Indiana Bell stopped,” Wire noted. The man, John Gentry, lives in the area and was also aware of Hoffman’s condition, Wire said. He offered to set up a generator to run the electricity for the respiratory system. Noting that the heating problem was the major concern at that time, the firefighters asked for help getting heat to the man’s bedroom. Wire said Gentry backed his utility truck up to the man’s bedroom and threaded the utility heating hose through the window to supply heat to that room. Gentry stood by at the home until power was restored, Wire said. “Talk about a good Samaritan act, that had to be the tops,” Wire commented.

         The White River Township department did some Good Samaritan acts of their own during the ordeal. Firefighter Joe McAllister was at the scene to monitor the situation until 5:30 p.m. after the power came back on, Wire said. Wire and six other fellow firefighters also stood by at the home for several hours. Wire also praised the Public Service Company, who he said, kept firefighters informed during the day, of the progress on restoring electricity to the home. He noted that company officials made a concerted effort to get the electricity restored to that addition first. During the day, he said, the power came back on for short periods of time, only to go off again. The power was finally restored at 5:20 p.m. “It was a true community effort all the way,” firefighter Jay Fishell said of the ordeal.  (Reprinted with permission from the Daily Journal)
 

 

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