FIRST RESPONDER DUTY RELATED ILLNESS

[froghunter]

WHY DO THE FIRST RESPONDERS NOT WANT TO FACE THE MUSIC THEY ARE IN REAL DANGER AND I WANT TO FIND OUT WHY THEY DO NOT WANT TO GET INVOLVED AND HELP THEM SELVES AND THEIR LOVED ONES ,WHO WATE AT HOME FOR THE UNKNOWN TO COME HOME FROM WORK WITH THEM. I HAD THIS HAPPEN AND WHEN I FOUND OUT AFTER 15 YEARS OF PROTECTING THE PUBLIC AND BEING EXPOSED TO KNOWN JUNKIES AND ALL KINDS OF CRIMINALS. I TESTED POSITIVE FOR HEPATITIS C 1A AND THE ONLY REAL EXPOSURE WAS AT WORK. I WAS CLEAN WHEN I TOOK A PRE EMPLOYMENT PHYSICAL OR I WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN HIRED, BECAUSE IF I HAD A ILLNESS PRIOR TH GOING TO WORK AND WAS HIRED, I WOULD BE A LIABILITY ,NOW I AM DOING WELL AND HAVE CLEARED DUE TO A CLINICAL TRIAL AND RETIRED FROM LAW ENFORCEMENT BECAUSE OF THE ILLNESS HEPATITIS C1A I HAD 48 WEEKS OF INJECTIONS OF INTERFERON ALONG WITH PILLS, PILLS, PILLS. ASK ME ANY THING AND I WILL BE STRAIGHT WITH WHO EVER CONTACTS ME. I WOULD LIKE TO START A SUPPORT GROUP IN THE STATE I LIVE IN FOR FIRST RESPONDERS BECAUSE IT IS HARD TO FACE A GROUP OF X COUSTOMERS IF YOU UNDERSTAND MY MEANING. I WENT TO GROUP MEETINGS AND TRIED TO HELP AT THE HEP C DAY BUT WAS OUT OF PLACE. WE ALL NEED HELP BUT IT TAKES UNDERSTANDING..

[Deb_c430]

When I had my accident in Germany, I told them over and over I had hepc,     Thank goodness,   that and that my husband was in Turkey. It was the last time I was aware  for 6 weeks.

They helped save my life,  I have a huge respect for them!

I don't know what the answer is to this, But God Bless them for doing the job they do.

Deb

[medicmommy]

Hello.
I'm SO HIP TO YOUR STRUGGLE! I'm a paramedic who got hep C from a dirty needle stick while working a cardiac arrest on a drug addict. I didn't discover I had it (it wasn't tracked like it should have been) for three years, so when I had a pre-surgical work-up that showed it, I was shocked! I thought my life was over. I had seen people die from Hep C infections and liver failure, and it is an awful way to go. There was no other way I could have gotten it (squeaky clean/ painfully boring lifestyle), and had been screened for it when I was pregnant with my daughter a few years prior to the needle stick. I was 3A geno, and did treatment last year. As of January '09, I am SVR...By the way, what state are you in? ((((((((((((HUGZ)))))))~Melinda

[Debbie223]

Thank you both for sharing your frustration and story. Trinity my heart goes out to you. That must have been a very difficult time in your life and I am sure there is still alot of pain around it.  Thank you Frog for sharing... my son is a sheriff deputy and works in an area where there is high drug use. What can he really do to protect himself?? Just be aware I guess. When I found out of course I shared with him, I don't think he was even aware of hep c. Not even sure he has ever been tested. Maybe he has, he was in the Marines.. maybe they test for everything.

best to you both

[Trinity4]

I understand your frustration.  Anyone in the medical field who comes in contact with blood is at a higher risk.  They are trained to take the necessary precautions but accidents do happen.  I would like to say that 4 years ago I was involved in a terrible car accident.  We had gone to dinner with some friends and left our car at their house.  On the way back from the restaurant we stopped by our house to pick up bathing suits so we could swim at their pool.  The drive was only five minutes away so no one had their seat belt on. (bad move)
Our friend lost control on a sharp corner and over compensated the turn.  The car veered to the other side of the road and hit an embankment.  All four of us were ejected from the vehicle after it barrel rolled 4 times.  The driver was killed and his wife, my husband and myself were seriously injured.  My husband had serious head injuries and suffers from dementia to this day.  
There was a lot of blood, many deep cuts including myself.  I was never a drug user or a criminal nor did I know I had hepc at the time.  I'm quite sure I became infected from a blood transfusion in 72.  The first responders and paramedics came in contact with my blood as well as the critical care staff at the hospital so it's really not fair nor can you say with any certainty that being exposed to junkies and criminals is how you were infected.  That type of exposure increases the risk, but there many people like myself who just didn't know they had hepc and I pray I did not infect anyone.
Trinity