Another set of night shifts completed successfully!
One job to talk about which did make me (and the crew who backed me up) chuckle somewhat!
Having done one unsuccessful cardiac arrest in my shift (RIP), I was sent to another.
Arriving at a block of flats on my own I dragged all my kit out of the boot of the car, now on your own it is no mean feat to get all this kit inside without breaking out into a sweat!
One response bag rucksack on my back, oxygen bag in one hand, defibrillator over one shoulder, and a drugs bag in the other hand! In all I have to carry what’s got to be in the region of 20-30KG of kit… (That’s 44-66lb in old money!).
So I arrive at the front door of a block of flats (already in a sweat) and find I have to climb three flights of stairs, and no lift in the place!
Now I am a firm believer of not running anywhere at work, firstly there’s no point me falling arse over tit on the way there, and also there’s no point me turning up and having to spend two minutes recovering before being able to treat the patient!
However sometimes you kind of have to move a bit quicker than an amble… SO I’m climbing three flights of stairs as quick as my legs will carry me, to a cardiac arrest, with umpteen bags attached to various parts of my body….
I arrive in the flat to a somewhat hysterical man in his 40’s shouting at me that he can’t wake his mum up, and that she’s dead.
When the son told me he couldn’t wake his mum up I made a bit of a fatal error, I believed what the son told me!
In the room I found an elderly lady with her bed covers over her. Having made the mistake of believing the son that his mum wouldn’t wake up I threw her bed covers bake and shouted as her “WAKE UP DORRIS, CAN YOU HEAR ME”.
Well I was somewhat shocked and surprised when the lady turned round with a startle to find a stranger in her bedroom.
It transpires that the patient was merely asleep and the son had just stood in the doorway and on calling to his mum, she hadn’t woken up, so he called an ambulance and we all rushed around thinking it was a cardiac arrest!
I felt quite sorry for the gentleman who was most apologetic and embarrassed having called us out. But at least the old lady was ok! It did make us all chuckle though!
