It's around 1 in the morning, the shift has been non-stop. Not even the chance to use the "facilities". Red call - "80 year old, Chest Pain" reads the call that's come down the MDT, cruelly dashing my hopes for a return to station. As well as the computer screen shouting at me, the phone's ringing too. "Hi, it's John at control. On this job, for Chest Pain, read Cardiac Arrest... There's already another FRU on scene, but the nearest ambulance might as well be in Scotland." My right foot gains a little bit of weight and the engine grumbles it's response. Guess I'm not the only tired one.
Sam is lying on the floor, looking like he's fallen asleep with his eyes open. Alex, on the first FRU, is in full swing of a resus attempt in the tropical heat that is, for some reason, an elderly person's apartment. As I join the resuscitation, the warden starts telling us Sam's story. Sam's just come out of a long stay in hospital and has been moved into this apartment as a kind of test to see how it feels to be out of hospital, and still have the safety-net of a warden on site 24 hours a day. Sam's family had only left shortly before we were called, having made sure that Sam was well settled for the night.
It seems cruel. Now we've got to phone the family and ask them to meet us at the hospital as Sam was now very ill. It was part practicality and part cowardice that meant that we asked the warden to make that call.
The crew arrived, and the resuscitation attempts were continued all the way to hospital. We all knew that the chances of success were slim, but there seemed to be a common thought that if Sam's made it out of hospital once, maybe, just maybe, there's enough fight left for a second time...
As we're sitting outside the A&E, the family start to arrive. Through the window I see a doctor talking to the family. I see the tears start to flow. I see the scene that conveys it all. The fightback is over.
2 comments:
The "best" and "worst" bit of working pre-hospital is the same - not seeing the aftermath. It's awful not to know what happened to that patient you cared about, that you worked so hard for. But it's also awful when you have to deal with that scene :(
If ever we want divine intervention, it's on jobs like that... The pt deserves another chance after having been through so much.
It's almost as if we will the pt to fight, make that last effort and it's so sad that the end has to come like that, after everything.
Really nicely written blog account.
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