Baby Bus

There are several types of ambulances out there, from cars to motorbikes, bicycles to a helicopter, emergency ambulances, as well as all the patient transport vehicles. One of the hidden secrets of the London Ambulance Service is BETS, or Baby Emergency Transport Service. It's an ambulance with a difference. It has a crew of one paramedic, one nurse and one doctor. It does what it says on the tin. This is a team of people who travel round London, the South East, and every so often further afield, in order to treat and transport very sick mainly newborn babies. Some are born very prematurely, with all the complications that it can lead to. Some are born full-term with all sorts of illnesses and diseases. The job that BETS has, in the most simplistic of terms, is to stabilise these babies and transfer them to the most appropriate treatment centre for their condition. Sometimes they also take them back to their local hospital once they are well enough. I had the privilege of spending six months with this team of dedicated people, and would love to go back for more. If only they'd move a little nearer...

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Three in the morning, the only noise in the building is the Batman movie that we're watching, the stirring of the cups of coffee, and the mumbled prayers that the phone stays silent now for the rest of the shift. It had been one of those nights. It took me forever to get to work, we'd been busy from the start up until now, having driven 150 miles already, and finally we could have a sit down and watch the movie that someone had kindly left behind. Ten minutes in, 3 pairs of eyes that were fixed on the TV are starting to droop, but the dream world that slowly envelopes the room is abruptly shattered with a shrill ring. In Outtatown Hospital a hundred miles away is a very poorly newborn, and he needs to get to Bigtown Hospital for treatment. There's a chance that he may not survive long enough for us to get there, there's a chance he won't survive long enough for us to stabilise and transport him, there's a chance he won't survive the journey itself, and if he beats the odds and survives all that time, he only has a 50% chance of survival overall.

Hoping against hope, and knowing that we were going to finish our shift very, very late, we set off for Outtatown.

The doctor on board is given constant updates on baby Adam. He suggests treatments to give him the best possible fighting chance. At about 5 o'clock in the morning we arrive, and are met by the local medical team, as well as Adam's parents. They suggest that as I'm doing all the driving that I go and take a nap. I manage 10 minutes, but the tension is palpable, and I feel that I'd be more use being an extra pair of hands. It was an amazing experience for me as a paramedic to be treated as part of a fully fledged medical team, and is one of the things I miss most about BETS.

The parents are, understandably, distraught. Dad is trying to stay composed, but mostly failing. Mum is in a wheelchair, refusing to give her body the chance to recover from the traumatic birth. They want to see everything, know everything, understand everything. Yet they understand nothing. There was no warning, Adam was born on time, all the scans were clear, no sign of the trauma that was to follow his birth.

It's the wrong side of 7am for a night team. Adam is fighting, but transport is a dangerous business, and he has to be completely stable. It takes time, ingenuity, medication and a lot of patience. The day team calls to see if we want relieving, but we work out that by the time they drive 100 miles in daytime traffic, even on blue lights, we'll hopefully be half way back to Bigtown. Adam permitting.

Mum and Dad finally succumb to a fitful sleep in a side room. The efforts continue, the hospital night staff go home to their Outtatown beds, the day team take over where they left off. Slowly but surely Adam's condition is becoming more manageable and he starts to settle. He has episodes where it seems we'll never be able to move him, but finally, at almost 10 in the morning, Adam's loaded into the incubator and onto the Baby Bus.

CONTINUED...