Navigation

Six calls – one cancelled on scene, one conveyed, one assisted-only and three required an ambulance.

It started with a 24 year-old female who had fainted at an underground station. By the time I arrived, she had recovered a little but was still groggy enough to benefit from a little oxygen; the universal waker-upper. She had low blood pressure, which explained the faint and had soiled her trousers, which is unusual for such a simple event. I wondered if she had suffered a seizure. She was taken to hospital because, as always, when more than one problem can’t be ruled out, they must be ruled in until someone else on a higher pay-scale can make a decision.

After this I was off to see a 61 year-old man who had been suffering left arm and shoulder pain for the past three days. He spoke no English but his daughter was there to translate. This slows the whole process of communication down and it makes it harder to define the problem, especially where there are inconsistencies within the dialogue. I found it hard to determine what kind of pain he had and how badly it affected him. Our 1 – 10 pain scale is almost useless when there is a language or cultural barrier.

Her G.P. had called us and wanted me to take him to hospital but I don’t convey possible cardiac pain and an ambulance was requested. I discovered that the pain increased on exertion and when eating, so I had a little more to go on for the crew when they arrived. I hate standing there trying to explain a problem only to be told that it’s inaccurate because the whole translator procedure had fallen down. He probably had angina...or indigestion. Or both.

The rain fell down hard on our heads on the next call. I had arrived with the crew and we were being led into a grimy estate by the caller who identified himself as a mate of the patient. He had been standing on the street corner when I got on scene and I saw him waving at me – not windmilling – just waving. I get so many pranksters who do this when the blue lights are on that I ignore them until I find the correct address for the call, otherwise I end up stopping for some idiot without a cause...or brain. Unfortunately, he was the guy I needed to pay attention to but I shot right past him.

The patient had been locked inside the flat they shared while he popped out to make the 999 call. If he had needed to get out, he would have been in trouble.

Inside we found a 43 year-old man who had collapsed after taking heroin. His mate had described him as going grey in colour and then passing out just after the dose. Now he looked pale, shaky and confused as the three of us descended on him. He refused our help and confirmed that he was alright but the crew persuaded him to accompany them to the ambulance for a check-up before they left him in the care of his friend. I drove off into the rain.

Taking two tramadol for pain isn’t going to kill anyone but my next patient called an ambulance because she feared she was reacting badly to the pills. She was dizzy and generally unwell after eating them but I wasn’t required to help out because the crew had arrived just before me and she was walking out the door with them. All her obs were normal (I stuck around in the ambulance to nosey in).

Later in the day a call to a 5 year-old with difficulty in breathing was cancelled when I arrived on scene. Well, it should have been on scene; according to my MDT I was at the correct address...but I wasn’t. I called Control to have them sort it out but they told me not to bother as a crew had already been and gone.

My last call of the shift was for a 31 year-old woman who was suffering abdominal pains at work. Again, I shot past the address (the rain makes navigation hard work) but managed to slow down and stop in time to realise I was a good few doors away. I reversed to the location and a man stood on the kerb waiting for me – he had a wry smile on his face.

The woman was inside the building, sitting in the hall and I managed to get enough information about her condition to make a decision about cancelling the ambulance but the crew showed up as I dialled in to control. I explained that the lady, who was Italian, (just so you can see how cosmopolitan my job is), had Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS), thus her discomfort. The crew agreed to let me convey the patient and I took her to hospital in the car. This, incidentally, also ensured that I could get home on time.

Be safe.