Friday 1 November 2013

Monkeying Around

"25 year old male,? Fall from height"


Aaahh, the old ? is back! It's like a magical mystery tour! What illness or injury is behind the closed door?! Or in this case, the woods! The ? is kind of important! HAS he fallen from height?! If so, is it extreme height?! I really need to know this stuff, especially as I'm on my own! 

UPDATE: No one available to meet you at the gate. Patient is about half a mile from the entrance near the stream. Caller staying with patient.

"F%#k!!!" (Sometimes you HAVE to swear)

I arrived at the entrance to the park. There was a height restriction on the gate which I could fit under, but the ambulance would not. I drove about 400 yards to the start of the footpath by the woods. Now a long walk.....

UPDATE: Fall from extreme height. ? 40 feet out of tree. Drifting in and out of consciousness.

"F%#k!!!" (Again, this is a 'sometimes' moment)

This job will not allow me the luxury of popping back to the car for kit. I needed to take everything I need or may need. I also have no idea how long I will be there due to the location. It could take a while to get him out! So, paramedic bag on my shoulders, oxygen bag and spare cylinder, dressing pack, Lifepack 15 (weighs a tonne), Entonox, spinal collars and a blanket. I literally couldn't carry any more if I tried. After 15 minutes of walking / shuffling / plodding I heard some shouting coming through the trees. I followed the noise and eventually saw my patient and the caller on the other side of a small stream. I clambered down the bank, tip-toe'd across, up the bank on the other side and go to work!


The guy was in a bad way and was indeed drifting in and out of consciousness. When awake he was in a lot of pain and had various obvious injuries that concerned me. Significantly, a head injury, a possible broken pelvis and a broken neck. That's not to mention the arm and leg injuries he had but I was limited to what I could do on my own. It is these jobs where you learn a lot about yourself and your abilities. The buck stopped with me to a point, I can only do what I can do but lone working means you put an awful lot of pressure on yourself to do a lot.

I requested HEMS due to his injuries and location. HEMS were unavailable. They were my safety net! (Ironic mention of safety net given the circumstances!) In a semi-angry / desperate rant, I basically said, and I paraphrase:

"This guy is literally in (not up) shit creek, I have no means to get him out quickly and safely, I don't care if HEMS are offline, I need someone and quickly. HART, extra crews, anything, but I need it 5 minutes ago. Capisce?!"

I think for poor girl on the radio sensed my stress levels and basically said, and I paraphrase:

"Oi! Chill your beans, leave it with me, I'll get you all the help you need as quickly as I can, we are here if you need us for anything! Comprende?!"

I got it and she got it. Our poor allocators often get the brunt of our heightened stress levels! The good ones understand that and respond with kid gloves and know it's nothing personal. I know it's not their fault HEMS aren't available and I know it's not their fault that I'm in the middle of nowhere, on my own and feeling out of my depth! I know that! Sometimes we all lose our cool! 

The helpful caller continued to be helpful. I got him lying on his front holding the patients head still. It transpires that my patient, James, had decided to climb a tree, on his own, in the middle of woods. About 30-40 feet up, the branch he was standing on snapped. He dropped like a lead balloon. The branch was lying next to him and I could see where it had been, high up in the tree. *shudders* By sheer luck, the caller had been walking his dog and happened to see James lying on the floor. We had no real idea how long ago he had fallen. It was a remote part of the wood and off the beaten track. If he hadn't been found when he had been I wouldn't like to think how long he could have been lying there.

I had oxygen on him and set about cutting off his clothes. I got him linked up to the machine and starting monitoring him. For now, his blood pressure was stable. I fitted a spinal collar and them got IV access in both arms. Still no ambulance!! 

Gradually James became more and more coherent which was a good sign. However, the more alert he became, the more pain he was in. I had Morphine available, but with his injuries I wanted to hold off until it was totally necessary. I began a top to toe survey, to check for all injuries and make sure I hadn't missed anything. I carefully ran my fingers slowly down the small of his back. I felt an ominous ridge in his spine causing him to gasp. As I assessed his legs, it quickly became apparent he wasn't aware of what I was doing, or that I was even touching him. 

After a brief radio conversation with control, I guided the ambulance crew to my location. Eventually they found me and had brought supplies! We now had a spinal board, head blocks and straps. One thing we didn't have was a plan. There was no way we could realistically and safely carry him back to the ambulance. We needed HART team with all their fancy kit and extraction expertise. They, however, were still 20 minutes away because they'd had to get their special off road vehicles ready. All we could do was treat what we could, keep James warm and reduce pain as much as possible. Time really does grind to a halt when you are desperate to fly by. There was a very real possibility that James could be paralysed or even die from his injuries and I think he knew it too. 

It's a horrible situation to be in. As much as you want to talk candidly and be honest, in a patient who must remain completely still, you don't want to cause panic. I made it painfully clear he mustn't move at all but the pain was making him fidgety. I decided that despite the potential risks of morphine, the benefit would outweigh them and with three of us now, any side effects could be managed. So I loaded him up with it and he responded well.

Eventually a guy from the HART team arrived, panting! He'd run! Run! Weirdo! He said they were all here and were trying to get their vehicles inside! Not 1, not 2, not even 3, but 4! The incident response vehicle (big ambulance with tea making facilities), the 4 x 4 jeep thingy which the boss drives and then 'Thunderbird 2'. Well that's what I call it anyway. This....thing has a crane, it lifts off a huge box, and then out the back of said box, comes a special ambulance golf buggy thing with blue lights and stretcher! Anyway, they all arrived and slowly but surely found their way to us. Amusingly, the HART team were stood around in their protective jump suits and hard hats and we were stood next to them in our normal uniform. They didn't get the joke! To be fair though, we couldn't have got him out without them. Today they more than proved their worth!

Once everyone was assembled we got James off the floor and into the vehicle. Whilst he was driven round to the ambulance, we traipsed back with all the kit and met back at our vehicles. James was loaded on board the ambulance and we took him off to the trauma centre. 

I often say that in this job you generally see people when they are having a really bad day. Let's be honest, if you need an ambulance, or think you need an ambulance, clearly things aren't great! That aside though, we are also in the unfortunate position to see people when they are suffering truly life changing events, often with disastrous consequences. People's reactions vary from fear to denial but they all have an unmistakable look in their eyes. Sometimes I think I know the right things to say, sometimes I don't. Today I didn't. James looked at me and said:

'I've really fucked up haven't I?'

Hope can be a dangerous thing and I didn't want to give him any on a false pretence. I suppose my avoidance of the question was very telling. 

'Let's see what the X-rays show.'

A tear trickled down his cheek. I guess the gravity of the situation had hit home. 

I have no idea if James ever walked again.