Some oldies are fantastic aren't they? I'd had a complete prick of a night dealing with some really obnoxious and rather testing patients one of whom we transported to hospital only to see her walk out of the ED before I'd even finished typing up my case sheet. Staff at hospital told me she's been 'hitching rides' with ambulances across town, then just refusing assessment at hospital. She feigns chest pain and says all the right things so you have no choice but to run her into hospital 'just in case' it is for real. Very frustrating.
Anyway back to the nice oldies... My partner and I rocked up to a house where we were met at the front door by a 3 foot high granny who said "good morning..oh I'm sorry I had to bother you so early, its just I can't get Clifford off the floor". It turns out her husband had fallen in the bathroom which was about the size of a shoebox, and couldn't get himself up. We had some trouble getting into the bathroom because the door opened inwards and he was lying on the floor blocking the door. It took the two of us shoving quite hard to slide him out of the way enough to get in to assess him. Clifford turns out to be a very tall man for an old fella, and while I'm pleased to find he's basically unhurt, I look across at my partner and we're both thinking the same thing... how are we going to all fit in this tiny bathroom and get the big man back on his feet?
For a brief moment I think about getting the MFB (fire department) in to remove the bathroom door so we can drag this guy out into the hall and lift him up. His lovely wife is calling out from the kitchen and answering all my assessment questions for her husband; "no he doesn't have any pain... no he didn't hit his head...did you love.". Eventually I climb into the old pink enamel bathtub to get close enough to Clifford, my partner squeezes down beside the toilet, we each grab an arm and 1...2...3...up. We all almost end up in the bath but the wobbly old legs poking out from under Clifford's dressing gown manage to hold him up and we all do a funny shuffle out into the hall where my partner has a chair waiting.
The 3 foot tall granny is still happily chatting away, apologising and offering us a cuppa. We decline, but decide to sit and chat for a few moments to make sure everybody is ok. Eventually I askClifford; "Are you sure you don't want to go to hospital for a check up?". He gives me a wink and says "I've been through a lot worse..I'll just stay home and have a cuppa".
We said our goodbyes and headed out into the quiet street to see the first signs of daybreak. I love helping people like that.
1 comment:
The older ones are always so lovely.
Sadly, they also inevitably "don't want to be a bother" even when they really REALLY need an ambulance (i.e. calls at the end of a 3-day-long asthma attack)
Then, on the flip side, you have people with no consideration at all, who call an ambulance for a free taxi ride and don't care if they're tying up a limited resource.
Post a Comment