Somebody Help Me

February 7th, 2008

The AVL said ‘Charlie Code Green’, but it’s still a blue light response. Believe it or not (and I’ve probably mentioned this before), but any 999 call to the ambulance service (in the West Midlands) receives a blue light response - even when it is graded by the electronic triage system (AMPDS) to be non-life threatening such as a cut finger or stubbed toe. This was no different.

We were responding to an 88-year-old female lying on the floor, unable to get up after a fall. On our arrival, we tapped in the six digit Keysafe code and retrieved the keys to the front door. A wall of heat greeted us as we walked in from the cold, dark evening, assuring us we have the home of an elderly person.

“Hello,” I shouted, ‘ambulance service.”

No reply. This isn’t unusual, as the patient more often than not is as deaf as a post, but refuses to wear their hearing aid because they ‘can hear fine without’. As I made my way through the bungalow, I was still not getting a response. This is when you get that niggling feeling at the back of your mind thinking ‘maybe the reason why this old lady fell is more than just a slip’, but that fear was soon resolved when I entered the living room to find a person who matched the description of the patient sat on a sofa.

“Somebody help me,” she screeched. “I need picking up.”

Whilst I was trying to establish what exactly was wrong with the hysterical woman who was now crying, a young woman walked through the door wearing what was obviously a carer’s uniform. It soon transpired that the ‘patient’ simply wanted to be assisted from one chair to another and had pressed her Careline button who had promptly sent for an emergency ambulance.

I usually have all the time in the world for an elderly person who has fallen over at home, but this time, my patience was wearing very thin…

Entry Filed under: Work