A post to redress the balance, since all I seem to post about here are horrible deaths and moronic callers…
Two “bobbies on the beat” (policemen on foot, to those not familiar with the term) were perusing their local area when they saw a black taxi pulled over on the side of the road, with the driver slumped over the wheel. They sprinted over, prized open the taxi door and saw that the driver was not breathing.
One policeman dialled 999 directly on his mobile phone. Usually the police radio their control room if they need an ambulance, but going directly can save a few vital seconds. The other policeman pulled the patient from the taxi and placed him flat on his back at the side of the road. Having established that the patient was definitely not breathing, he had already begun CPR by the time his colleague had given the location to our call taker. The call taker thus had an easy job — he just had to check with the first policeman that the second was doing it correctly (he was) and stay on line to keep us updated.
As I’m writing this, it’s occurring to me that the number of times that I have tried to give CPR instructions and had them refused because the caller already knows how to do it is so minimal that I can count it on the fingers of… well, one finger, actually.
The ambulances (two of them, and a FRU for good measure) were on scene within five minutes (which is, incidentally, two minutes longer than a non-breathing person can survive without CPR), and then we heard nothing, until I got the blue call on the radio.
“This is T103, blue to King George’s with a 60 year old male, post cardiac arrest, was in VF, one shock given… now pulse 90, BP 130/88, respiratory rate 12… be there in 8, over…”
(Non jargon translation: “His heart wasn’t beating, but we zapped him with an electric shock thingy and it started again, and now he’s probably healthier than half the patients that get blue lighted in.”)
I felt a little bit like replying to the blue call with “Woo, T103! You got him back! Fancy that, eh? Big pat on the back!” but of course that is not professional and would interfere with notifying the hospital, so I didn’t. However, if “T103″ are reading this, I can say “well done” now, and also a big “well done” to those two policemen, without whom the patient would certainly have died.
It is, sadly, quite rare for us to get a call when a patient is brought back after cardiac arrest. Often crews blue them in still trying to resuscitate them; often they are unofficially pronounced dead at scene. So when we get a blue call like this, there’s a little celebration on the dispatch desk, and we all feel happy for a few minutes and do a little dance around the table, until the monitor shows that there’s another call coming in, and then we all go back to work and forget all about it.
August 3rd, 2006 at 8:39 pm
Oh good.
Do you prefer to have CPR instructions refused because people know how to do it, or would you rather talk them through it anyway in case they only think they know? I am a member of St John, and can do it (on an Annie anyway) according to the old protocol - I take it you’ve already gone over to the new one.
August 3rd, 2006 at 9:00 pm
Go T103!
Met/LAS 1 Grim Reaper 0
August 3rd, 2006 at 9:23 pm
The trouble with people refusing CPR because they know how to do it is that sometimes they don’t really know how to do it at all!. But otherwise, I prefer them to know how to do it — they’ll get started quicker and be more likely to do it right as it’s hard to explain CPR over the phone to someone in a panic. My ideal situation is one person doing CPR while another gives a running commentary.
Our crews have gone over to the new 30:2 protocol, but over the phone we use the compressions-only protocol (on the grounds that people are less likely to refuse) except in a few specific circumstances (children, drowning, hanging etc).
August 3rd, 2006 at 9:44 pm
i always remember to keep to the compression rate of 100 per minute by singing (to myself) nellie the elephant.
anybody who want to know the latest protocols can see them at http://www.resus.org.uk/
August 3rd, 2006 at 10:45 pm
I do that too! They taught us to do so at St John Ambulance and I just can’t get it out of my head. One verse is 15 compressions. I often wonder if I would do it faced with a real person rather than a resus annie!
August 4th, 2006 at 3:03 am
What a lucky man! Firstly that he wasn’t driving when he had the heart attack (that’s how my godfather died); secondly that the cops happened by and realised so quickly what the situation was; thirdly that the CPR worked at all. As you said, it’s rare for someone to be brought back after cadiac arrest. A friend of mine did a successful resuscitation when she was at the gym and the bloke on the treadmill next to her dropped off it. She was a trained EMT and that was probably what saved his life - that she knew what to do do and did it immediately. She was very sad when she heard a couple of years later that he’d had another heart attack because he hadn’t made any lifestyle changes.
August 4th, 2006 at 6:44 am
Yay, I’m glad it’s not just me with the Nelly the Elephant thing. It’s good to hear about a resus going so well.
August 4th, 2006 at 8:53 am
*grabs pillows*
*works out “Nelly the Elephant*
*laughs*
Excellent! I can’t believe that in all the assorted first aid things I’ve had to attend, school, work, whatever, no one has ever told us that!
And yay for getting the guy back too!
August 4th, 2006 at 9:48 am
Yeah I use Nellie the Elephant! The Archers theme tune works well too, I’m told …
August 4th, 2006 at 10:36 am
Yay for the policemen and the crew of T103 and everyone else involved. Nice to hear success stories.
I’ve been taught Nellie the Elephant too! - The Archers theme does work well and there’s one more that works well, you just don’t want to sing it out loud….it’s Queen’s “Another One Bites The Dust”!
August 4th, 2006 at 10:45 am
Nelly the Elephant does work, but not if you do the Toy Dolls version where it speeds up towards the end - very tiring!
August 4th, 2006 at 5:03 pm
As well as being a paeds a&e nurse, I also work for a company that teaches parents CPR/first aid.
Having read this blog I always advise parents that if they were to ever need to use the CPR that you guys talk them through the guidelines - which reassures them that with me they can concentrate on what position to put the head in and how doing the breaths/compressions feels. The guys I teach are always impressed that in that situation you’d stay on the line to them - hopefully helping prevent any of them interuppting. Didn’t know about the nellie the elephant/archers thing though - will be telling guys this now at my classes!!
August 4th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
I hope someone lets the Royal Humane Society know. They give out awards to people who complete a successful resuscitation.
http://www.royalhumane.org/
August 5th, 2006 at 8:04 pm
Ever since I started teaching First Aid, CPR etc I have told them to remain on the line, I can remember seeing the 999 programme and can remember when they were talking about the change over of the dispatch system to “999 stay on the line”.
After seeing it performed by a friend at another course that I was assisting at I have started doing a simulated emergency call, unfortunately at the last class I lost my prompt sheet and made a hames of it (jumping backwards and forwards between questions
).
Is there any chance you could put together a general guideline as I cant remember or find the original sheet.
August 6th, 2006 at 1:13 pm
Britblog Roundup # 77
Welcome back. In UK blogging news this week, well, there’s a couple of books out. Girl With a One Track Mind was, at least at one point this week, top of the Amazon pre-order lists. I have a feeling that
August 6th, 2006 at 7:37 pm
Like many people, when I first came to work for the ambulance service I was full of excitement at the thought of doing good and saving lives all over the place. A pub regular used to ask me “saved any lives today”, and I’d usually reply”nope, just drunks and fall-non inj” …. when it does happen, you guide someone through cpr, the crew shock them back, and they finish in a ward not a morgue……I wouldn’t swap that feeling for anything!
August 10th, 2006 at 10:35 am
Excellent work Mark and your colleagues. My mate was third manning the other day and while en route to hospital with a DNR they came across a motorbike v car rtc. The biker was in a really bad way, resp arrest, no output. They shocked him 3 times at the roadside, put in a chest drain, and he was airlifted to Bristol direct. This happened in a very rural location some 20 miles from the nearest ambulance station and it was purely by chance that the crew came across it within a minute of it happening. The guy is still pretty poorly and won’t be riding his bike for some time, but the outlook for him is good. As with all positive outcomes from a resp/cardiac arrest, its all down to luck at the end of the day!
August 14th, 2006 at 12:31 am
i’ve so far twice had someone call 999 and tell the operator cpr instructions weren’t needed. the first time was less than 4 hours after my first aid exam. talk about trial by fire! unfortunately neither of them recovered, but after my first ever experience of needing my first aid training, i’ve become a huge advocate that people should know at least the basics.
well done to the police and the crew for getting him back!
August 16th, 2006 at 9:31 pm
Just seen a man who appears to be your guy on the front of a local paper. Doing well and very grateful to the policeman in question. Fantastic news. And the story is accompanied by numbers to ring for CPR training, so maybe there’ll be a few more callers not needing instructions in the future!
August 16th, 2006 at 11:33 pm
Oh, excellent news! I was hoping he’d not made a turn for the worse in hospital. Do you have a link to the newspaper in question? If so, could I see it?
August 16th, 2006 at 11:42 pm
Actually - I’ve found it myself. was this the one you meant - pretty sure that’s him!
August 17th, 2006 at 6:00 pm
Indeed. Sorry not to have posted it originally, was in a bit of a rush. Anyway, sounds like he’s got a few years in him yet
August 21st, 2006 at 9:19 am
Shane - Mark put together a 999 script for me last year (13th October 2005) http://www.neenaw.co.uk/index.php/ambulances/31/999-script/
Sorry I can’t hyperlink.
September 4th, 2006 at 12:59 am
kudo’s to the policeman for a job well done!! I agree with u the public do need a lot of enlightenment on CPR. Had an uncle who died on the M25 cos he sufferred a heart attack while driving and veered off the road. His car wasnt discovered until about 5days later.
I must confess I am ashamed of myself and indeed I have been shamed into action!! I have read a lot of books on first aid and cpr but I really cant say I do know how to administer it in practice although I’ve got the ‘theory’ stuck firmly in my head.
August 24th, 2007 at 6:11 am
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