His response proved he was lucid.
‘I understand you have pain in your chest, Malcolm.’
Malcolm opened his eyes to Bess’s voice.
As a critical care paramedic, Bess’s job was to provide pre-hospital emergency care. It involved quick thinking, fast decision making, often in the most challenging environments with limitedresources.
‘I’m going to take a look at you,’ she assured him. Pain in the chest could be due to a fracture, organ damage or bruising so she wanted to rule things out wherever she could. She needed to ensure he was stable, get him out of the vehicle, and transport him to the further help he needed.
Daylight was beginning to fade and even though Bess had a head torch on her helmet, she asked the road paramedic to hold a bigger torch and shine it into the car so she could better assess Malcolm. As she worked, she couldn’t help picturing him with her mother, holding hands, talking, starting something new without her even knowing. Only three years had passed since they’d lost Bess’s dad; it felt like no time at all in so many ways.
But right now, she had to block all of that out and do her job.
Once she was as sure as she could be that his injuries weren’t life threatening, she administered a stronger pain relief than the road paramedics were able to give. ‘The fire brigade are going to get you out of here, okay, Malcolm?’
‘Okay.’ He even managed a smile as Noah came to assist, a smile that seemed kind to Bess.
To Gio, she said, ‘Slow and careful with this one; keep everything as still as you can.’
‘Right you are.’
Sometimes, the instruction was the opposite – the patient was in such a critical condition that she told the firefighters to work fast, get the patient out by any means necessary.
As Gio got to work, one of the road paramedics came over and informed Bess that they would soon be taking Fiona to the hospital to be checked. ‘She says she won’t leave until Malcolm is extracted from the vehicle.’
‘But she’s okay?’ Bess checked.
‘It’s a precaution,’ the paramedic explained. ‘I think she’s fine, but it’s always good to be safe.’
‘Thank you.’ Bess’s words rushed out of her in relief as the jaws of life crunched and tore away the steel from around the patient while she and Noah stood by, ready for action again.
Once Gio had done his part, two other firefighters put protective boards inside the vehicle to stop injury to any party from jagged metal or broken glass as the patient was freed from the wreckage.
Malcolm was no longer very coherent which wasn’t surprising given the stronger painkillers that had been administered. But, as Noah and Bess got Malcolm onto the scoop, one thing he kept saying stood out – Bess’s mother’s name.
‘Fiona,’ he said again.
‘She’s fine,’ Bess explained, the weirdness of talking to this stranger about her mother not lost on her.
Noah radioed in that they would be transporting the patient by air to the nearest trauma centre and with their equipment gathered together, it was almost time to head back to the aircraft. Daylight had faded completely now, but with the lights of the emergency services vehicles plus the head torches she and Noah had, the visibility was manageable.
Fiona cried out Malcolm’s name yet again, jolting Bess between her job and her personal life. She yelled over to Bess from the side of the road where she stood with a police officer. ‘I want to go with you!’
‘Mum, he’s in good hands,’ Bess called back.
‘You okay?’ Noah asked softly from beside her.
She hoisted the first bag onto her back. ‘Yeah, let’s go.’ This was her job but it didn’t stop her feeling torn, with part of her here with the patient, the other part desperate to go to her mother’s side.
Gio, another firefighter and a second police officer offered to help with the scoop and the rest of the equipment so Bess andNoah could get everything back to the helicopter in one trip. This happened a lot on scene and they were always grateful for any assistance, whether it was from another first responder or a member of the public.
Bess focused on putting one foot in front of the other. Her mum wanted to be sure that Malcolm was okay; Bess wanted to know her mum was all right and she needed to know who Malcolm was.
Was Malcolm the reason behind Fiona’s visit to her house today? Was he what she’d wanted to talk to Bess about?
Her thoughts were drowned by the blare of sirens from the road ambulance that left the scene to take the first patient to the hospital for thorough checks and hopefully an all-clear.
Cold winds whipped Bess’s ringlets across her face as Gio dropped back to walk alongside her. He had the other equipment bags; Noah and the two others had hold of the scoop heading towards the fence they’d have to get over to access the field and the air ambulance.
