the inevitable things in life

becoming "one of those old people"...

this is my second week back from holiday... since being back at work it has been rather quiet for me on the first aid front. i have had a few of the usual "im not feeling well and i think i need to go home" calls, but yesterday i had a call that got the old adrenalin flowing! 

the call came across as "two people fallen down escalator, unsure of casualty condition". it was not too far for me to get on scene, a short run through the jewelry department into cosmetics then up the escalator. 

when i arrived there were two members of the public assisting the elderly gentleman to stand up, my initial thought was "ohhh cr*p, what are they doing" so i alerted them i was there and the lady informed me that she was actually a doctor. this made me feel slightly more at ease. the gentleman was sat on a chair and seen to by a member of the security. his wife had come out slightly worse.

she had lost her footing and balance then fell forwards grabbing hold of her husband and pulling him over with her. he had fallen on top of his wife and had very minor injuries (a small abrasion to his right hand, he was abit shaken by the whole event and also very worried about his lifetime partner). 

i treated his wife, she was sat up on a step on the escalator (it had been stopped by the doctor). she had a laceration (about 2 inches) to the left side of her head just behind the ear, i applied a dressing and the bleeding had been controlled. she had also hurt her ankle. now from my experience of dealing with elderly patients, most of them never seem to moan about anything. they have such good pain thresholds and don't want to cause any fuss!!! but she was worried about trying to stand up, so this gave me an indication that she was in pain (there was bruising and swelling, but no other deformities). she did not have any pain anywhere else, and she was well within her own mind with great humor too!!! she remembered the whole thing unfolding without any confusion so there wasn't any signs of her loosing consciousness. i spoke with the doctor and we decided that an ambulance wasn't necessary so i booked them both a cab to A+E and also a return cab home. i wheeled them to the exit to meet the cab and left them in the capable and friendly hands of the driver.

the thing that hit me most was that what happened is again one of those inevitable things in life!!! if that would have been a couple in their 20's then it almost certainly wouldn't of happened, this is something we all have to look forward to!!! i have a great respect for the elderly, some of the most interesting people i know are OAP's!!! 

anyway, that is just about it.