- 5 hours ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:07It's one of the most pressurized jobs in the world.
00:15Becoming a paramedic is not for the faint-hearted.
00:18So it's going to be a little bit of pulling and dragging.
00:20That's okay.
00:23No, it's okay.
00:25Each year the National Ambulance Service College welcomes
00:29around 90 new hopefuls to their campuses in Dublin, Ballinusloe, Tullamore and Cork.
00:34These people here are going to be your absolute backup over the next three years.
00:40But not everyone makes it true.
00:42I don't think I'm going to do this anymore.
00:44It's just shit.
00:46I'll go to that in two days.
00:48Because this is no ordinary degree course.
00:51We're going to go.
00:52It's cardiac.
00:56These students are out in ambulances across the country.
01:00999 mode activated.
01:04Learning on real emergency calls.
01:07Here, here, here.
01:08It's over there.
01:11With every shift a crash course in courage.
01:14It doesn't get any harder than this.
01:17Resilience.
01:17Lift.
01:18And critical decision making.
01:20We have a device that brings the bones back into place.
01:22But it's going to cause them to scream.
01:24Big deep breath for me.
01:25The exams on this course aren't just a pass or fail.
01:30Why did I sign up for this?
01:32They're a potential matter of life.
01:34Are you going to wake up for me?
01:35Or death.
01:36We're not breathing.
01:55In Mayo, second year student Ryan and colleague Tommy are responding to a call outside Castle Bar.
02:0221 minutes.
02:05Where a woman is struggling to breathe.
02:10Obviously, the ambulance service is called to critically ill patients every day of the week.
02:15And that comes with responsibility from us to perform to the best capabilities that we can on the day.
02:23Second year students are classed as interns.
02:26Rostered on shift for 52 weeks with an experienced paramedic.
02:31And they are expected to step up their learning on every call.
02:35You're kind of like a duck on water.
02:37When you get on scene, you're going to look confident and come across that you know what you're doing.
02:41But inside your heart is racing.
02:43Keep going up.
02:45Keep going up.
02:47Keep going up.
02:47And you're going to sit there.
02:50This one?
02:51Yeah.
02:52Jeez, look at that for a house.
02:58On arrival at scene, we were met by some family members and we were directed into the bedroom where Roberta
03:04was struggling quite hard.
03:09How are you doing?
03:10How are you keeping?
03:11Ryan is my name.
03:12I get the machine.
03:13Do a few checks.
03:14Yeah.
03:16Initially we were carrying out the assessment and I just identified, right, she's going to need something else.
03:20So I went out to the ambulance to grab and nebulise her.
03:24So is it general deterioration today?
03:27Like what would her kind of general condition be?
03:29Well normally what would that pin be?
03:30When I came back in, there was no sign of Ryan.
03:33Sorry.
03:34I was just having a chat with this lady.
03:37Right, come in there.
03:39It's a bit of a haze.
03:40When Tane chatted with the patient, I went to the next to kin to get details and I think I
03:46kind of zoned in a bit too much on actually trying to get details.
03:50Any rigors or, you know, shaking as if she's a temperature?
03:55No, no.
03:55No temperature.
03:57Ryan got focused on paperwork.
03:59He was trying to get next to kin details rather than identifying that Roberta was struggling fairly hard to try
04:06and get her breath in.
04:08What was the sets?
04:10ATA, which is very wheezy, very lethargic.
04:13More important to this now than to get paperwork.
04:15I know, but like one person can do one job and the other person can guess what the story is.
04:20Like one of the things that used to be always said to me, is this patient sick or are they
04:23big sick?
04:24And she was heading towards the big sick.
04:25She was struggling.
04:27Now, we have a chair here and we're going to get you onto our chair and get you out to
04:31the ambulance.
04:31Is that okay?
04:33So I'm going to put my arms underneath you and lift you over onto the chair.
04:38I think I was in reverse gear, to be honest with you, going in the door while Tommy was in
04:42fifth gear.
04:44Okay, ready?
04:45One, two, three.
04:49I love him.
04:50Can we get the blanket down under there?
04:55It wasn't really until I got out of the ambulance or thereabouts when we were transferring the patient
05:01that I kind of got the hint that Tommy wasn't too impressed.
05:04Do you remember when you told me don't be asking questions?
05:07I'll ask all the questions I need.
05:09I was taking a history and then I was disturbed.
05:11Oh, I know, I know.
05:15We're going to head for Castlebar Hospital, so we are.
05:19Good to go?
05:19Yeah.
05:21Seatbells on?
05:22They'll be on now in two seconds.
05:24You'll be under pressure, Tommy.
05:26Good.
05:26I'm glad the last call put you under pressure.
05:28Oh, yeah, this is morbid now so it is.
05:32Now, Roberta.
05:33Lamblings can be bumpy enough at times, alright?
05:37I suppose having that trust that I could let him do it,
05:40but there's no point me doing all the big calls and him not getting the experience from it.
05:44He needs to experience that patient that's sick in front of him.
05:491644.
05:521644, go ahead there.
05:54Susan, how's it going?
05:56Could I just put in a pre-alert there for recess for Castlebar?
05:59Over.
06:00You can, indeed.
06:00Give me two minutes, sir.
06:02Thanks, Ian.
06:07With Roberta safely delivered to the emergency department for further examination and treatment,
06:13Tommy is debriefing with Ryan.
06:15I had one look at her.
06:16You could see she was lethargic.
06:17The eyes were going.
06:18You could hear the bubbling.
06:21Like she was struggling.
06:23I went for the machine.
06:24I came back.
06:25You were gone.
06:26There was no one there.
06:26The room empty, patient on her own.
06:28And then I had to run out because I knew she needed a nib without even having to listen to
06:32her chest.
06:33So I was doing that.
06:34Yeah.
06:34Like there was nearly a shout going across.
06:37Yeah, yeah.
06:37Where the fuck are you going, Tommy?
06:39Do you know what I mean?
06:40Yeah.
06:41And then there was one or two other.
06:42I just said, out until I get this sorted.
06:44So once I had the nib on, I was trying to help her and open it up.
06:47The airways for her.
06:49Getting her out, fair enough.
06:49Look, we worked well getting her out and all that.
06:51Chair was the handiest thing.
06:53I went for the chair as well.
06:55Yeah.
06:55Where were you?
06:57Probably.
06:57Were you in the room back at that stage?
06:58No.
06:59At that stage I was doing the BGL in the town.
07:01Okay.
07:01Sam.
07:02But no, I completely agree.
07:04You know what I mean?
07:04Do you know where I come from?
07:05No, I completely agree with you.
07:06Can't be all sunshine and butterflies as you said.
07:09And sure it never is.
07:09It never is.
07:10No, I completely agree with you.
07:12I shouldn't have left the room.
07:13At the end of the day, we're going through the internship for a reason.
07:17So that when we do qualify, we don't make those mistakes.
07:21And as long as you learn from those experiences and not just disregard the experience, I think that's very important.
07:32All right.
07:33Look at that.
07:33It's been a long road.
07:36Sorry.
07:40Can I have two seconds?
07:44It's been a long road.
07:46It's been a long road.
07:46And I think anyone in the class...
07:50Sorry now, the emotions of that call is just getting to me.
07:56Excuse me.
07:57It's been a long two years and there's been a lot of ups and downs as far as here.
08:02And it's definitely...
08:04I don't know why I'm crying.
08:06But yeah, it's been a long two years.
08:10So it has.
08:12I don't know why I'm crying.
08:15It was a combination of the factors to be honest with you.
08:19I had some nasty calls, calls that were fatalities and of minors as well.
08:27Pissed off at myself is what I am.
08:29It's only two, three minutes of the call.
08:31I know.
08:31That's it.
08:32That's it.
08:33Everything else was fine.
08:34One tiny little minuscule piece of the call.
08:39Yeah.
08:40Yeah.
08:40Never mind your yeah.
08:41This is the yeah, yeah.
08:43You're brushing off.
08:44Yeah, yeah.
08:44Do you know what I mean?
08:45I know.
08:45So don't be under any illusion.
08:47You're well able to do the job.
08:49Look it.
08:49Tommy came into the back of the wagon and we hugged it out and chatted and all was well.
08:55But you have to like, you need that camaraderie in the service as well.
09:01So you do.
09:01And you need that wingman.
09:03Ah, come here.
09:06Get up.
09:07I don't think it's even...
09:08Get up.
09:08Shut up.
09:09Fucking ass, yeah.
09:11What the fuck?
09:12I don't think it's even this call.
09:14It's not.
09:16It's all the stuff that builds up.
09:18Yeah.
09:19Yeah.
09:19And all the emotions you have to deal with.
09:22Do you remember when I said it to you before?
09:24It's all there and then the next thing it just bursts out in you for no reason.
09:29Jeremy, you're well able to do the job.
09:30And I know what you're saying is at this call.
09:35Your soundbuck.
09:37Get it out of you.
09:39That's what I need.
09:41Good cry.
09:43Yeah.
09:45Why did I sign up for this?
09:48Why did I sign up for this?
09:565-2 over.
09:582-Lima 5-2, go ahead.
10:01We're good to go there, Gary.
10:03We're just moving off.
10:04If we get for coffee, well and good.
10:06If there's a call there, throw it out to us over.
10:11We're going to go for coffee.
10:12Anywhere.
10:13Go for the dock road.
10:16Yeah, I don't mind, yeah.
10:17In Limerick, Anne-Marie, who is also midway through her intern year, is out on the road with experienced paramedic
10:25Jim.
10:28We were grabbing a coffee while we had the chance, because we don't always get the chance.
10:33And lo and behold, a call came through.
10:36I'll see what it is.
10:38I'll see what it is.
10:38I'll see what it is.
10:39I remember the start of that call.
10:41We literally had literally got into the queue for coffee and the radio.
10:46The radio went off.
10:47And Marie stayed in the queue and I ran out to the ambulance.
10:52It was a purple call, so it meant there was a life threat.
10:56Yeah, we better go.
10:57It's cardiac.
10:58And he said that we had to go quick because it was a cardiac arrest.
11:01That it was a young girl.
11:05We better go.
11:07As the crew rushed to the scene, more information comes through that a young girl has attempted to take her
11:13own life.
11:14We weren't too far away from the call.
11:16We were about five minutes away.
11:19On the way to this call, there was a mix of emotions.
11:23Your adrenaline is going.
11:25You're trying to recall everything in your head that you need to remember.
11:32Organising what I needed to organise before I had time to organise.
11:36It was almost robotic, in a way.
11:38But I was definitely feeling nervous.
11:44If you grab the Lucas, I'm grabbing the defence.
11:48We made our way into the house and there was a first responder volunteer that was already there.
11:55Where are we?
11:56Where are we?
11:56Where are we, lads?
11:57Are we upstairs, downstairs?
11:58Where are we?
12:06Where are we?
12:07Clear, lads.
12:08Go on.
12:09Just analysing.
12:11In Limerick, multiple crews are in attendance at the address where a young girl has attempted to take her own
12:17life.
12:19Second year student Anne-Marie is leading the call.
12:23In Limerick, how long are we doing this?
12:30Five minutes away.
12:32When you go to a call and a person is in cardiac arrest and there's family members around, it's very
12:40distressing for the family.
12:41Do you have your pads on?
12:42Do you have your pads on?
12:43Pads on.
12:44We need our ones on.
12:45Yes.
12:46Anne-Marie was the one who took charge.
12:48So her goal then wasn't to actually do CPR.
12:52Her goal wasn't to do insert an airway.
12:54Her goal wasn't to assess anything.
12:56Her goal was to make sure that everybody else was doing what they were supposed to do.
13:01I think he's going in.
13:02Can someone get a step and listen to the gist please?
13:05You're trying to be as professional as you can and attend to the patient
13:09and give that patient the best chance that you can.
13:12But you're also trying to be sensitive towards the family.
13:20We continued, as per what our guidelines tell us to do, to continue oxygenating her
13:26and to continue checking her rhythm of her heart and her pulse
13:30and to also keep doing compressions.
13:39Someone would spare hands for a tie.
13:41Yep.
13:42Right.
13:43That was a really, really tough situation because as the call was going on,
13:49there were, at that stage, two ambulances outside the door.
13:51There was a doctor's car and there was a community first responders car.
13:55Yeah, if you can get the second BBM with the oxygen to take over this one in a second.
14:01Yeah, right.
14:02One second now.
14:03Just stand here like shocker voice.
14:05Yeah.
14:06Clear.
14:07Yeah.
14:08Yeah.
14:09There was nothing there?
14:10No?
14:10Yeah.
14:10No.
14:12Here goes Henry.
14:14Reanalyzing my rhythm in 40 seconds.
14:18Because it was a young girl, we tried literally, we try everything anyway,
14:22but you keep on going, trying and hoping that you get some kind of a response
14:27and you get some kickback from her heart, but it didn't happen.
14:52They're tough calls for somebody because they are high pressure situations, you know,
14:57and no training room, no syndicate room in the college would prepare you for a
15:01the reactions of the family.
15:06We tried to present her in the most dignified manner that we could where she was so that
15:12her family members could come in and see her.
15:16Please, please.
15:19It was quite a hard and emotional call to be attending.
15:23I dealt with it okay.
15:24I think my paramedic app was on when it needed to be on.
15:27I was clinical and my medical knowledge, everything that I'd learnt and experienced before
15:33all came into play at that moment.
15:34But I also had my empathy hat on as well.
15:39Given the traumatic nature of the call, educational training officer Donna is keen
15:44that the entire team take a break.
15:46I think we may be going back down to the dock road for a cup of coffee in a minute.
15:49I think we need to finish off, yeah.
15:51Just for our own sake, we'll stand down for a few minutes.
15:53I definitely felt very, very sorry for the family.
15:58I think what got me more was because this patient was a young patient.
16:02She was a young girl.
16:03I remember when I was that age, going through depression and growing through self-doubt and
16:09having moments where I could have had the same outcome as her.
16:15and thinking that my family could have been in that position at one time.
16:20And that really got me that another family were having to deal with that.
16:27Yeah, it was sad.
16:51After some stressful calls that have tested relationships.
16:54Now, Tommy, I want to see a nice steady pace here now.
16:57No tearing off like a lunatic.
17:00Tommy has persuaded intern paramedic Ryan to take some time away from the ambulance.
17:05Are you keeping up with me?
17:07I can't.
17:08Are you knackered?
17:09I'm nearly out already.
17:11And we haven't even met the Statue of Mary yet.
17:15Tommy had always been hounding me.
17:17We had a cardiac arrest on my third assessment up Crowpatrick.
17:21And I was absolutely puffed out of it by the time I got up the mountain.
17:26So he had been slagging me since about it.
17:28So I said, come on, we'll go and climb it.
17:32Bless yourself now with this fella.
17:35Well...
17:36Well, I don't know.
17:38Do you know something?
17:39I thought it was Statue of Mary that was here all the time.
17:42Did you not know that?
17:43I thought it was the Statue of Mary, sure.
17:45St. Patrick's Mountain.
17:46Mary's at the bottom.
17:49Genuinely, I always thought that it was Statue of Mary there.
17:57We had four seasons in one day, so I had.
18:00But halfway up, the view, even halfway, is just absolutely unbelievable.
18:04And I suppose when you're local somewhere, you don't really appreciate that view either.
18:10Well, it was a good shout.
18:11Anyway, it's climbing, I think.
18:12It's good to get out and about, like.
18:13So thanks for asking to come.
18:15No, you're welcome.
18:16It's good to get out in nature and stand back and I suppose just take time to analyse where you
18:26are in life.
18:26That's for sure.
18:28Like, we see a lot in work and we probably don't do it enough decompressing outside of the job from
18:32it, like.
18:33You probably do it at work, but I suppose you process it, but then you're straight into the next call
18:39again.
18:40And I know we didn't come up here today and we weren't talking about work and that's the whole point.
18:43Yeah.
18:43That you don't really talk about work, that you talk about everything else and the fresh air, meeting people.
18:50Something different.
18:51Yeah.
18:57Working with Ryan over the last couple of shifts has been, it's been fantastic.
19:01He's a good communicator.
19:02He's able to have the laugh, which is all important, but he's well able to deal with patients.
19:08He's very compassionate towards them and deals in that way.
19:13You feel, have you progressed with your confidence in dealing with...
19:17Your confidence definitely builds with the exposure you have to different calls and that kind of thing over the course
19:24of the year.
19:25But it doesn't matter whether I was in the internship or whether I'm going on to be qualified, like, I'll
19:30still be learning every day.
19:32Every day is a school day, like, so.
19:33Because there's still calls that I haven't come across, like, types of calls.
19:40Something that he needs to work on, and it's hard for a young person, is the emotion.
19:47He holds a lot in, and when he's dealing with certain stuff, just how to deal with that.
19:53But that all comes with experience.
19:55He's going to see calls that he's going to have to learn to deal with.
19:59And he's also going to do calls that his skills are going to be pushed further.
20:03Well, wasn't it worth it?
20:06That's for sure.
20:07See all the good places I do take you?
20:09I'm telling you.
20:10Some view in fairness, like.
20:13Now, we'll sing the green and red and mayo, will we?
20:17I haven't a notion.
20:19Oh, the green and red and mayo.
20:22A job like this, whether it be paramedics, guards, nursing, you know, anything that deals with life and death moments,
20:29I suppose you could argue.
20:31That'll mature you exponentially, dealing with those emotions, because it gives you a different perspective on life.
20:49In Dublin, third year student Deirdre is starting her shift with colleague Stephen.
20:57A 75-year-old.
20:59A 75-year-old.
20:59A trip to fall and query to arm.
21:01Conscious and breathing.
21:04999, mood activated.
21:07We were called to an elderly lady who had had a fall in her garden.
21:15So, we followed the directions of the sat-nav, and it brought us to the back of houses where there
21:22was no patient.
21:23But another, a neighbour, flagged us down.
21:26Oh, she's waving us?
21:27Aww.
21:29I guess it's a granny.
21:32Okay.
21:32Is she on the ground?
21:33She's on the ground, yeah.
21:35You can come through my house, yeah.
21:37She shuffled us all through her house, and brought us out to the front garden where we found Margaret.
21:43What's going on?
21:45I stumbled.
21:46Right?
21:46My arm went over the wall.
21:48Okay.
21:49She came over my head with that, and I couldn't feel my hand.
21:55I don't know my shoulders going.
21:56Oh, definitely.
21:57Right.
21:57Okay.
21:58You normally fitting well, or do you take medication?
22:01I'm diabetic.
22:01Okay.
22:02I'm going to pull the arm ones.
22:03Yeah.
22:04Is there anything I can do for you?
22:05Yeah, I think maybe bring me over a Pentrox.
22:07A Pentrox, yeah.
22:08Yeah, because I reckon the shoulders, Margaret thinks her shoulder's gone and probably her forearm.
22:12The forearm as well, yeah.
22:13So, yeah.
22:14Yeah, we get a sling as well for that, yeah.
22:15Yeah.
22:16Yeah, no bother, yeah.
22:16So, zero been no pain, and ten been the worst pain you've ever felt in your life.
22:20What are you at now?
22:21Nine.
22:22Nine.
22:22That's okay.
22:23Despite being in, the pain she was in, she was super.
22:28Can I ask you a few silly questions before I give you this drug?
22:30Yeah.
22:31Do you know what month it is?
22:33March.
22:34Do you know what year it is?
22:3625.
22:36And do you know who the President of Ireland is?
22:39The little man.
22:40The little man.
22:41The little man.
22:41That'll do.
22:43That's what everyone calls him, and that's the answer we accept, the little fella.
22:47Yeah.
22:47So, with this medication, right?
22:50It doesn't taste great for the first one, but it'll be fine after.
22:53Where it's gonna take you is to a very special place.
22:55Yeah, right.
22:55Right?
22:57You're just loading.
22:58You're just loading.
22:59Okay?
22:59Right.
23:00We got Margaret Pentrox, which is our magic whistle.
23:04The first breath in, it might catch you, because it's quite a potent thing.
23:09Breathe in, and breathe out through the whistle.
23:11And blow out through the whistle.
23:12That's it.
23:13In and out.
23:15So, with Margaret, initially, she didn't think she was too injured, you know, and she thought
23:19she'd be fine.
23:19But as we moved her, we could see the displacement of the shoulder, and any kind of movement was
23:25just causing her excruciating pain.
23:28A few bobbles on you?
23:29No.
23:30Where's that?
23:31Where's that catching?
23:33Where's that catching?
23:34This side.
23:35Over here?
23:36Yeah.
23:37That's all right.
23:38We'll do all the work.
23:40Oh.
23:41She thinks the...
23:43You're okay.
23:44You're okay.
23:44You're okay.
23:45Here, keep going on this.
23:46Keep going on this.
23:46So, we decided we'd get her into a sling, because it would immobilise the arm and reduce the
23:53pain.
23:54You'll be singing Irish ballads now in a couple of minutes.
23:57And in the jig.
23:59That's it.
24:00You've gone.
24:01Well done.
24:02That's it.
24:02We have a lot of drugs in our ambulance for pain relief, but the one thing we also
24:07use is the slinging and reduces the pain just by keeping the arm straight.
24:14So, keep going.
24:15Well done.
24:16Well done.
24:16Well done.
24:17Well done.
24:19I'm sorry.
24:20Oh, don't be apologising.
24:21What are you apologising for?
24:23You're keeping us in a job?
24:24Keeping us busy?
24:25Yeah, I'll take that before.
24:26She was typical older generation.
24:29I don't need an ambulance.
24:30I'm fine.
24:31She clearly wasn't fine.
24:32She was clearly badly injured.
24:34So, what we're going to do is we're going to get you standing up, okay?
24:36So, after three, you're going to push up as well and we're going to help you up as well,
24:41okay?
24:41So, whenever you're ready.
24:43One, two, three.
24:43I can't.
24:44I can't.
24:45Sorry.
24:46You're doing great.
24:48I'm up.
24:49I'm grand when I'm up.
24:50You're grand when you're up?
24:51Yeah.
24:52Good.
24:52Any new pains anywhere?
24:53No.
24:54Any pains gone away?
24:55Everything's much the same, is it?
24:57No.
24:58Oh.
24:58So, can you take a few steps towards your house?
25:01Back towards me.
25:02Back towards me.
25:02Yeah, I'll tell you when.
25:03Keep coming towards me.
25:04Where's that sore under the arm again?
25:05Yeah.
25:06Okay.
25:06Keep coming towards me.
25:08Now.
25:09There's a bed right behind you.
25:11You're not going anywhere.
25:12Right?
25:13The brakes are on it.
25:15How's that?
25:16No, it's just a boat.
25:17We're going to get you...
25:17Where's that whistle?
25:18It's just on the water.
25:19Yeah.
25:21Yeah.
25:30In Dublin, third year student Deirdre is treating 75 year old Margaret.
25:36After she tripped and fell in her garden, suffering a suspected broken shoulder.
25:42I'm so sorry.
25:43What are you sorry for?
25:44Do you feel like you need something more?
25:47A bit stronger?
25:49Yeah.
25:49You're quite severe, aren't you?
25:50That's all right.
25:50Yeah, that's no problem telling you.
25:53I've often said to my colleagues, if I could only go to calls to people over the age of 65,
26:00I would.
26:01I love them.
26:02I could sit and talk to them all day.
26:09That morphine should be kicking in.
26:12Has it helped at all?
26:14A little.
26:15Okay.
26:17For a long time I looked after my mum.
26:19She was in the back of many an ambulance and I saw the care she got from paramedics and the
26:25difference it made to her in that first few minutes.
26:29That reassurance that she was okay and just the kindness that they showed her.
26:35Yeah, we rang ahead and they're expecting us.
26:37I told them there's a VIP on the way.
26:42You're the VIP.
26:43Oh, you must be joking.
26:53Does he have to go around corners?
26:56Yeah, there isn't a straight route.
26:58Only if we'd have gone in a helicopter would we have been able to get straight there.
27:04We are just here.
27:08Yeah.
27:12And you can bring your whistle in with you.
27:16What's the whistle?
27:17Your green whistle.
27:22I need a doctor.
27:23Have you a welcoming party here?
27:26Have you?
27:27My daughter.
27:30Is it yours?
27:31She's been causing awful trouble.
27:33I haven't.
27:35They know I wouldn't.
27:37No, you wouldn't.
27:39I'd put you here for a reason.
27:42Oh, you...
27:42Sorry, sorry, sorry.
27:43You have someone looking after you so, so close to you.
27:47While we had Margaret in the ambulance, she started revealing a few little things to us,
27:53aside from her injuries, and that was that she had a special gift.
28:00She's not long gone.
28:03But she's so proud of you.
28:04She said something to me about, I have someone here who's not long passed.
28:09And I'm like, okay.
28:10My mum hadn't passed away that long before that.
28:13She'd only passed a year before that.
28:16Do you have a gift?
28:17Yeah.
28:18Aw, do you?
28:19Yeah.
28:20Oh, well.
28:21I don't use it.
28:22Is she looking out for me?
28:24You let her down you were to do something three weeks ago and you didn't do it.
28:29I don't think so.
28:30How would you have time to do it?
28:31Have I?
28:32Oh, God.
28:32Yeah.
28:34Post it.
28:35And it was so funny because Margaret was talking as if she could hear voices.
28:39And I'm like, this pendrocks might be a bit too strong for Margaret.
28:42She was like, no, no.
28:44And she was giving out about you.
28:46She's saying, you've forgotten about something.
28:49Letters.
28:50And there was two letters on the back seat of my car that have been there for about eight weeks
28:56that I just hadn't got around to posting.
28:59Use some four sheets on your email.
29:01There's two letters on the back seat of my car that I was meant to post three weeks ago.
29:04Do it.
29:05Okay, I will.
29:07I'd like to believe some of those things can be true.
29:11Maybe it was a bit of the green whistle, but I think she knew a bit too much to be
29:16just pentrox induced.
29:21Now, just a little one.
29:25Sorry, sorry, sorry.
29:27Margaret was fantastic.
29:28And I do hope that she does have the gift.
29:32And if she wants to get in touch with me, she can with the lotto numbers.
29:37That would be great.
29:49Deirdre's daughter, Rebecca, is also training to be a paramedic.
29:53And she's halfway through her first year.
29:57Alongside classroom learning and exams, there's another skill first year students must learn in order to advance.
30:03Emergency service driving.
30:06Head on whenever you're ready.
30:08Today, Rebecca is heading out for a lesson with instructor PJ and her classmates.
30:16It was very kind of nerve wracking at the start when you're beginning to get your C1 and you're starting
30:23your driving course.
30:24Everything is kind of such a big deal throughout the year, you know, because you need that to move on
30:30to the next stage.
30:31Great. We're going to take the next stage and you can go on to level three whenever you want then.
30:35Great. So for this, you have to put your...
30:39You actually have to put your hand on it, don't you?
30:40Yeah.
30:42Blue light driving. You're driving as if you're responding to an emergency, but you're not responding to an emergency.
30:48You're with your driving instructor, so you have that safety net and they'll give you advice and techniques and ways
30:56to safely get through traffic.
30:59And it's so interesting, like, when they tell you to do something and then you get the reaction that you
31:04want from other drivers.
31:11Sorry.
31:12It was a little bit tiring, you want to be, that's all.
31:16First time I put the blue lights on, I was so nervous. But then within two minutes, I had calmed
31:23down because I realised the more nervous you are, the less you're giving yourself time to think about things and
31:30to react to things.
31:30So once you relax, it becomes so much easier.
31:35Good safety space there. So you're anticipating that he's going to have to move out because of the parked cars.
31:40So we're giving loads of room. So even if he does, we still have a safe gap.
31:46The driving is a lot of the job. You know, it's kind of half the time you are driving.
31:50So they don't just want to let anybody out behind the wheel driving on blue lights to emergency situations.
31:58It's a really important part to just kind of get through the year without any blips as much as possible
32:03and to pass everything as you go.
32:07If you've learned nothing else today, just learned that she always gets green lights.
32:10She seems...
32:11Excuse me. I've gone through plenty of reds.
32:16You've had more green lights than anyone I've ever met.
32:18I'm just so good at, like, assessing the traffic that I know when to predict them, you know.
32:25It will be a while before Rebecca is driving on real emergency calls.
32:30But as a first year, she's being mentored by experienced crew Greg and Cuiva.
32:35Move, move, move.
32:37Today, they're responding to a call where a patient who has a tracheostomy is experiencing shortness of breath.
32:48Rebecca?
32:48Yeah?
32:49Look up your CPG for trache care, will you?
32:52Yeah.
32:54I'd ask Rebecca to look over the CPG, so her clinical practice guideline, but it will lead you in the
32:59right direction or maybe just refresh your memory of whatever kind of care that that requires that's different to normal
33:06care.
33:09You stay back. You come back. Where are you going?
33:13Maybe I can't hear you.
33:14Jeez!
33:15Right, we've arrived.
33:17I'll turn it while you just go.
33:19Okay.
33:22I'm Rebecca, this is Greg as well.
33:25Has this been going on for a while? This is just this morning? Just this morning?
33:30Okay, have you had any infections recently?
33:34When we arrived into the house, and one of the main things they teach you in college, especially about tracheys,
33:39is that if the patient has been managing this trache for a while, they are the absolute experts.
33:48How long have you had that?
33:51Yeah.
33:53What's it going up? Good, good, good.
33:55He was a lovely man. He was non-verbal.
33:58So, Rebecca, again, this is where you can, we talk about language barrier, but this is someone who can't speak
34:04at all to her.
34:05So he took to, he had like a board with a marker, and he was writing down that way. So
34:10a lot of patience was involved.
34:14Esophagus cancer. That's what you have. Okay.
34:17Can I have a little listen to your chest?
34:21She also had to learn how to reword her questions to give shorter answers.
34:26He knew himself what was wrong, you know, he just, he needed that support of us telling him like, yeah,
34:32you know, it looks a bit infected, so we're going to get you in and we'll explain that to the
34:36staff in the hospital.
34:37You changed that 20 minutes ago. Do you have a suction you use to clear it? Have you been using
34:42that? Yeah, and that's not giving any relief.
34:44It's quite gunky, it's yellow. Yeah.
34:46I thought it was 20 minutes ago, we're quite full. Let's get a listen in.
34:50Yeah.
34:53Sound congested and there is a wheeze there on the left-hand side.
34:59We've got a good reading there, though, when we're up at 99, I think it's more the congestion.
35:04Your sacerations are quite good, which is good, but you're short the breath, so most likely you're gunked up or
35:09you have an infection.
35:10You know this better than anyone, don't you? I can...
35:12Walk? Are you sure? Yeah, yeah.
35:16I'm going to have to get in the chair for you.
35:17We won't hang around. We won't hang around, right? Once we disconnect you, we're going to walk to the ambulance,
35:22we'll set you up out there, okay?
35:23Are you sure? Are you happy with that? Yeah.
35:25Grant.
35:26We had initially got him a wheelchair to bring him out to the ambulance, but he wanted to walk.
35:31Take your time. We're not in any rush, okay?
35:34We want to wrap them up in cotton wool and, you know, look after them, but promoting their independence is
35:39also really important to do.
35:40Is that all right? Just a little machine.
35:48Is that all right?
35:48In Dublin, first-year student Rebecca is helping to transport 64-year-old Damien to hospital after he reported difficulty
35:56breathing.
35:57Disaster. This is...
36:01Everybody happy to move? Yeah.
36:03You're happy? Great.
36:05So we are quite congested, Rebecca?
36:08Yeah, and...
36:09Kind of global congestion.
36:10We can hear the mucus.
36:12Yeah.
36:13Yeah.
36:14And...
36:15Is it more diminished, or...?
36:17No, it's loud and it's global, yeah.
36:19Sorry, this is it.
36:21Because of his tracheostomy, Damien is non-verbal and communicates via a whiteboard.
36:27Ah, right. Your older brother is a retired ambulance man.
36:30Ah.
36:31Very good. And your father.
36:32How come you never got roped into doing it?
36:37You're a chef.
36:38Very nice.
36:39So what you're saying is, when we come back next week, you'll have a lovely meal prepared for us to
36:43say thank you.
36:43Yes. I'll accept that.
36:47With some students, that's something they have to learn.
36:50Learn how to communicate with a patient.
36:52With Rebecca, I feel like it's actually just quite a natural talent.
36:56And I don't know if it's from working in a shop.
36:58And probably having all sorts of customers, all sorts of walks of life and everything.
37:04She's a quite sociable person.
37:06She's got great communication skills.
37:08Your team are worried about pneumonia.
37:12Okay.
37:12And you were with them yesterday.
37:14Yeah.
37:15Yeah.
37:16So obviously they'll have a better look at it today.
37:19You look like you have a bit of an infection, like a sinus as well.
37:23You have a bit of secretions coming out of your nose as well, yeah.
37:27You have to be careful.
37:28Yeah.
37:29We're just here now anyway.
37:32Now, Damon, we've arrived here, okay?
37:35We're going to take all the bits and bobs off you and we'll head inside to your favourite place.
37:40I definitely have things to learn and I think that's like a really big part of the job is that
37:46you can kind of, you can keep finding new things to discover new calls up until you're 10, 20 years
37:54into the job.
37:54Because people will come up with these new weird and wonderful ways to ring an ambulance.
37:58So, I think that it's just, it's sitting in that place of, you know, there's still lots to learn, but
38:05you're at a stage where you're competent enough to handle the bigger calls, you know, the more common calls.
38:16It's the start of a new shift in Wexford.
38:20Second year student Nathan is on with advanced paramedic Dave.
38:24And the emergency calls never stop.
38:32So, he's pouring boiling water into a container. Container broke. Boiling water landed. Scallowing upper thigh and groin area. Redness
38:38of skin is broken. Patient who pites. Soother fearing. Oh, Jesus.
38:41We got a call for, it was an elderly lady who was at home and had filled a very cold
38:48glass with boiling hot water. And the glass shattered and completely burned her thighs on both sides.
38:57For an intern paramedic like Nathan, every call is a test of the skills he's learned so far.
39:04So, what's first priority?
39:05So, ABCs and dealing with, if there is, checking her temperature and making sure that she's not hypothermic. But mainly
39:14ABCs to make sure it's not affecting her breathing in any way.
39:18ABCs, pain relief. So, she's not likely to be hypothermic. So, ABCs, pain relief.
39:23Pain relief. Pain relief. Would you prefer to go with an IB pain relief or would you go with Pentrox
39:30and see how that works?
39:31What's quickest?
39:32So, we go with Pentrox and see how that works.
39:37Hello there, Anna. Hello. How are you? Not too bad.
39:41You had an argument with the kettle, did you? Okay.
39:44My name's Nathan. I'm one of the paramedics. You have Dave coming in there as well, okay?
39:47She was sat on her bed and you could see that the skulls were getting quite kind of aggressive with
39:55blisters and stuff on both sides.
39:57Both sides of your legs here, is it?
39:58That's all, thank you.
39:59Anywhere down further on your legs?
40:01No, there was a little bit there.
40:02A little bit down here, I see it. And did I hear you put pseudo cream on it?
40:06I did, yeah. Did I do it wrong?
40:08Just, if it ever happens again and you get burned, don't put anything like pseudo cream on it.
40:12Just put cold water on it until we get here.
40:15Sometimes part of our job is educating patients about what not to do.
40:18There's a lot of old wives tales out there about burn injuries.
40:22When we burn ourselves, our skin is still technically cooking.
40:25So we don't use oil-based products to treat that burn.
40:29Because all that the oil-based product is doing is it's trapping the heat in and still cooking the skin
40:34effectively.
40:35So what I'm going to do is we're going to pop some dressings on your leg just where the burns
40:39are on your leg.
40:40It is. So this, this one is called a burn gel, okay.
40:43So it's a little, it's going to be a little bit cold.
40:44Yeah.
40:45All right. We're going to put this on and some cling film just to wrap it all up.
40:48Is that okay?
40:49Yeah.
40:50With this particular patient, she had areas of superficial burn, but also areas of partial thickness burns,
40:57where the top layer of skin had been burned away and the pseudo cream had been rubbed into these areas
41:03of the burns.
41:04Because it's a foreign object, it can introduce infection as well as insulating the burn and can cause more harm
41:10than good.
41:11So the first things that we had to do that day was try and cleanse the burn as best we
41:15could without causing any further damage to it.
41:18There's blisters there.
41:19There is, yeah.
41:20I won't break them.
41:21No, I don't, don't worry. I won't break the blisters.
41:24There's one broke there. That'll be very sore.
41:27It might get a little bit scaldy, but we'll get some pain relief onto you first, okay.
41:31This one that we're going to give you is called Pentrox, okay.
41:34Any side effects?
41:36Might make you feel a little bit drunk. Have you ever been drunk before?
41:40That's it. Well done.
41:42Given the level of injury to her leg that day, she was in great spirits.
41:49You should go in and get those burns checked out anyway.
41:52And because of the fact that they've glistered up like that, it's worth going in and getting it checked out.
41:58Burns have the risk of getting infected sometimes, especially the one that's open there.
42:01So they might want to give you some antibiotics as a just in case.
42:05The best thing to do if we ever burn ourselves is treat the burn with water, a cool compress, and
42:10make sure that it's cold.
42:11And even put the towel down and gently pour cold water onto that. It'll work quite well.
42:17And don't be afraid to call us if it ever happens. Don't wait until everybody else gets here before you
42:21call us.
42:23We're only a few minutes down the road as well.
42:24I didn't know you said this.
42:26Of course we do. What else would we be doing?
42:30Nathan done quite well on this call, considering we don't see many burns, especially burns of this type and this
42:36nature.
42:37He had his priorities right.
42:39You won't be keeping me though, will you?
42:40I don't know. I can't tell you that.
42:43Unfortunately, I'm good at a lot of things, but I'm not good at telling the future, my dear.
42:46I'd love to be.
42:47Keep doing this.
42:48Keep doing that.
42:49All the time.
42:50As much as you want.
42:51Even in the ambulance.
42:52Even in the ambulance.
42:53Oh.
42:54All right.
43:14Next time.
43:15You know when women have babies, they get the gas and air.
43:18I don't care.
43:19I won't need anything like that.
43:21You will.
43:23Have you taken anything else in the last 24 hours?
43:26Any drugs, alcohol, medications?
43:28No.
43:31Cheers.
43:31Yes, it is.
43:32Good to see you, fellas.
43:33Hot to see you, man.
43:38Infinity.
43:38Breathing new life into dated spaces, and all on a budget.
43:42Catch the complete series of The Salvage Squad streaming right now on Virgin Media Play.
Comments