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First Timers on the Frontline - Season 1 - Episode 04
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00:04Oh, cardiac arrest coming in. Dolly mount!
00:07It's one of the most pressurised jobs in the world.
00:15Becoming a paramedic is not for the faint-hearted.
00:18So, it's gonna 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
00:28welcomes around 90 new hopefuls to their campuses
00:31in Dublin, Ballinasloe, Tullamore and Cork.
00:34These people here are going to be your absolute backbone
00:37over the next three years.
00:40But not everyone makes it true.
00:42I don't think I'm gonna do this anymore.
00:44It's just shit, like, do I have to go to that in two days?
00:48Because this is no ordinary degree course.
00:51Where are you gonna go? It'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, here. It's over there.
01:11Would every shift a crash course encourage?
01:14It doesn't get any harder than this.
01:16Resilience.
01:17Lift.
01:18And critical decision-making.
01:20We have a device that brings the bones back into place,
01:22but it's gonna cause them to scream.
01:24Big deep breath for me.
01:25The exams on this course aren't just a pass or fail.
01:29Uh, why did I sign up for this?
01:32They're a potential matter of life.
01:34Are you gonna wake up for me?
01:35Or death.
01:36We're not breathing.
01:55In Dublin...
01:56Five-six.
01:57Third-year student Deirdre is on shift with paramedic Greg.
02:00Five-six, go ahead.
02:02How you doing?
02:02Do you want to try and send that call down to us again there, please?
02:04Over.
02:06Roger.
02:07We'll try now, over.
02:11You're on a spread.
02:12Chest pain.
02:13I fell last week.
02:14No chest pain.
02:16Oh, my goodness.
02:17Look what age she is.
02:21We got a call that we were going to someone who had fallen two days previous,
02:26who was a hundred years old.
02:32I don't think I've met a hundred-year-old yet.
02:35I've had a few.
02:36Have you?
02:37So what was she born?
02:391924 or 1925?
02:44Alice, what's going on with you?
02:46I called a creature over here.
02:47What?
02:48You fell?
02:49When did you fall, darling?
02:52I think it was two days ago, I think it was.
02:54Okay.
02:54I don't remember.
02:55Was anybody here when she had the fall?
02:57No.
02:58No.
02:58No.
02:58And how long was she on the fall?
02:59Was she on the ground for?
03:00How long was it before she was found?
03:02We don't really know that, because they have a car coming in, and she came and she found
03:05her.
03:06So we don't really know.
03:06Was it morning time?
03:07Morning time.
03:08Okay, so she could have possibly been there all night.
03:10I have a good heart.
03:11Well, it sounds like you have a grey heart.
03:13She can't walk any longer.
03:15She used to, like, she can't really stand up any longer.
03:17And was she walking up until the fallout?
03:19She was.
03:19No.
03:20No, she was.
03:20Our knees have been gone bad, but she is.
03:23And did you go to hospital when you had your fall?
03:25No.
03:25No, you didn't.
03:27Yeah.
03:27Where's the pain, mostly?
03:29It's all on the side.
03:31All on your left hand side.
03:32So listen, for a hundred year old, are you normally fitting well?
03:36Do I?
03:36Are you normally well?
03:38She's normally well.
03:39Yeah, it's fine.
03:40Yeah, yeah.
03:41Does she take medication every day?
03:42No, no.
03:44She's only on a morphine patch at the moment for the pain.
03:47So she doesn't take tablets for blood pressure, cholesterol?
03:50No, no, nothing, nothing.
03:51I think I haven't seen a 30-year-old who isn't on medication day off.
03:55Is she?
03:55It's unreal.
03:56Well, I want something what she lives for.
03:58I don't know.
03:58So do we.
03:59As we do with every call, we go in and we do the history taking.
04:03And you say, so, Alice, what's your past medical history?
04:06And she was like, what do you mean?
04:08And I was like, well, what would you take tablets for every day?
04:11And she, tablets?
04:12I don't take any tablets.
04:14Can I have a little look at the legs?
04:15You can do what you like.
04:16Oh my goodness.
04:17I'd move to do anything.
04:19One of the hardest things about going, I think it's to older people, is their reluctance
04:24to travel and their opinion that they're a nuisance.
04:27And there's no space in the hospital now.
04:29There's always space.
04:31My husband has stayed with her since the fall at night time.
04:35And then we got the carers that are coming in.
04:38She has four with them now.
04:40Okay.
04:40When you go out to a fall, you're trying to establish a couple of things.
04:44Was it a mechanical fall?
04:45Did they just trip over their slipper?
04:47Or was it a medical event?
04:48Did they have a little syncope?
04:50Did they have a stroke?
04:52Did they, you know, what was the reason for the fall?
04:55Would you have a little bit of toast or will you have something for me if the gang didn't make
04:59it?
04:59They're actually doing it for me.
05:01I couldn't really use it.
05:02Would you be able to have even a cup of tea with a bit of sugar in it for me?
05:05Because your sugars are low.
05:06I always suffered my low blood pressure.
05:08No, it's your sugars.
05:10You have the blood pressure of a 20-year-old athlete.
05:13Alice's sugars were a little low, so we got Alice a cup of tea and some bickies.
05:18And Alice told us about her childhood and growing up.
05:22And what do you remember?
05:23What's your earliest memory?
05:25Everything from my childhood.
05:27Do you?
05:27Yeah.
05:33When all the wars and all was on, I was alive.
05:37And do you think it's a better life now or do you think times are...
05:41Ah, much better.
05:42Do you?
05:44I often wonder if my mamma would be alive today, wouldn't she be happy?
05:48Yeah.
05:49She's never had a penny.
05:50She's from Germany.
05:51My mother's Germany.
05:52From Cologne.
05:53And where was your dad from?
05:55He was in the army.
05:58And how did your mamma and dad meet?
06:01During the war.
06:02During the war?
06:02During the war.
06:03In Cologne.
06:04Alright, okay.
06:05He was over there.
06:07Alice told us that she'd had a big party for her 100th birthday the previous May.
06:12It was a flapper-themed 1920s party and we got to see Alice in all her glory.
06:22If you're looking to see her like more, I'm going to live.
06:25You have many years left in you.
06:27Don't be worried about that.
06:28If I could make another four weeks, I'd be glad.
06:30Four weeks?
06:31What's so special in four weeks?
06:33I'd be a hundred and more.
06:34Oh my God.
06:35So tell me, did Michael D send you anything?
06:38Did you get a card last year off the President?
06:40Oh, did I what?
06:41Did you?
06:41It's in the packs for those.
06:43No, off the President.
06:44Oh yes, of course.
06:46What did he give you?
06:46I was up to see him in the pack before all this happened.
06:50Stop.
06:51He sent for me and gave me a special tea.
06:53What a day.
06:55When we are taking someone elderly or really unwell from their home, you will often see
07:01them have a look around the room.
07:04I think a lot of it is in their head.
07:07They think maybe this is the last time they're going to see their house that they've lived
07:10in for 60, 70 years.
07:12So there's so many times that we would just take a pause, leaving the house and not just
07:20rush out and maybe not block the patient's view for that last little turn leaving the
07:25sitting room and let them be able to take it all in.
07:35In SOARDS, second year student Aoife and paramedic Rory have been diverted to a high priority call.
07:42A 67-year-old woman who has collapsed at home.
07:46What happened?
07:47What happened?
07:47She was just standing there and she went to tell me something and then she just started
07:51to stutter.
07:53Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep,
07:54and then her whole body just started to convulse.
07:56Yeah.
07:56And then she collapsed.
07:57Yeah.
07:58There was a lot of reasons as to why she collapsed.
08:01Like, was it something as innocent as she slipped and fell?
08:05Like, we don't know.
08:05We weren't there.
08:06We can only take from what the family and the daughter-in-law had said, I'm saying.
08:10Aoife started to try and talk to the patient, but we weren't getting any response.
08:13We weren't getting coherent information back from the patient at all.
08:18She was able to follow simple commands and we managed to get her to sit up onto the couch,
08:22having found out that she didn't have any major traumas from the fall or anything like that.
08:26Has she got any medical history there?
08:28No.
08:29No?
08:29No.
08:30Yeah, a quick temperature on your pet, okay?
08:33You could nearly rule out sepsis from vitals if she had no serious markers.
08:38Like, you do a fast assessment on patients to see if she does have left or right-sided weakness.
08:43And so you can kind of narrow down in the circumstances and kind of just kind of differentiate what you
08:49think is the main prognosis.
08:53Could you sit back for me in the chair?
08:55And I just need to put a few more dots on your chest.
08:57Is that okay?
08:58Can you sit?
08:59No.
09:00Oh, no.
09:01Here, there's a little back on this.
09:02Just a little bit.
09:02There you go, lovey.
09:04Is that okay?
09:04Yeah.
09:05You're doing really, really well.
09:07There was no major things jumping out at us in terms of the obs or any of that.
09:10Obviously, she was still confused, which is a red flag, of course.
09:14But it could mean any number of things.
09:16She may have had a stroke.
09:17She may have had a bleed in the brain or something like that.
09:20We were suspecting a seizure activity.
09:22And post-seizure, people are post-ictal.
09:26So they would be very confused.
09:27So we were kind of sticking with that route initially.
09:30So our only decision we could do at that stage was to mobilise the hospital.
09:34And so we did that.
09:40I think one thing that I really had to learn while on the road is, you can only treat
09:45what you can see.
09:46You don't have to, you don't have to have it all figured out.
09:48You don't have to go to the hospital and say, this is what it is.
09:51You can go in and say, this is what I think it is.
09:53Or this is what we've treated for.
09:56But yeah, treat what you see.
09:57And then, yeah, and then if not, transport to the hospital.
10:25And then, yeah.
10:29And then, yeah.
10:29And then, yeah.
10:29And then, yeah.
10:30Yeah.
10:30I'm still quite dazed.
10:31Wasn't really interacting with myself.
10:34But then it was only when we got to the hospital, she started making quite an ematic noise.
10:38No, it's not happening.
10:45Yeah, it was probably not happening.
10:47Go to this, please.
10:47No, it's not happening.
10:47No, it's not happening.
10:47At the seizure.
10:48At the seizure.
10:50Wire down flat.
10:57Seizure, reach those, please.
11:08in Dublin third-year student Aoife and paramedic Rory are dealing with a critical emergency as
11:15they arrive at hospital with a 67 year old patient seizure resource please when somebody
11:23is seizing none of the muscles are coordinating or operating properly and they all kind of lock
11:28up even though the respiratory all your your ribs everything locks up there so essentially the
11:32patient has stopped breathing for the length of time that they are seizing let's go let's go get
11:36the machine in you go let's go I think that call was a prime example of how quick things can
11:45change
11:46that lady was widely stable but then like a drop of a hat she was actually seasoned generally seizures
11:54last about a minute two minutes at most if they don't resolve after that kind of time the patient
12:00isn't breathing for two minutes so can be very dangerous difficult calls like this one are all
12:07part of the job for experienced paramedics but it can be a tough baptism for students having to deal
12:13with critical calls on a daily basis for the first time so when you see somebody seizing for the
12:28first time and everybody looks at you in the room they go you're here to help you you literally feel
12:34really small and you suddenly have to realize remember all of your training and deal with the
12:39situation Aoife in this case she got caught off guard she'd never seen a seizure before in her life
12:44and then all of a sudden she was right beside a patient who was seizing after I called I felt
12:50slightly overwhelmed clearly due to the fact that I've never worked with Roy before I never worked in
12:56that station before and I feel like I had a lot of pressure on myself to kind of perform to
13:02kind of
13:03impress for Rory but I think after the call then I think speaking about it to Matty I was getting
13:10that bit of reassurance often I could see that Aoife was was going to get upset or she was getting
13:16upset when she was at the ambulance and it was the first time she'd seen seen a seizure and I
13:21did
13:21have a chat with Aoife and reassure her how well she was doing it's just shit like the last chapter
13:27I'm good the last two days I didn't I started like a bleeding club I didn't do it and I'm
13:34not I'm
13:34doing it right honestly what have I done what have I done that was good nothing we were told when
13:39we
13:39came out as interns like you're gonna have good days and bad days you're gonna have you're gonna
13:43do a call that you've probably seen ten times before and you know it to a tee and then you
13:48get a
13:48call like possibly like the one now with seizure that I've never seen before so then after that then
13:53my confidence was in the gore you're doing great I'll tell you straight out if you're not okay
13:58I'm fairly straight talking you are doing great you're great with the patients you can talk with
14:02I didn't make any interventions in that fault because I didn't think I had because everything
14:06looked okay and I did say to her at one stage she was she was like a raw diamond that
14:11we were picking
14:11up and we just needed a to polish up and to make her the the the medic that she wanted
14:18to be
14:19and you could see all the qualities in her and but she couldn't see them in herself
14:23I think because I'm so passionate about my job and I love it so much and I want to be
14:27the best
14:27that I can be having that relationship with your crewmates is just absolutely vital because at the
14:33end of the day if you're going to major traumas or you're going to traumatic calls like it's so nice
14:39having that that person or the people in the station that you know you can always turn to
14:44that's one of the main things I love about job so much in thingless third-year student Deirdre is
14:53bringing 100 year old Alice to hospital after she had a fall at home I don't think there's any point
15:02even saying we ever in an ambulance before she's hardly ever been to the GPs never mind an ambulance
15:07he only photographs the good-looking ones Alice probably did remind me a little of my mom my mom
15:18was a tough cookie you know like Alice they don't make them like that anymore despite her pain Alice is
15:26reluctant to change the habit of a 100 year old lifetime you know when women have babies they get
15:33the gas and air yeah we're going to give you some of that no I can't make you take any
15:42medicine what
15:43I'm saying is this is here if you want right if you want no that's your choice I couldn't get
15:53over
15:54how Alice had gotten to the age of a hundred and didn't take any medication daily and didn't have
16:01any past medical history there is very few patients that I have gone to over the years who are not
16:07on
16:08at least one medication a day it was just so fascinating I've never come across a patient like
16:14her since now you keep those hands in I can see where I grab her some calls you remember
16:23over others and this is one and bringing her in to hospital we brought her in and and the
16:32handover I think was this is Alice this is the amazing Alice Alice is 100 years old look at her
16:50so nine days ago Alice had an unwitnessed fall okay so we're not sure if it was Sunday night or
16:56Monday
16:57morning okay and so possibly 12 hours or 14 hours on the floor found by the carer are you ready
17:03for her
17:04past medical history okay nothing what are you ready for her list of medications daily okay nothing
17:12wow that's hundred what are we doing wrong so yeah isn't she fabulous yes she is give me your secret
17:22that's what I said I'm coming to live with her
18:09in Wexford town
18:11in Wexford town
18:11in Wexford town
18:11second year student Nathan and advanced paramedic Fergus have arrived at the home of DIY enthusiast Ron
18:18who has fallen off a ladder earlier in the day
18:22my name is Nathan I'm a paramedic with the ambulance
18:24I can talk louder if you want me to
18:28okay
18:29it's when the call came in as a elderly gentleman fall off a ladder you're expecting to find somebody lying
18:34on the ground
18:35with a ladder on top of them or a distance away from the ladder so when we got there and
18:39we found a man
18:40sitting on the corner of his bed
18:43or on the edge of his bed it was okay this isn't
18:47this isn't what it initially came in as
19:08being a paramedic requires a little bit of detective work sometimes and from just having a chat with the patient
19:16and him telling us what had happened that he had been outside painting
19:19and ladder literally just fell back he fell back landed on a big stone out in his garden
19:26then got himself up and he went about his kind of day with quite substantial injuries that we found out
19:33afterwards
19:33you've possibly cracked a couple of ribs
19:36we realized that there was a chance he had broken a few ribs
19:40he definitely had a head injury and he had quite a bit of a bump and some marks and grazes
19:46to his head and he needed to go
19:48it wasn't a case that we just wanted him to go he really needed to go to the hospital
19:52we have some medications that we can give you for pain
19:55can we have a wheelchair outside can we pop you on that?
19:58no Jesus don't put me in a wheelchair I'll never get out
20:01it can be very easy to take somebody's independence away
20:04Ronald was very insistent of keeping that bit of independence
20:09kind of walking out to the ambulance and while the injuries that he had kind of dictated that he probably
20:15shouldn't be walking
20:16well done
20:16the reality kind of had to set in that well he had been walking around all day at home with
20:21these injuries
20:21he had gone about making his food
20:22nice and slow
20:23made sure he had the house in order before
20:25kind of calling us the ladder had been put away the paint had been put away
20:29we're gonna swing your legs around first
20:31hold up
20:32oh
20:33don't get too drunk on that now
20:35it does
20:35it does
20:38what did you work at Ron?
20:40I was a London cabbie
20:41what part of London?
20:43me, I was in a place called Dagenham
20:45Dagenham, I lived in Wimbledon
20:48did ya?
20:49I did
20:49I knew Wimbledon very well, lovely place
20:52Wimbledon and Clapham
20:53once you get into an ambulance it's just chatting with people
20:56and conversation can be a great pain reliever
21:00it can also be a really good distractant
21:01if nothing else, you're calming them down
21:08I feel I lived alone, but I don't
21:11I have someone in every room
21:14did you know that?
21:15and who were they?
21:17put a mirror in every room
21:19and I walked with me going to
21:22there's another guy in there
21:24and we got out famously
21:26yeah?
21:27oh yeah
21:28ten, twenty years ago in Ireland
21:30loneliness wasn't a huge thing
21:33society has changed
21:34loneliness with older people is
21:38probably one of the biggest things we
21:39deal with as kind of ambulance crews
21:41and a lot of our job is just
21:43being able to have a chat
21:45and kind of having
21:46the bit of back and forth kind of
21:47crack with people
21:49especially in Ireland
21:51I think that's a huge part of our job now
21:52is being that
21:54kind of middle ground of
21:56there's somebody to talk to
22:15you
22:16should I do my way?
22:17sure
22:18ha ha ha ha
22:51in Dublin
22:52first year student Rebecca
22:54is on her 15 week placement
22:56out of the college classroom
22:58and into the ambulance
22:59today she's on shift with Deirdre
23:01a third year student who is a
23:03newly qualified paramedic
23:05and also her man
23:07do you remember when you said
23:08you were going to leave college
23:09and I said you're not leaving
23:10without a plan
23:11without a plan yeah
23:11and then it just happened wasn't it
23:13that week
23:14that's for recruiting
23:15yeah
23:15it was
23:16it was very strange
23:17I'm so lucky you know
23:18that it just didn't happen
23:20wasn't it?
23:20yeah it was timing
23:22it's like a lot of things in life
23:24it's timing and luck
23:25yeah
23:26I'm really looking forward to
23:27working with my mum today
23:29it'll be really enjoyable
23:30we'll have to kind of
23:31find the balance of
23:32her giving out to me
23:33and me taking feedback
23:34and us not fighting
23:36I don't think we will
23:36but
23:38yeah I'm really
23:39looking forward to it
23:40they've been called
23:41to an apartment complex
23:42where 44 year old
23:44Abi O'Doone
23:45is complaining of
23:46severe chest pain
23:47what would you give
23:47the pain out of 10?
23:509
23:519 out of 10
23:51people are really really
23:53concerned when they feel
23:54pain in their chest
23:55they might have been
23:56having it for a while
23:58before they ring
23:58but it's something that
23:59kind of universally
24:01people panic over
24:02have you taken anything else
24:04in the last 24 hours?
24:05any drugs?
24:06alcohol?
24:06medications?
24:08nothing
24:08just your blood pressure
24:10brilliant
24:11doing blood pressure there
24:12yeah
24:15it is different when you
24:17when you're out with
24:18a student who's third person
24:20and sometimes you can let them
24:23carry on with the call
24:24but with the call we were at
24:27this time I was leading the call
24:29I was getting Rebecca
24:31to do the opposite
24:31because I didn't want
24:32anything that was relevant
24:34past medical history
24:35to be missed
24:37so what we're going to do
24:38is we're going to give you
24:39a little spray under the
24:40tongue right?
24:41ok?
24:43might make you feel
24:44a little light head
24:45might give you a bit of a headache
24:46but it'll help with this pain
24:48hopefully
24:49GTN is a spray
24:51that is used really commonly
24:52you'll see it in people's homes
24:53a lot of the time
24:54for angina
24:55in simple terms
24:57it kind of dilates things
24:58and allows blood to flow smoother
25:01if there is something blocking it
25:04if that makes sense
25:05it kind of opens things up
25:06what have we had the surgery for?
25:08what are the scars from?
25:10gastric sleeve
25:10gastric sleeve
25:12when was that?
25:13a year and a half ago
25:14ok and you've been well since it?
25:16yeah
25:17ok
25:19would have been the first call
25:20I have been on with Rebecca
25:22it was really strange
25:25you know
25:25you're trying to remember back
25:27to what you were like
25:29at that stage
25:30in your career
25:31I suppose one of my strengths
25:33has been able to talk to people
25:35and I definitely see the same
25:37in Rebecca
25:38she has that
25:39when it comes to dealing with patients
25:42it was really enjoyable
25:44and there was at no stage
25:45where we were kind of
25:46button heads
25:47or it made no difference
25:49it didn't feel like I was
25:51working with my mum
25:53it just felt like I was working
25:54with somebody who
25:55I knew really well
25:57and it made the day so relaxed
25:59oh it's not talked
26:00just a big deep breath in
26:01in your mouth
26:02it was great to see
26:03how she's going on
26:04and you know
26:05it won't be long
26:06until she's
26:08alone in the back of the ambulance
26:09with her own patients
26:10please God
26:11in January
26:12when she is on her internship year
26:24for second year interns
26:26Anne-Marie and Ryan
26:27hello
26:28ambulance service
26:29it has been a tough
26:30but rewarding year
26:31on the road
26:31in Limerick and Mayo
26:32no pins and needles
26:33in the fingers
26:34or anything
26:34with each new emergency call
26:37testing their skills
26:38yeah that will do
26:39that's fine
26:40yeah that's good for me
26:41we'll be there now
26:44and challenging them
26:45in ways they never expected
26:47why did I sign up for this?
26:50two seconds
26:55they're returning
26:56to their old campus
26:57in Ballinasloe
26:57one last time
26:59where are we there now
27:00we're here somewhere
27:02here we go
27:03that's the class photo
27:04now from the grad
27:05geez we don't spoke up
27:06too bad there now
27:09soon they'll be taking
27:10their exit exam
27:11if they pass
27:13they qualify
27:14as paramedics
27:15and move into
27:15third year
27:16to complete their degree
27:17two tutors
27:19will ask me
27:20a series of questions
27:21about my reflection
27:23on calls
27:24that I've attended to
27:25throughout the year
27:26they want to see
27:26that you're competent
27:28in terms of your
27:28decision making
27:29on those calls
27:30and that you're
27:32open to criticism
27:33and that you're
27:34open to
27:36you know
27:36progressing yourself
27:37continuously still
27:40brings back so many memories
27:46the exit interview
27:48is really important
27:49for them to see
27:49how I've grown over the year
27:51what I've learnt
27:51and how I endeavour
27:54to go forward
27:56in my career
27:57as a paramedic
27:58I remember
27:59when I was on
27:59my last chance
28:00and walking into this room
28:02it was literally
28:03make or break
28:04it was like
28:04if I had failed it
28:06when that
28:06failed that one
28:07I wasn't coming back
28:08like
28:10it's hard to think
28:10that what we did
28:11in these rooms
28:11is now what we do
28:13in the back of an ambulance
28:14in like a quarter
28:15of the space
28:16if you think about it
28:17we've actually been
28:17on the road now
28:18longer than we were
28:20in the college
28:20this is almost like
28:21the final hurdle
28:22I could fall at the fence
28:24but hopefully
28:25that won't happen
28:41in Wexford
28:43second year student
28:44Nathan
28:44and advanced paramedic
28:46Dave
28:46were en route
28:47to a call
28:48but they've been diverted
28:49to a higher priority patient
28:51with a history of epilepsy
28:53so we were
28:53en route to a call
28:55and we got stood down
28:57off that call
28:58to a female
28:59actively seizing query
29:00altered level of consciousness
29:02so that kind of
29:03perks your ears up
29:04because that's
29:04a pretty serious call
29:05you know
29:07you're going to be expecting
29:08something serious
29:09when you get there
29:10on arrival at the house
29:11another crew
29:12has already started
29:14observations
29:15nausea
29:16intermittently
29:16for the last couple of days
29:18she feels like
29:19she wants to vomit
29:19but she can't
29:20she can't
29:21they didn't notice initially
29:22they thought it was
29:23she was going to be
29:23with her epilepsy
29:23because she was fainting
29:26sync with the episodes
29:27and we have anxiety
29:28and depression
29:28with Nathan
29:29fully up to speed
29:30on the complexities
29:31of the case
29:32he takes over communications
29:34with the patient
29:35when you have
29:36the epileptic seizures
29:38are they the full
29:38kind of blown
29:39kind of shaking seizures
29:40or
29:40I don't know
29:41do you know what happens
29:42I go out
29:43my eyesight goes
29:44my hearing goes
29:45and then when I come back around
29:46I'm like
29:47did I just have a seizure
29:48where was I
29:49what happened
29:50there's multiple different types
29:52of seizure
29:53sometimes someone can be seizing
29:54and can be just jerking
29:56an arm or a leg
29:57sometimes it can be just
29:58rapid eye movement
29:59sometimes they may not have
30:01any jerking at all
30:02but just aren't responding to you
30:04so there's many different types
30:05of seizure
30:06and it's impossible to be able
30:08to identify
30:09them all correctly
30:11the safest thing that we would
30:13always say
30:14that if it looks like a seizure
30:16and you're confident
30:16that it is a seizure
30:17then treat it as a seizure
30:19take a few deep breaths for me
30:21I'm scared
30:22that's okay we're all here
30:23alright
30:23we're here to help you
30:25alright
30:26so look what we're going to do
30:27is I'm going to run another
30:28blood pressure
30:29yeah
30:30and then we will have a chat
30:31with the rest of the guys
30:32that are here
30:33and we figure out the best way
30:34to get you out into the ambulance
30:35is that okay?
30:36yeah
30:36alright
30:37so it took maybe 3 or 4 minutes
30:39in the house
30:39to kind of get the patient
30:40kind of up out of bed
30:42and get her into the ambulance
30:44with the patient telling the crew
30:46that she's been experiencing
30:47periodic epileptic seizures
30:50they decide to transport her
30:51to the hospital as a priority
30:57okay
30:57so look
30:58I'm going to have a chat with my colleague
31:00and see what he thinks
31:01and then we will decide if we're going to
31:03do anything
31:04yeah okay
31:05that's alright
31:06yeah that's fine
31:07okay
31:08so temperature is good
31:10blood sugars are good
31:11blood pressure is good
31:13and blood pressure is good
31:13what would you treat?
31:15the anxiety
31:16and the
31:17if the seizure comes back
31:19and we can treat with
31:20ondansetron
31:21for
31:22the
31:23sickness
31:24so
31:24cytosine has the
31:26the longer term
31:27effect
31:28yeah
31:29there you go
31:30if you hold this
31:31you okay?
31:37while in the back of the ambulance then
31:39she
31:41felt that a seizure
31:42was going to come on
31:43is that the pain
31:44are you?
31:45I got into it
31:46you're having a seizure are you?
31:47yeah
31:48when
31:49she started the season
31:50I kind of looked
31:51at Dave
31:52to see if we should start
31:53kind of medication treatment
31:54and when I seen his reaction
31:55I kind of knew that
31:56maybe this isn't what
31:58it actually
31:59is all
32:00kind of adds up to be
32:01relax in the bed first
32:03just take some deep breaths
32:04cool
32:15in Wexford
32:17second year student
32:18Nathan
32:19and advanced paramedic
32:20Dave
32:21are attending to a patient
32:23who has told them
32:24that she has been experiencing
32:25periodic epileptic seizures
32:28hello can you hear me?
32:33from prior experience
32:34I recognised
32:35the patient
32:36I've attended
32:37to that address
32:39numerous times before
32:40I chose not
32:42to pass that information
32:43on to Nathan
32:46because sometimes
32:47that can
32:48cloud their judgement
32:49into thinking
32:50well this isn't
32:51an emergency
32:52or they may not
32:52be seizing
32:53everything's alright again
32:55now isn't it?
32:58hello
32:58welcome back
32:59alright
33:00it's okay
33:02when
33:03she started
33:04the season
33:05I kind of looked
33:05at Dave
33:06to see if we should start
33:07kind of medication treatment
33:08and when the paramedic
33:09hasn't given any medication
33:10you kind of get an idea
33:12of what's going on
33:14she
33:15was already
33:15on the monitor
33:16and didn't have any
33:17physiological changes
33:18on the monitor
33:19so her heart rate
33:20remained the same
33:21her oxygen levels
33:23remained the same
33:24her breathing rate
33:25all stay the same
33:25if there's no changes
33:27in those
33:27and that she's able
33:29to respond to you
33:30on cue
33:30as such
33:31then it's highly unlikely
33:32that she's
33:33having a seizure
33:39I just need to
33:40make sure
33:41alright
33:42so is there anything
33:43else that you're on
33:44medications for
33:45or is it just for
33:46the epilepsy
33:47and for the anxiety
33:48anxiety and the epilepsy
33:50yeah
33:51okay
33:55while she might not be
33:57having
33:57genuine seizures
33:58she is having
33:59some form of a crisis
34:01and
34:01who am I
34:02as a paramedic
34:03to decide that
34:04there's nothing wrong
34:05with this patient
34:13hello
34:15it can be a little bit
34:17disheartening
34:18when
34:19you are going out
34:20to someone
34:21who you've been called
34:23for many times
34:23in the past
34:24that
34:24you know
34:26needs help
34:27but sometimes
34:28the ambulance service
34:28isn't the most appropriate
34:30help for them
34:31and
34:32by attending
34:32this person
34:33that
34:34you may not be there
34:35to help
34:36another person
34:37that may need you
34:48the patient
34:49that's in front of me
34:50at the time
34:50and that means
34:51to treat them
34:52with dignity
34:52and respect
34:53the same as I would
34:54anybody
34:54even if
34:55I don't think
34:56they need an ambulance
34:57the reality is
34:58in their head
34:58they've decided
34:59they need an ambulance
35:00so who am I
35:00to be the one
35:01to tell them
35:01that they don't need
35:02to be
35:03to call an ambulance
35:05I'm just at the hospital
35:07I'm just at the hospital
35:08I'm just at the hospital
35:10oh
35:11I'm vomiting
35:12and it's just
35:12I'm not breathing
35:14right still
35:15sometimes
35:16there's more
35:17social skills
35:19or social services
35:20that may be
35:22better
35:23equipped
35:24to deal
35:25with these
35:26types of calls
35:27but at the time
35:29999
35:29and calling
35:30for the ambulance service
35:31is the only thing
35:32that they know
35:33what to do
35:33and the only thing
35:34sometimes
35:35that's on offer
35:36to them at the time
35:37it can be conflicting
35:39and it can be difficult
35:41but I think
35:42for any paramedic
35:42going out there
35:44we always should try
35:45to remember
35:46that
35:48for them right now
35:49it is an emergency
35:51or it is a crisis
35:52that they just
35:53can't deal with
35:54and they need help with
36:15in Dublin
36:17second year student
36:19Aoife is on shift
36:20with advanced paramedic
36:21Cuiva
36:23this is her 86-year-old male
36:25fall injury to hand
36:27that's all we got
36:29we got a call for a gentleman
36:32that had a hand injury
36:33and it was only two minutes away
36:35from where we started off initially
36:37and so quite quick to get to that call
36:48we didn't get a key code did we?
36:50I don't want to blow on that
36:51there's like no other
36:54we knocked on the door
36:55there was no answer
36:57so we kind of waited
36:59we were looking around
36:59are we at the
37:00you know is this the right street
37:01this is the number
37:02this kind of thing
37:03and a gentleman opened the door
37:05and said hello
37:07hello
37:08oh hello
37:08how are you?
37:10not too bad
37:11I'm Aoife this is Cuiva
37:12did you call for us?
37:15did you call for us yeah?
37:18no
37:18come in anyway
37:19automatically I was thinking
37:20okay well someone around here
37:21needs us like
37:22so we better move on
37:24but he insisted on inviting us in
37:26I was a little bit
37:27a little bit taken back
37:28it was a bit strange
37:29what's going on
37:30so obviously we went in to him
37:32and he sat down
37:34and started to chat away to us
37:35the house was lovely
37:36lots of character in it
37:37kind of looking around
37:38you realise he's on his own
37:40you didn't call the ambulance
37:42did you not?
37:43sit down there anyway
37:44just close that door
37:45sit down there
37:47Sandra's coming over
37:48my daughter
37:49when we first got onto the scene
37:50and we knocked on the door
37:51we weren't even sure
37:52whether he had actually
37:53called the ambulance or not
37:53or else he was just
37:54some friendly old man
37:55that was letting the paramedic crew in
37:56because I think even himself
37:58he wasn't sure
37:59as to why we were there
38:00but we soon realised then
38:02why we were
38:03and what was the reason
38:03we were called for
38:07what's your name?
38:08Tony
38:08so did you call us
38:09or your daughter?
38:10daughter, yeah
38:11your daughter called
38:12I was in the bed there
38:13and I felt I couldn't get up
38:15yeah
38:15I'm just going to do a few checks
38:16as you're chatting
38:17ok?
38:18and do you feel dizzy before the fall
38:20or do you just feel like weak?
38:21well the shakes
38:22you know
38:22the shakes
38:23yeah
38:24and did you injure yourself at all
38:26or any of the falls?
38:27well just there
38:28yeah
38:29yeah
38:30is it your hand?
38:32it's not bad now
38:33you know
38:33it's ok now
38:34can you do this to me?
38:36yeah
38:36yeah
38:37do you know
38:38he was starting to paint
38:39some sort of a picture
38:40as to why the ambulance was called
38:42but still wasn't 100%
38:44who's your daughter?
38:45Sandra is it?
38:46and is she looking to come and meet us
38:48is it?
38:49before you go to the
38:49she usually needs me all to the pub
38:51you know
38:51oh lovely
38:53and why do you think
38:54Sandra called the ambulance?
38:56I don't worry about it
38:57worried about you
38:58I think one of the
39:00main signs and symptoms
39:01that we noticed
39:02in the patient was that
39:03he was very shaky
39:04and his fingertips were quite red
39:06and he was
39:08slightly confused at times
39:10so this is where
39:11myself and Aoife tag teamed
39:12so she's leading the call
39:14so she's going to stay with the patient
39:15and she did all the assessments
39:17she needed to do with him
39:18when I went and
39:20chatted with
39:21his daughter on the phone
39:23what's your concerns at the moment?
39:29Grant
39:29ok
39:29ok
39:31and this is all over the last few days
39:33kind of is it?
39:34a bit of this
39:34kind of decline
39:35yesterday and today
39:36ok
39:36her concerns were
39:38you know
39:40memory
39:40not being too good
39:42it's just concerned for him
39:43there was nothing
39:45erm
39:46acutely
39:47jumping out
39:48that we needed to intervene
39:49and give any treatment
39:50this gentleman
39:51just needs to go in
39:51for further investigation
39:52and come here to me
39:54do you head down to the pub
39:54every day?
39:56oh no
39:56no
39:57just every now and again
39:58only one
39:59one day
40:00ok
40:01alright
40:01which one do you go to?
40:03the KCR over the south side
40:05and
40:05the shamrock
40:07oh
40:08oh yeah
40:08yeah
40:08I wouldn't know
40:09I know the shamrock now
40:10I wouldn't know the other one
40:11and you sing do you?
40:13yeah
40:13oh very good
40:16brilliant
40:17trad music or what kind of?
40:20oh no
40:20no
40:21just
40:22Dickie Rock you know
40:23oh yeah
40:24we'll walk the road of life together
40:25what's Dickie Rock?
40:26do you not know who Dickie Rock is?
40:28no
40:29sing us into the matter
40:31there's three minutes into the matter
40:32yeah if you want to give us an old song
40:34we won't say no
40:36yeah
40:36Mona Lisa
40:37did Dickie Rock do that one?
40:39no
40:40no
40:40I'll do that one to you
40:41ah
40:42we'll walk the road of life together day by day
40:48lovely
40:49and I will love you every step of the way
40:55wow love it
40:56brilliant Anto
40:57he gave us a couple of bars of a Dickie Rock song
41:00I didn't know it now to be fair
41:01but it was lovely
41:02it was lovely to see
41:03and it's great to have those little moments
41:05and they brighten up your day
41:06when you have patience like that
41:08I suppose
41:09with the little bit of singling the ambulance gave us
41:11a positive sign that
41:13please God everything is going to be ok with the patient
41:35at the Talla campus
41:37both Anne-Marie and Ryan are gearing up for their exit exam
41:43I'm trying not to think now at this stage what it will be
41:48the waiting to kill you though
41:51I feel ok
41:52I'm not as nervous as I thought I would be
41:54I feel ok
41:56all I have to do is be honest really about my experience during the year
41:59and just kind of recall things and remember things
42:05but yeah hopefully just being myself will be enough
42:09the exit interviews is done by our educational team and operations
42:13we don't do them we don't be involved in them
42:17they do look for our feedback
42:19and not everybody is successful
42:27if you become qualified
42:29doesn't mean you've stopped learning
42:31doesn't mean the journey is over
42:32the journey continues
42:36so just because they change the colours on their shoulder
42:38from blue to navy
42:39they still build
42:42build on the knowledge that they have
42:44their exposure
42:44how they do things on a daily basis
42:47and you'll continue to build that confidence as you go on
42:54this is going to go, you ready?
43:08I still ask myself why I did it
43:11but I love the fact that I can help people
43:13a job like this whether it be paramedics, guards, nursing
43:17that will mature you exponentially
43:20getting my paramedic qualification will be
43:22probably one of the biggest goals I've ever had in my life
43:25I absolutely love being a paramedic
43:28it's probably one of my favourite things about myself
43:30I love telling people to be a paramedic
43:32there is a huge difference between
43:34you know learning in college
43:35and then being out in the ambulance
43:36so you kind of have to adapt
43:38and enjoy it as well
43:40you know I highly enjoyed it
43:42and I think that's an important part of the job as well
43:45there was a long time where
43:46every time you got dressed
43:47you thought you were an imposter
43:48but there's been a couple of times
43:50where I've had really big calls
43:52and really good outcomes
43:54that I go
43:55yeah
43:56it's okay
43:57I deserve to wear this uniform
44:04there's nothing like the snap of pink rubber gloves to mean business
44:08tonight the team tackle a rental refurb in Cork
44:10while there's dumping drama in Dublin
44:12new series Cleaning Up Ireland continues Sunday at half eight
44:15on Virgin Media Play and Virgin Media One
44:36if you've been affected by any of the issues raised in this program
44:39please visit our support page
44:41virginmediatelevision.ie forward slash helplines
44:44just to see us
44:44and give us a link
44:44just to see us
44:45if we can see us
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