General Medical issues thread

[VPS]

Arriving at Glenrose, my regular shopping centre, this afternoon I entered and noticed a woman lying unceremoniously on the padded bench in the middle of the concourse 30m away. Two or three people were with her and my initial reaction seeing her lying on her back was 'She's drunk'. Nontheless as I approached the people with her were still not doing anything and I appraoched and asked if she was ok. They indicated they just found her lying there. As I looked over her she was conscious but her eyes were darting side to side and she looked scared. I assure her she was going to be alright and that we would look afte her. Initially I thought she was not able to talk but when I asked her name she was able to tell me. She did not know how she came to be lying there. I asked one of the other attendees to call an ambulance and as she was breathing and was able to talk I progressed to asking her name, any contact we could call etc. Her colour came back a biut but she asked to sit up and when she did so she got light headed again and we had to lay her down again. She seemed to shake a bit and was uncounscious for a minute or two. When on denture fell out onto the floor I rolled her on her side in case she choked on the other denture. When I asked she mentioned she was on pred for 4 days for sudden hearing loss. How much, 60mg? I don't know if this perhaps made her a little susceptible to induced diabetes (temporary) but I mentioned it to the ambos when they arrived 25 minutes later. She had a pacemaker implanted 6 weeks ago, maybe it needed tuning? So many veriables. Anyway I didn't actually have to do any first aid other than reassure her on the initial contact which made her ask if I'd stay with her until the ambos arrived. Maybe her BP was just low. I think it made a big difference to her simply being reassured. I called her daughter who arrived shortly before the ambos so at least the family are involved now. Anyway, that is my good deed for the month even if I did not have to actually save a life. Phew.

Well done. So many other people would’ve just ignored it and thought maybe she was drunk or high. Pat on the back.

 

[drron]

Simply being there is a great help.

 

[Quickstatus]

I always encourage people to do a basic life support course.

The elements of basic life support are:

D : Danger. Make sure there is no immediate danger
R: Response. Check if patient responds - essentially conscious or unconscious
S : Send for help. Call 000 and or recruit bystander help
A: Airway
B: Breathing
C: Circulation

Seems to me @prozac you did
D: you perceived she was on a bench. It is important to initially observe the surroundings. Other people also are there so the situation does not pose immediate danger

R: you asked her name and was able to quickly assess she was conscious but you also observed there was a period of unconsciousness.
S : send for help. You asked someone to call 000. Never be afraid to get bystander help
A: you rolled her on her side when you thought she was unconscious and thought her airway might be compromised

B and C: If someone is talking the breath are circulation are assured. If someone is unconscious there are simple ways to determine breathing g and circulation.

Looks to me @prozac, you did just fine.

There are Basic life support courses near you. A simple google search brings up Accredited CPR course providers. But once you do one, it makes sense to do recurrent training - Just like pilots do recurrent SImulator training.

 

[prozac]

I always encourage people to do a basic life support course.

The elements of basic life support are:

D : Danger. Make sure there is no immediate danger
R: Response. Check if patient responds - essentially conscious or unconscious
S : Send for help. Call 000 and or recruit bystander help
A: Airway
B: Breathing
C: Circulation

Seems to me @prozac you did
D: you perceived she was on a bench. It is important to initially observe the surroundings. Other people also are there so the situation does not pose immediate danger

R: you asked her name and was able to quickly assess she was conscious but you also observed there was a period of unconsciousness.
S : send for help. You asked someone to call 000. Never be afraid to get bystander help
A: you rolled her on her side when you thought she was unconscious and thought her airway might be compromised

B and C: If someone is talking the breath are circulation are assured. If someone is unconscious there are simple ways to determine breathing g and circulation.

Looks to me @prozac, you did just fine.

There are Basic life support courses near you. A simple google search brings up Accredited CPR course providers. But once you do one, it makes sense to do recurrent training - Just like pilots do recurrent SImulator training.

Thank you QS. I have done many First Aid courses (in my previous occupation) and CPR through the surf club, but not for a few years, so I was concerned about being a bit rusty. I admit I was very relieved when I leant over her and her vital signs were apparent.
Even rusty some things stuck with me. It is very important to do these courses when you have the opportunity.
Even more important is when you find someone who is in distress you need to put your reservations about your capabilities aside and do something to help. You will never save anyone if you do nothing.