AUSTRALIA'S TOUGHEST FIRST RESPONDERS BATTLE THE UNEXPECTED
Paramedics battle the unexpected
PAUL and Caitlin were practising drills at their Alice Springs station when they were called to a one alpha.
A 54-year-old man was in cardiac arrest after being assaulted so they sped to the house in one of the town’s 13 Aboriginal camps.
A second ambulance crew, as well as police, were also dispatched but the two Intensive Care Paramedics were first on scene, finding dozens of people in the front yard as they arrived.
“You can normally gauge from the people on scene what you’re walking into and that was very much what we picked up on. It was, ‘right, this is the real deal’,” Caitlin explained.
Paul said he also sensed “terror and stress” as they arrived.
“Culturally, people do not want to be in the same room as a person who seems to be deceased so there was no one in the house, they were outside, so we moved past them,” he added.
The two entered the house and found the man lying on his back on a mattress.
“We now need to perform … not knowing why this has happened, not knowing anything about the patient that might be useful to try to get clues as to why this has happened,” Paul said.
“We are working in what can sometimes be hazardous conditions, squalid environments, dangerous environments or low-lit environments where we’re doing this by torchlight.”
There was no response from the man and no other signs of life so Caitlin started compres- sions.
Paul charged the defibrillator, Caitlin paused compressions, the man’s heart rhythm was analysed and — pop — the first of several shocks was delivered before Paul resumed compressions.
Paul launched into a twominute cycle of compressions while Caitlin established bag-ventilation and secured an intermediate airway by threading a tube down the patient’s throat, all within 60 seconds.
Paul prepared to gain drug access to the man’s arm while continuing to deliver ventilation.
Another paramedic grabbed the drug kit and started drawing up more medications while Caitlin secured the advanced airway using a video scope.
It freed them up from performing manual chest compressions and allowed the crew to transport the man to hospital.
They maintained the man’s heartbeat on the short trip to hospital but he sadly died.
Days later the house was found abandoned.
“Some Aboriginal people believe that the last person to touch the body is responsible for them and ultimately the death. They may also be reluctant to go back into a house where someone has passed away because they believe there will be bad spirits,” Caitlin said.
These are the untold stories of courage, compassion, dedication, resilience and inspiration of a caring group of remarkable and selfless first-responders in two of the toughest towns in Australia.
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