17th June 2002
It happens to all doctors now and then. You are at a party, perhaps the life and soul of it, when another guest is taken ill and the "Is there a doctor in the house?" cry goes up. One can do little more usually than anyone else with a knowledge of first aid and pray that the ambulance gets there quickly.
A few weeks ago I was at a party in the wilds of Wicklow when someone got ill. There was another doctor there too and the ambulance arrived from Arklow in 17 minutes which was unbelievable. The ambulance staff were very competent and the patient transported to hospital with speed where he made a rapid recovery.
The episode reminded me, however, of Dr Emer Shelley's recent public request that ambulance staff be allowed to do more for patients when they are called out to give aid. Emer is the National Heart Health Advisor in the Department of Health. She pointed out that great strides have been made in pre-hospital emergency care thanks to the Council on Prehospital Emergency Care and the work of Dr Geoff King.
Those who staff the emergency ambulances here are now known as Emergency Medical Technicians and they are trained to give assistance in emergencies to a high level. The cardiac equipment on the ambulance I had dealings with appeared to be excellent but Emer Shelley has pointed out that legislation is needed to allow the Emergency Medical Technicians administer drugs. If, for example, it is obvious the patient has had a coronary thrombosis the faster Thrombolytic drugs are given in these circumstances the better the outcome for the patient. But these must be given intravenously and this requires legislation. Likewise, if the patient is in severe pain, morphine or other suitable analgesics cannot be given.
So here's a promise - if re-elected I will get after this at once because it is essential we use these well trained staff to the optimum advantage for patients. Agreed protocols would need to be in place and it would even be reassuring for doctors at parties, as well as prospective patients, to know how expert the emergency services were.
I am quite sure all doctors reading this have tales to tell about trying to be helpful even when there is very little one can do. Once, years ago, I had to go to the aid of a man who had become hypoglycaemic on a flight back from New York to Dublin. He was a diabetic and had gone to his aunt’s funeral in the Bronx. Having consumed a great deal of drink on the day of the funeral, the next day, when he was to fly home, he did not feel well and could not eat but he still took his normal amount of insulin. Sweet drinks were all that was on offer from Aer Lingus but it was one time when I was very grateful for the existence of the Shannon stopover.
Those who run the Wexford Festival swear to me that the man who died two rows behind me during a performance was the only person ever to die in the theatre in over 40 years. When one looks at the average age of Wexford Festival theatre goers this is really quite remarkable and a tribute to the sustaining powers of the opera. That episode was most traumatic because we had to get 17 people out of the row before we could move the person while the tenor and soprano kept yodelling away and a woman with a German accent in the row behind the ill man said to me: "Please will you keep your head down, I cannot see the stage!"
In Leinster House one day someone came running in while I was having lunch to ask if I would come and see a Fianna Fáil supporter who had taken ill on the Fine Gael floor in the five-storey block. The messenger added that the person must be very ill to have found themselves on the wrong political landing!
Now that there are some fresh reinforcements in the Dáil from the field of medicine perhaps we can get a greater focus on the emergency services. Dr Gerry Cowley has for years been asking for an ambulance and I am sure Dr Jim Devins and Dr Liam Treacy coming from country areas will be interested. We cannot have Accident and Emergency Services at every cross roads but we should certainly make sure that the personnel in our ambulances are able to do everything possible for the patients they are called to see.
Senator Mary Henry, MD
