Journal of Academic Development and Education JADE Issue 10 | Page 116

116 | JADE
HIGHLIGHT #3 | 117
JULIE GREEN & PAULA WOOD
COLLECTED STORIES: BEING CARED FOR AT HOME
Supporting the community
The day before Christmas Eve last year, my colleague had problems
with her car. As a result, I needed to collect her from her local garage,
prior to work, to bring her in to the clinic where she was the office
coordinator for the day. After collecting her from the garage, as we
were driving to work, we pulled up behind a stationary ambulance
that was partially blocking the road. The ambulance crew were
dealing with an unconscious man who was lying on the pavement.
We stopped and went over to offer assistance to the ambulance crew
who were doing Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation on the gentleman.
Apparently, he had been walking his dog and had collapsed. At the
request of the ambulance crew, we took the dog and knocked on
doors in the vicinity to see if we could identify the gentleman.
We knocked on a few doors and then a neighbour recognised the
dog and directed us to his house. We knocked on the gentleman’s
door; however, his partner was in bed and didn’t answer. We located
the keys in the gentleman’s pocket, let ourselves into the front door
of the property and shouted upstairs to the man’s partner. We woke
her and told her the sad news and returned her dog. The lady was
understandably extremely stressed and upset so we rang her family
to come over and provide some support for her. We also assisted her
to get ready, so she could accompany her partner in the ambulance
to the local Accident and Emergency Department.
The lady was extremely grateful for our support; however, the
gentleman sadly died in A&E.