‘The ambulance is on its way. What’s your name, love?’
‘Harvey.’
Good. He could speak. So his airway was clear, not blocked with blood or vomit. His breathing seemed a bit shallow; she couldn’t get a proper look to see if he was losing any blood or had circulation problems; but he’d managed to answer a question and sounded lucid, so that ticked off ‘disability’ because there weren’t any immediate neurological problems. Exposure, so they could see the extent of his injuries…Well, that would have to wait until they’d cut him out. Even an experienced paramedic like Matt would find it tough to get the driver out of this space, so the odds were they’d have to use the hydraulic equipment—known as a Hurst, but they’d all been told to use the longer name because in the muffled environment of a crash vehicle the short name sounded more like ‘hearse’ and terrified the casualties.
‘Can you tell me if you’ve got any pain?’ she asked.
‘My neck,’ he said.
Could be whiplash; could be a spinal injury. She made a mental note to tell the paramedics. ‘As soon as the ambulance is here, we’ll get a collar on you and get you out.’
‘My legs. Hurt.’
Well, that was good. It was when they didn’t feel pain that she was worried, because that meant there was likely to be damage to the nerves. ‘We’ll get you out of here soon. Can you remember what happened?’
‘No.’
OK. She’d leave that one for the police to sort out. ‘Any passengers in the car?’ she asked.
‘No, just me,’ Harvey said.
Which meant they wouldn’t have to do a search and rescue: that was a relief. ‘I’m going to talk to my station manager about the best way to get you out. I’ll be back as soon as I can, OK?’
‘Don’t leave me.’ His breath hitched. ‘Please, don’t leave me here. I—I don’t want to be alone. Please.’
She slid a hand through the gap between the door and the seat and touched his face, comforting him. ‘Hey. I’ll be back before you know it. Promise. We’ll get you out of there, love.’
Ray was already assessing the vehicle when she went to report to him. ‘Lorry driver’s in shock and sitting on the hard shoulder with a space blanket; car driver possible c-spine injury, query crush injuries but at the moment he can feel his legs. I can’t get into the front on either side.’
‘OK. When the ambo crew’s here, we’ll see whether they can work with what they have or if they need us to open the car. We’ll stabilise the vehicle for now.’
‘I’ll keep talking to him,’ Kelsey said. ‘Let him know what’s going on.’
She’d just leaned into the back of the car and reassured Harvey that they were going to make the care safe so it wouldn’t move and jolt him or cause him further injury when a hand rested in the dip of her back. A touch she recognised. A touch that melted away her tension.
‘I wondered if you’d be here. How’s it going, Kels?’
Kelsey felt a jolt of pleasure as she heard Matt’s voice. All the paramedics she worked with were good, but Matt had something extra. And it wasn’t just bias because she’d shared a house with him for eighteen months and he was officially her best friend. There was something about him. Something calming—as if he could take the weight of the whole world and keep you safe, and still keep smiling. Right now, he was the person she wanted to see more than anyone else in the world.
‘Cavalry’s arrived,’ she told Harvey with a smile. ‘Want the good news or the good news?’
‘Uh-huh.’
‘You’ve got one of the best paramedics in the area to treat you,’ she told him. ‘I’m just going to get out of his way so he can have a proper look at you, but I’ll be right here beside him.’ Where she often was: because they made a great team. Between them, they could get casualties out fast and stabilise them. Save lives. She straightened up and drew Matt back out of Harvey’s earshot. ‘His name’s Harvey. He’s talking—but not as much as he was. He’s complained of pain in his neck and his legs. I can’t tell if he’s bleeding or not—there’s too much in the way for me to see any external haemorrhage—but I don’t like his colour.’
‘Better get him out fast once we’ve got a spinal board on him,’ Matt said.
Kelsey turned to Matt’s crew partner. ‘Dale, the lorry driver’s going into shock but his breathing’s fine, he was talking lucidly, and I’ve got him sitting on the hard shoulder in a space blanket. I promised him I’d be back, but…’ She gestured to the car. ‘The driver’s in a bit of a mess. And he’s scared as hell. I couldn’t really leave him.’
‘There isn’t enough space for two of us to work here, so can you go to see the lorry driver?’ Matt asked his crew partner.
‘Sure,’ Dale said, and headed for the hard shoulder.
Ray came over. ‘The car’s stabilised, Matt. Just tell us if you need more access.’
‘Will do. Thanks, Ray.’ Matt slid into the back of the car and introduced himself quickly to Harvey. ‘I’m going to put a neck collar on you to keep your spine nice and stable.’ He assessed the situation swiftly. ‘They’re going to need to cut you out so Dale—that’s my crew partner—and I can move you safely.’
‘Mmm,’ Harvey mumbled.
Kelsey and Matt exchanged a glance as he withdrew.
‘How fast can you do it?’ Matt asked.
‘Ten, fifteen minutes,’ Kelsey said, ‘but it’s going to be noisy.’
He nodded. ‘I’ll get the collar on him while you lot get the rams and spreaders sorted. Then I’ll sit in the back with him and keep him talking while you cut him out.’
‘You’ll never squeeze into the back,’ Kelsey said. ‘I’m smaller than you—I’ll fit better. Why don’t I sit in there and protect him with the shield while the lads do the cutting? If his condition changes, I’ll give you a yell.’
‘OK. Thanks.’ He smiled at her.
By the time Matt had put the collar on Harvey, the cutting equipment was ready. ‘OK for me to go in the back?’ Kelsey asked Ray.
At his nod, she grabbed the blue tear-shaped plastic shield and slid into the back of the car.
‘Harvey, we’re going to cut you out so the paramedics have got enough space to treat you. It’s going to be noisy,’ she warned, ‘but I’m here with you. And I’m going to put this shield up so you won’t get any glass in your face or anything.’ In the past, windscreens had simply popped out; in modern cars, the windscreens were bonded to the vehicle and had to be cut through.
‘It sounds scary,’ she said. ‘But I promise you, you’ll be fine. Nothing’s going to hurt you.’
‘Do this a lot?’
He sounded
