of sobs and tears coming from outside, though Holly could tell that it wasn’t Nora.
‘The daughter is very upset,’ the paramedic informed them.
‘Anna—’ Kay called for assistance ‘—can you stay with the family?’
‘Where’s the team?’ Holly asked in an urgent tone, desperate for them to appear so that Paul could be given the very best chance.
‘We’ll be fine,’ Daniel said in his composed deep voice and Holly glanced over at him.
He was at the head of the resuscitation bed that the paramedics were moving Paul onto and Daniel was his usual mixture of aloof and calm.
It was everything that was needed now.
‘ON MY COUNT,’ Daniel said, and Paul was transferred from the ambulance stretcher onto the solid resuscitation bed.
Everyone was a touch flustered. All the staff knew Nora, including the paramedics, and so this was incredibly personal.
But not to Daniel.
He checked the placement of the breathing tube and looked at the monitor once Paul had been transferred to the emergency department equipment. He asked Kay to recommence massage and called for the necessary drugs and did all this as he listened to the handover.
Apparently things had been rather chaotic back at the house. Paul’s daughter and her boyfriend had become agitated and distressed and had got somewhat in the way.
‘He was in the bathroom when he collapsed.’
‘Was someone with him?’
‘It was hard to get a clear history.’
Daniel nodded as Holly handed him the drug he had asked for but, aware that everyone was tense and there was the potential for mistakes to be made, he checked and double-checked everything.
Paul was still in an arrhythmia and not responding to drugs, and though he had been shocked several times both at home and en route they had been unable to revert him to a normal rhythm. Daniel delivered more of the same and then called for the defibrillator to be charged and asked for fresh pads to be placed on Paul’s chest.
Holly could see that her hands were shaking as she did as asked.
‘Is anybody getting a fuller history from the family?’ Daniel checked.
‘I’ve sent Anna in to speak with Nora,’ Kay said. ‘I don’t think he has any previous history, though.’
‘I want to hear what Nora says.’ Daniel was firm. This was no time for hearsay and Kay nodded as for now they worked on.
The emergency team started to arrive and gradually took over. Daniel had it all under control so that they were able to get a full handover as he worked on. Kay was massaging Paul’s chest and her face was red and sweating.
‘Can you take over, Holly?’ she asked.
Holly did so. She was slight and really had to put in an effort to deliver effective massage. She glanced up at the clock and then back to Paul. There had been absolutely no response since he had collapsed back at home.
‘Step back,’ Mr Dawson, the cardiologist, ordered, and Holly climbed from the bed and once she was safely standing back another shock was delivered.
‘So he collapsed at five?’ Mr Dawson checked the timeline of events.
It was now five forty-five...
Holly could smell burning from the repeated shocks to his body and she looked over at Kay, who looked up at the clock.
‘Was he found collapsed?’ Mr Dawson checked.
‘We’re just waiting to have that verified,’ Daniel said. The paramedics had been very thorough in their treatment and had done well but there were still some gaps in the history.
Anna came in then. ‘There’s no previous history and he’s on no medication. Paul was standing in the bathroom, chatting to Nora, when he developed chest pain. Nora sat him on the floor and called for an ambulance. She gave him some aspirin and stayed with him, and a couple of moments later he arrested and she commenced resuscitation straight away.’
It had been a witnessed arrest, which was incredibly relevant, especially given Nora’s skills. It was now evident that he’d had effective cardiac massage delivered from the very start.
Not that it seemed to be counting for much.
‘Resume massage,’ Mr Dawson ordered, and Holly was about to climb back on the bed when Daniel halted her.
‘Hold on a moment.’ He had his fingers in Paul’s groin to feel for a femoral pulse. ‘He’s got a pulse.’
And then, better than any music, better than any other sound in the world really, the monitor started to deliver bleeps.
Two at first, followed by a long pause, then a run of three and then sinus rhythm kicked in and there was the beep-beep-beep of a rapid heart rate and suddenly there was hope.
It was tainted, though.
Paul had been down for some considerable time. The cardiologists were going through his ECG tracings and deciding whether to take him straight up to ICU or directly to the catheter lab to see exactly what had occurred. The hope was that they could dissolve the blockage and open up the blocked vessels in Paul’s heart and minimise damage to the heart muscle.
‘I’ll go up with him,’ Kay said, as she gathered up the necessary equipment for the urgent transfer. ‘Daniel, can you go and speak with Nora and explain that Mr Dawson is busy with Paul but he’ll be in to get the consent...’ Her voice trailed off. ‘You know the drill.’
‘I do.’
‘I forget how experienced you are.’
‘That’s fine,’ Daniel responded with ease, but then he asserted himself—not just with Kay but also with the cardiologist who would like Paul up in the lab, preferably ten minutes ago. ‘First of all, though, we need to bring in his wife.’
‘Time is of the essence,’ Mr Dawson said.
‘I’m sure she’ll understand that.’
Nora must have been getting ready for the party and chatting to Paul as she did so, with no idea as to what was about to come. One of her eyes was made up with glittery eye shadow and the other was not.
Seeing someone so visibly shaken who was always so together and strong, but doing her best to hold it together, had Holly on the edge of tears.
‘He’s going to go up very soon,’ Holly told Nora quietly, once Mr Dawson had obtained her consent and explained that they’d be moving him to the catheter lab. Holly watched as Nora took one of Paul’s hands and held it in both of hers as if trying to warm it.
‘He
