Answer to emergency (1962)

[Music] Look out in front of me. I never had a chance to pull up. Gosh, she had plenty of time to pull out. Can't we do something for the poor fellow? Don't worry, lady. Hammers will be along in a moment. Surely a couple of you men could stick him up out of the road. Better not move him, Mrs. Never know what damage he might be doing. Oh, someone also tried to stop the man to death. Don't any of you know anything about first aid. Excuse me. I think I can help. Has anyone phoned an ambulance? Of course. Who sent for the ambulance? Wouldn't you think someone has sent for an ambulance? All right, lady over in this house. Is she? Think she's a nurse? A nurse? Yes, I'm a nurse, but not the sort you're probably thinking of. Four months ago, the idea of being a nurse had never even entered my head. I'd always thought of nursing as a career for a particular kind of girl, but not for the squeamish kind like me. I was far more used to the private secretary. I liked my job and I liked my boss, although just occasionally he could be rather thoughtless. Not that he meant to be, he was simply forgetful, especially about the time. Not that I minded staying a bit late on some evenings, but that particular evening, I was in a desperate hurry to get away. John and I were engaged and plan to be married soon. And on that evening 4 months ago, John and I were going to a very special party. That's why I'd been in such a rush to get away from the office. Apart from my sister Brenda and her playmate, I had the house to myself as I got ready for the party. Although at any moment my mother would be returning from her shopping expedition and Dawn would be calling for me. In that dreadful moment, I was seized with panic. Whilst my instinct was to lift my sister, my brain was telling me not to touch, warning me that I might be doing the wrong thing. Brenda. I'd never been so pleased to see anyone as I was Mrs. Adams at that moment. She'd know exactly what to do. She'd been trained in first aid. My mother blamed herself for not being at home when the accident happened. Although she didn't mean it that way, she seemed to be underlining how helpless I'd been in the face of an emergency. The calm efficiency of the hospital, however, had the effect of removing my fears, like the confidence Mrs. Adams had shown in the garden. But supposing there had been no Mrs. Adams around. No one with the knowledge of what and what not to do. How wonderful to have the assurance of these nurses because they did know what to do. I plan to marry and have children, but what if my own child had an accident? Could I run the constant risk of not knowing what to do? I'd seen other posters like this one, but they'd never meant much to me before. They were appeals directly to other people. But if everybody thought that, what would have happened to Brenda today? Accidents could happen anytime, anywhere. Could I be a nurse? They had a self-confidence which I felt I could never attain. And Matthews wasn't the only one to be in a fix like that. It happened to lots of people before they joined the National Hospital Service Reserve. Tell the truth, I hadn't even heard of the reserve three years ago. And as for me, learning nursing, well, I may be Charlie by name, but I'm certainly nobody's Charlie by nature. Being the bread winner in this family took up all my time, thank you very much. On that particular day, three years ago, Vice saw me into the wagon as usual, she was also making sure these two imps didn't starboard on my all night run. Vi didn't care much for the kids playing about in the wagon. I can see an accident one of these days, she'd say. But I said, "Let the kids have fun. Learn to take care of themselves. Why go white worrying about something that will never happen? I'll never forget the details of that night. It was about 10 mi south of Grantham. In 12 years of driving, I'd seen many accidents, but always the police or someone were dealing with them, and I'd never been personally called on to deal with an emergency. I'd never stopped to question if I'd know what to do in such a situation. But I did know the smell of spilled petrol, and what might happen at any second. should she be on her back or not? If only I knew what was wrong with her. But even then, I wouldn't know what to do. Something was bound to come along the road any moment, I kept telling myself. But in that moment, her fate breathing might stop altogether. And all she needed was someone with a knowledge of first aid. But because I didn't have that knowhow, she could lose her life. That patrol van was the most welcome sight in the world. When you consider the odds, it could just as easily have been a vehicle driven by another Charlie, another ignoramus about first aid. But that patrolman had been well trained and knew his stuff. It was a relief to hear him say after a quick examination that he thought the woman wasn't seriously injured. But her being all right didn't make me forget the shock I'd received. I never again wanted to experience that awful feeling of helplessness. Suppose that unconscious figure had been by or one of the kids. Charlie Brook's emergency happened sometime before mine. My story started exactly 12 months ago on the day mother came to live with us. My father died recently and rather than see mother struggling on alone, I asked her to move in with us. She's an independent one, his mother. We had a lot of trouble making her feel at home. But as I kept telling her, we welcomed the idea of her coming to live with us. I had only Sam as my husband, and Martin, my youngest, to keep house for, now that my two older children were married, so quite apart from the pleasant prospect of having mother around all day of company, I thought that having her to care for would occupy my time more fully. The only problem was to convince mother that this was her home, and remove her silly ideas of being a burden. But I only thought of caring for mother as she was an elderly but healthy person. When mother collapsed, I thought it was just a fainting fit. But as I watched the doctor, I knew it was more serious than one of mother's faints. The doctor said it was a slight stroke. Nothing to get alarmed about. After a few days in bed, mother would be on her feet again. But he warned me that she must take things easy. He said there were indications that she might become increasingly invalid and so need skilled nursing. If the worst happened and mother had another more serious stroke, she might in a 12 month or so become partly or totally bedridden. My experience of nursing was confined to the various childhood illnesses of my family. Such experience, I was beginning to realize, hardly fitted me for the skilled nursing of a permanent invalid. Whatever happened, I certainly wasn't going to let mother go into a home or anything of that sort. While obviously the cost of engaging a full-time nurse was something we simply couldn't afford. Besides, I felt it was my duty to nurse my own mother if I could. But where was I to get the experience to do it? If the doctor's estimate were right, I had at least 12 months in which to gain it. a year before mother might need constant skilled home nursing. Mary Collins enrolled with the NHSR just as Charlie Books had done and I followed their example. I took my training with the St. John Ambulance Brigade simply because they held the course not far from my office. Otherwise, I might have trained with the British Red Cross Society who run a similar course. The first part of training consisted of first aid lectures by a doctor and then practical demonstrations. They were given every Tuesday evening for 6 weeks. [Music] I never thought a subject like first aid could be so interesting. We certainly seem to cram a great deal into those 12 hours, and I absorbed far more of it than I realized at the time, as I've since discovered. Possibly I enjoyed the second part of the training even more. This was the home nursing course. Again, it consisted of six 2hourly sessions. [Music] My new knowledge destroyed my old fears of being helpless and panicstricken in an emergency. I soon discovered how to practice what I'd been taught in a calm and orderly manner and always with good humor. It was very important to be good humored when the patient disapproved of what the doctor ordered. With our basic training over, we could, if we wished, learn about hospital nursing. But before getting down to the actual nursing, we had several introductory visits to the local hospital. The main purpose of this was to familiarize us with the organization of the hospital and the work of the various departments. [Music] When the introductory course was finished, I volunteered to put in some hours of ward duty. Of course, I was still learning, still watching the right way to do things. [Music] [Music] It wasn't long, however, before I was allowed to carry out some of the duties I'd studied during the home nursing course. I was putting into practice what I'd learned. But now there was a big difference. These were real patients. When I completed my ward duty last week, I was sorry that I couldn't volunteer to do anymore. But that was impossible. My spare time for the next couple of months will be fully occupied with preparations for my wedding. Not that I intend to let marriage make me lose touch with the hospital or my nursing friends. When I joined the NHSR 3 years ago, I did so simply in order to learn to deal with the emergency. And after doing the courses, I felt I knew enough to cope with any accident I was likely to be faced with. My two NHSR friends thought we should get more experience by doing regular hospital duty. But I didn't see myself as a one night a week nighting girl. Oh, I meant to stay in the reserve. All right. It was a very good thing. I'd be only too willing to help in any real emergency. The winter after I finished my training, we had the biggest outbreak of flu I can remember. Like everyone else, my one concern was to keep the family free of infection. That was until I heard of the problems the epidemic created for the hospitals. It hit patients and nursing staff alike. My local hospital, 40 nurses had gone down with it. The situation had become an emergency. NHSR members were being asked to help. During the next four weeks, I gave the hospital all the time my job and family responsibilities allowed. It's difficult to say without sounding silly, but those duty spells in casualty department made me feel good somehow. The end of the emergency put me in a fix. I didn't want to give the work up and yet I didn't want to be committed to regular spare time duty. But in the end I stayed on doing duty from week to week. Hello. You still here? Thought you had a date tomorrow. I'm only hanging on until Charlie shows up. He's a bit late, isn't he? Don't worry. He'll be here. Casualty wouldn't open Thursday night without him. [Music] Sorry, Doris. One of the kids had a bit of an accident. Serious? No, not really. Fell off swing, grazed his face a bit more frightened than her. I have no doubt that nurse Brooks coped admirably with the situation. Well, the family seemed to expect it on me. But I can remember the time when my misses wouldn't let me get near those kids if there was something wrong with them. Moral, join the NHSR and be popular with your family. You save your chick for your boyfriend. Get along with it. Night, Charlie. See you next Thursday. Oh, you are an outside creature. You know, Johnny, it's hard the way we have to rely upon these amateur nurses. Any more of that and you'll get a banquet bath. I'm only kidding, Mrs. Collins. You know, you're my favorite nurse. I only live for Thursdays. And you better make the most of today. Going home tomorrow, aren't you? Oh, I hope so. How are you, Johnny? Oh, I'm fine, thanks nurse. The heat treatment's working wonders. That's the idea. Won't be long before you're going home, too. Back to that motorbike. Eh, that's right. How are you feeling, Mr. David? Fine. Fine. I'd like a drink, please. Nurse. Immediately, I'd finished the training course, I volunteered for part-time duties. I wanted to get all the nursing experience I could before mother became bedridden and needed all my attention. At every opportunity, I attended the lectures and demonstrations given at the hospital in order to broaden the experience gained in the ward. But the possible need to nurse my mother was not the only reason for my interest in hospital life. Other things also stimulated my enthusiasm. I'd always thought of the world of nursing as a rather exclusive one, and now I had the right to enter it. In no time at all, I felt like an accepted member of the hospital community, a community in which I'd made some very good friends. Sister Nicholls, who was so helpful when I started on ward duty, Mrs. War, the trained nurse member of the NHSR. How I wish I'd had such nursing experience, or perhaps the opportunity to gain it. [Music]