Page 160 - It's a Rum Life Book 3 "Ivy House Tales 1970 to 1984"

SITUATION QUICKLY CHANGED
On returning to the scene, quite quickly everything had changed, the old gentleman in the
rear of the Reliant car had collapsed.
Ruth and I removed the lady from the front seat and dragged the old gentleman into the
front and lay him across the seats. Ruth began mouth to mouth resuscitation while I ran
back to the telephone to explain the change in the situation.
Unfortunately there was no one else at the scene with sufficient knowledge to aid her while
I ran for the phone and I considered that it had to be me to make the second contact and
express the urgency of the situation, again there were no other folk in a fit state to do this.

We were located about 12 miles from the nearest hospital that could accept serious
accidents and the ambulance would be at least another 15 minutes. I asked for a
L.I.V.E.S. doctor, this organisation probably exists in other areas, but in our area there
were local doctors who would attend emergency situations and had direct radio access to
the emergency services, they carry a defibrillator, a portable machine to help people with
serious heart failure.

(Picture of modern L.I.V.E.S. responder vehicle in 2019. The organidsation of volunteers
began in Lincolnshire and was still inn its infancy.)

I was quickly back to the accident and found
Ruth struggling to expand the chest of the
old gentleman so she had begun heart
massage. He was not a small person and
how on earth we managed to get access to
him, I do not remember.
The Reliant car is a small vehicle with only
two doors and very little space.

Ruth continued heart massage while I began the mouth to mouth.

From the first moment we could assess the situation we both thought that the old
gentleman was in a very poor way. All the time we were trying to help him, his wife was
sitting quietly only 18 inches or so behind in the remaining rear seat. We could not get her
out as her husband lay across the two front seats.
We continued with our efforts but we could see that there was no response from the
patient and he was becoming more and more blue. His stomach contents were also
beginning to return up his throat and complicate my efforts with the mouth to mouth.

It always seems such an age in these circumstances, but
the doctor arrived with ten minutes, he happened to be a
partner in the local practice and one that we knew.

Ruth quickly explained the situation and what we had been
doing. He worked his way in beside us and gave the old
gentleman a careful examination. He then explained
carefully and slowly to the old lady seated just against us
all, that the old gentleman was quite dead and beyond any
further help.

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