• Question: Have you ever had to help/support someone if you have seen them looking unwell while outside of work e.g seeing someone on the street who is not well?

    Asked by Emma to Chris, Emma, Jonathan, Katharine, Shehla, Simon on 16 Jun 2017.
    • Photo: Jonathan Harte

      Jonathan Harte answered on 16 Jun 2017:


      Yes I have. I was driving with my wife and kids to an party when I spotted a person collapsed on the pavement near the road. No-one else was near them so I stopped to help.
      I saw she was having a seizure of some sort so stayed with her until it passed and other came around. we called an ambulance and she was taken to hospital. I then walked onto the party.

      My practice nurse and I also ran out to help at an road accident outside the surgery when a motorcyclist and a car collided. We provided first aid and basic resuscitation until the ambulance arrived.

      The other times are at parties/ gatherings – when other people find you are a doctor the questions naturally follow.

      Never on a plane though – yet!

    • Photo: Emma Rowe

      Emma Rowe answered on 16 Jun 2017:


      Oh yes!

      When I was a brand new Student Nurse, someone was taken ill on a train I was on. Thankfully a doctor got on the next stop so they could take over, and thankfully it appeared to be nothing serious.

      I also stopped at a collapsed student when I was on my way to my first year biology exam. She was having a seizure and I waited with her and kept her safe until the ambulance came.

      As a qualified nurse, I have come across a man who had a stroke in the hairdressers and a woman who fell down the travelator in Tesco and broke her leg.

      Naturally when people find out you’re a nurse, they also ask you about their own medical complaints but I always direct them to their own GP!

    • Photo: Katharine Bradbury

      Katharine Bradbury answered on 16 Jun 2017:


      I’ve had quite a few experiences over the years.Once I helped a man having an epileptic fit at the theatre – they stopped the play and put the house lights up so we could see.

      Another time a patient fell and broke their hip outside the supermarket while I was buying a sandwich there at lunchtime. I stayed with them until the ambulance arrived.

      I’ve been called twice to assist people on a planes – one had chest pain and the plane had to be diverted on my say so. The other person had indigestion and the cabin crew gave me a box of medication to use – the only problem was all the labels were in Swedish!

    • Photo: Christopher Symonds

      Christopher Symonds answered on 19 Jun 2017:


      Fortunately for me and probably the patient No.

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