Look after yourself (aka almonds)

It was nine o'clock on a Saturday, the regular crowd shuffles in. There was a young man brought in to me, with the stench of tonic and gin... Ok, well it was actually more of a beer smell and from memory it was a Tuesday, but let's call it artistic license.

At first he refused treatment but said he wanted water and a sit down, he was dehydrated. This is far too common at concerts like the one we were at, as we were situated right next to the stage and provided one of the best places to watch the show from. Perks of the job on quiet nights. This had all happened while I was at another post and the crew there were happy to just let him be for a bit.

After a while I moved to this post to help even out the crew numbers around the event and I was introduced to this lovely fellow with a 'I'm all right, f*** off.' I asked the intercepting crew member why he was there, as I'm a firm believer that despite our rather well placed post the spot should be reserved for casualties, and while I'm happy to have people sit down for a few minutes and get re-hydrated, the last thing I want is for the post to become a perch for the lazy and unscrupulous.

I returned to the gentleman who, for the record, was pleased to make my acquaintance again which is when I decided to inform him he would have to move on if he was 'f***ing alright', to which he suddenly remembered some wounds he had. Thinking he was just stalling (the concert was quickly nearing its end) I asked him to tell me about his wounds when a rather interesting story ensued.

He had been motorcycle riding in Country A before deciding to get even closer to the countryside by coming off the bike at high speed and spraying himself along the roadside. He had been taken to a local hospital and his wounds (which were fairly minor given the accident) were stitched, dressed and he was sent on his way. He returned back to Australia a week later and, being bored one night decided to remove his stitches with his hands and a pair of kitchen scissors. He also redressed his wounds which he thought at the time 'looked like s***'. A shining star of Australian upper class culture, this boy. I was tempted to ask if they smelled of almonds...

After a little negotiation I convinced him to let me have a quick look at his wounds, as two days had passed since his self-redressing and I was beginning to suspect they had become infected. As he removed the covering over his elbows and legs, I realised how right I was - every wound was in various stages of infection. None were what I would consider life threatening, but they would certainly require a hefty dose of antibiotics. With his new found consent, I cleaned and redressed the wounds in sterile non-stick dressings and tried to convince him to see his GP in the morning (he had already refused going to A&E), even writing up an OB11 (one of our casualty report forms) that he could take with his doctor.

Now I knew that the doctor wouldn't care less about the OB11 and that it was obvious what needed to be done, but I like to hope if nothing else it would serve as a reminder to the man to at least see his GP. He was under the influence and I wasn't too certain how much of the night he would remember, so an official looking piece of paper with 'Ambulance' written on would hopefully leave an impression on him.

The thing I didn't understand about this casualty was that he must have been in pain from the infection, even after recognising the wounds weren't quite happy it took two days and a person to tell him to leave a first aid post before he did anything about it. He wasn't about to lose his legs just yet, but infection is a serious problem that can cause major complications if left untreated. The common thought of 'If I ignore it it will get better' just isn't going to cut it in this situation, and you tend to look decidedly less macho when the doctor tells you of his plans to amputate.

At the end of the day, the only person who is really going to look after you is yourself. So make sure you take responsibility for yourself - otherwise you might be getting a visit from our friends in the shiny vans with lights on top.