Chapter 77

"Do you know if more patients are coming in?" Martin asked.

"I think there are another five who are apparently less injured than what we've had so far," he told Martin.

"Good. How are the medical supplies holding up? Have we sufficient for the next intake?"

The nurse was unsure as to exactly what was needed but volunteered to go and find out. He'd just left when Martin was hailed by a familiar voice. Turning to the door he saw Chris Parsons advancing towards him.

"Chris! What are you doing here?"

"Came in with the air ambulance and a team of burns specialists to help out," Chris told him. Also we've got specialist supplies for burns injuries."

"It's very good to see you, Chris. Thanks for coming so promptly. I'll let your specialists decide who needs to go to Truro." Martin turned and walked towards the cubicles where moans of pain could still be heard.

"There are at least another 5 coming in with injuries less severe than those who are here already. However I don't know how accurate that statement might be!"

"How did this happen, Martin? Do you know?"

"From what I can gather it was a mealtime on board the trawler and one of the gas canisters exploded. Most of the casualties were gathered in the dining area when it went off. I've one patient who lost an arm and a second who came close to losing his leg. We've patched them up, but they too will need further treatment. One man took shrapnel wounds to his chest. I operated on him and as far as I can see, removed the metal splinters."

Chris looked in awe at his large friend who'd coped magnificently despite his ongoing haemophobia. "You must have been on duty all night to cope with this?"

Martin looked at the clock on the wall. "About 15 hours, but some of the others have been on longer as their shift was due to end when the first reports came in."

"Ok. I'll make sure they are relieved early, where I can. What about you? Can you continue handing over?"

Martin nodded. "I need also to write up my notes while it's still fresh in my mind. I'm using Laverick's office. He should be back around lunchtime. Come and use it as well."

Chris agreed and set about finding out who needed to be relieved. He got them to go and write up their patient notes, ascertained who needed further treatment and observed as his specialist team got into the action.

Martin hadn't forgotten the patients who'd been side-lined earlier and went along to the holding ward to see them. Only three remained. One had a swollen wrist where he had obviously fallen. He was sent for X-rays to see if there was an actual break.

A second person was complaining of a pain in her abdomen which she'd had now for several hours. Martin got her to lay on the bed and palpated the area thoroughly. "Is there a possibility you could be pregnant?" he asked. The woman shook her head.

"No Doc, I've not been living with a man for years."

As Martin got near to the lower right quadrant she nearly doubled up and cried out in pain. "Hm, looks like you may have appendicitis. How long has this been troubling you?"

"Pain's been coming and going for the last 2 weeks, but this is the worst it's been," she explained.

Martin nodded. "We'll do an X-ray but I'm fairly sure you will require an operation to remove your appendix." He called for another porter and had the woman taken to X-ray.

He spoke to a nearby surgical resident. "Duncan, have you done appendectomies, before? Do you think you can deal with this one, if my diagnosis is correct?"

Duncan swallowed nervously. "I think so, Dr Ellingham."

"Don't think! Can you or can't you deal with this?" Martin's temper, never good at the best of times, was impatient with ditherers.

"Yes, Dr Ellingham, I can."

Martin nodded. "Go and get a theatre ready, pick a team to assist you, preferably those who haven't been here all night."

Duncan went off to assemble the necessary personnel and have a theatre cleaned and ready to go.

The final patient was an elderly man who looked confused and was sporting a black eye.

"Can you tell me your name?" Martin asked the patient.

"George."

"Do you know what's happened to you, George?"

The man looked askance at Martin. "Don't you know? Why don't you know?"

"George, how did you get that black eye?"

George looked back at Martin. "I fell. I were going to get a drink, and I fell. Where's Connie?"

"Is Connie your wife?"

The man's eyes teared up. "No. Elsie died last year. Connie is my cat. Why isn't she here?"

Martin held up his finger and asked George to follow it. He moved his hand from side to side, but could see that the man was having difficulty following the finger.

Martin turned to the hovering nurse. "Is there a geriatric ward here in the hospital? Can you see if there is a spare bed, for George here?"

"Yes Dr Ellingham. Ward 15 is the geriatric ward. I'll go and check." She bustled away, returning with the news that indeed there was a spare bed.

"I'd like him admitted for 24 hours for observation. Find out if he has any family, otherwise notify Social Services. If his condition deteriorates into more confusion have him X-rayed to rule out a fractured skull. He shouldn't be released unless there is suitable care for him at home."

The nurse escorted George to a nearby wheelchair and then took him along to Ward 15.

At last Martin was able to return to Laverick's office where he slumped into a chair and tried to collect his thoughts. He called the A&E admin desk and had them bring the patient notes to him, and then set to and filled out the clinical details.

"All going OK, Mart?" asked Chris from the doorway.

Martin turned bleary eyes towards his friend. "Yeah. Just getting these notes written up. All in all the staff coped well with the emergency. Most of them seemed to know exactly what to do and if they didn't, at least had the gumption to ask."

"Of the patients who were asked to wait last night, one might turn out to be an emergency appendectomy, another needed X-rays on his wrist to rule out a fracture and the last was an elderly gentleman who had a black eye and was quite confused. I sent him to the geriatric ward for observation."

Outside the office a raised voice could be heard, "Where's Ellingham?"

Max Laverick at last appeared in his office doorway. He spotted Chris , "Oh, Dr Parsons! I didn't know you were here."

Chris explained that he'd brought a team of burns specialists over in the air ambulance. "I also brought extra supplies and medicines for you, as well. We'll be taking several of the more critical casualties back to the mainland in about 2 hours' time."

Max nodded his agreement. "When I was informed about the accident, I was on Tresco with no means of returning quickly. I'm glad to say that Dr Ellingham stepped into the fray and seems to have done a remarkable job." At that he turned to Martin and proffered his thanks.

"Yes."

"Right I'll go and find out which casualties are coming with us. Let me know if you need anything else, Max." Chris got up and left the office.

"Have you got much more to do, Ellingham? I'd like to go around my team and ascertain what needs doing in the next few hours."

"I've got to finish these notes but then, if you don't need me anymore, I can go home. I must say Max that your team rose very well to the occasion. You should be proud of them."

Max stood taller and beamed his gratitude. Praise from Ellingham was praise indeed!

"Thanks. I'd better get on. I hope you can enjoy the rest of your holiday." Max left the office and Martin sighed in relief. He hadn't looked forward to talking with Max and was grateful that his former colleague hadn't lingered.

As he was finishing up the notes Dr Cotterell knocked on the door. "Dr Ellingham – I'd just like to say thank you for coming so promptly. It was something of a relief to find that I had your support."

"I'm sure this won't be the last big emergency you face in your career, Cotterell. Just remember one step at a time, and have faith in your staff to do the right thing. If you don't have that faith, your staff are not suited to that task." Martin was brutal in his assessment of colleagues who didn't quite cut the mustard.

"I'll leave these notes with the admin staff for you and then I'm going home. I'm here until Friday night if you need anything else. We catch the early flight on Saturday morning."

Having finished the notes, Martin changed back into his day clothes and quietly left the hospital. Once outside he took a deep breath in and set off for the town centre and Louisa.