Innocence lost

The first thing I noticed was the children. They looked like only 5 and 3 years old, peering outside through the lounge room window.

I continued walking towards the front door of the house, guided by the man.

"Can you just narc (narcan) her?" he kept saying.

I didn't answer.

We walked into the rather messy lounge, saw the kids standing on the couch, and into the hallway.

He pointed at the bathroom, too small for both of us to fit.

I stepped in.

On the ground laid a woman in her 30s, feet against the door, head under the sink.

I called out, then squeezed her shoulder followed by a sternum rub. No response.

I checked the carotid.

That can't be right, I thought.

I checked again.

Not really realising it, I pulled the towel covering her chest and started compressions.

My partner looked in, said something unintelligibility and ran out to the ambulance, shouting to the man to get the children inside the bedroom.

The man looked in and all I remember was a distressed, piercing "no... no... no...".

The next 15 minutes flew by as pads were placed on, an LMA inserted, an autopulse applied and extra hands appeared.

I remember distinctly a police officer popping his head in and asking if he could do anything, however, there wasn't much to do. We couldn't get IV access and the autopulse took care of the hard work.

I felt a little helpless after a while as basically everything was done.

However, it was all futile. She was long gone.

Our Team Leader ran through the physical observations again and all were in agreement. We terminated the resuscitation.

We packed up, signed the police attendance sheet and reloaded the car.

Looking back, for some reason, I saw the children again, peering outside through the bedroom window.

Their world will forever be changed, etched with the memory of strangers dressed in green and blue standing in their house, on their lawn with a sheet over their mother whom will never wake up.

Courage on the internet

Been watching a couple of videos on Youtube about a US military person whom comes out to himself, friends and family over a couple of months.

Very courageous fellow and the emotions are visibly raw.

Have a watch, regardless of what your sexual orientations are - it's definitely thought-provoking.

http://www.youtube.com/user/AreYouSuprised