‘Help me! Someone, help me!’ A young man shouldered open the door of the department, a toddler cradled in his arms. ‘She’s stopped breathing!’
Dropping the pages in her hand, Ella didn’t hesitate. ‘Bring her into Resus with me quickly.’ She pushed open the doors and called to Kelly, who was taking patient details at Reception. ‘Call Nikos—now.’
The man’s movements were jerky and panicky and the child lay in his arms, limp and lifeless. ‘We were eating our picnic on the beach and suddenly she just started to cough and then she was gagging as though she wanted to be sick but she wasn’t and now she isn’t breathing. Oh, God, do something!’
‘Lay her on the trolley—that’s right.’ Ella opened the child’s mouth to see if she could see anything obvious obstructing the breathing. ‘Do you know what she was eating?’
‘What were we eating? I don’t know. I don’t know.’ The man jabbed his fingers into his hair, struggling to think—so distraught he could barely speak. ‘She was just—I don’t know what was there, I can’t even remember. Crisps. Bread. Sausages.’ He put his hand on his forehead, almost out of his mind with worry. ‘All the usual stuff.’
With the aid of a light, Ella examined the child’s airway and saw a brownish lump lodged in the back of her throat.
Swiftly she weighed up her options.
She could attempt to remove the obstruction with a finger sweep, but there was always the chance that such a manoeuvre might push the object further down the child’s throat. The alternative was to wait for a doctor who would use the laryngoscope and a pair of Magill’s forceps.
‘Don’t let her die. Please, don’t let her die.’ The little girl’s father had his hands in his hair, almost beside himself with fear and worry. ‘I can’t believe this is happening. Do something! Please!’
Aware that each moment counted and confident that the obstruction was within her reach, Ella used a single finger sweep in an attempt to clear the child’s airway. The hard lump of food was driven forward by her finger and she carefully removed it from the child’s mouth and placed it in a kidney dish.
Satisfaction rushed through her, to be followed swiftly by concern because the child still wasn’t breathing.
Ella opened the child’s airway and gave five rescue breaths just as Nikos strode into the room.
Prepared to start chest compressions, Ella opened her mouth to give him the history just as the child gave a choked cough and drew in a shuddering breath.
‘Oh, thank God!’ The father pressed his fingers to his eyes and Nikos tilted his glossy dark head and gave Ella a faint smile.
‘It seems as though I’m not needed after all.’
‘I wouldn’t say that,’ she muttered, reaching for an oxygen mask and slipping it over the child’s mouth and nose. ‘Let’s just say we started without you.’
The father was murmuring to his daughter—kissing her forehead. ‘You’re all right, baby. Daddy’s here. Daddy’s here.’ He lifted his head and looked at Ella, his hand still stroking his daughter’s curls. ‘I don’t know what to say. You were amazing—you didn’t hesitate. You just…took over and sorted it.’ Clearly overwhelmed, the father wiped his eyes and shook his head. ‘Sorry—I’m so embarrassed…’
‘Don’t be.’ Nikos closed a hand over the man’s shoulder and then focused on the little girl. He examined her carefully, satisfying himself that all was well and that she was recovering.
‘It was this.’ Ella picked up the dish. ‘Looks like one of those mini-sausages.’
‘You did a finger sweep?’
‘Yes. Are you going to tell me off for taking a risk?’
Nikos hooked his stethoscope round his neck, a sardonic gleam in his eyes. ‘Why would I do that? Presumably you looked and decided that there was a good chance you could clear it. I call it a bold, decisive action rather than risk-taking.’
And that was his own approach, of course.
No one could ever accuse Nikos Mariakos of dithering.
‘She seems fine now,’ Nikos said to the father, ‘but I’d like her to stay here for another hour, just to be safe. When she recovers a bit you can take her into the waiting room and let her play with the toys.’
‘I can’t thank you enough.’ He stepped towards Ella and took her hands. ‘Thank you.’