It seemed like a normal Saturday night for Joyann and her husband Brad in June this year. They were out dancing when Joyann started feeling fatigued and short of breath. She couldn’t finish the last dance, which is very abnormal for her.
She took a rest before the couple returned home but unfortunately Joyann’s condition worsened. Joyann became extremely short of breath and unable to speak.
Brad’s instinct knew to call Triple Zero (000) and Advanced Care Paramedics Tiarne Hilton and Lucy McKenna arrived shortly after, followed by Critical Care Paramedic Rachael Lucas. Joyann was on the floor, profoundly short of breath, and centrally cyanotic with coarse crackling breath sounds throughout her lungs.
The attending crew quickly recognised her lungs were filling with fluid and sat Joyann upright to improve her oxygenation. A simple change in position shows the attending paramedics understood the pathophysiology of Joyann’s condition. Tiarne and Lucy treated Joyann’s high blood pressure with medication and applied Non-Invasive Continuous Positive Airway Pressure via a face mask. This intervention further improved her oxygenation and decreased her work of breathing.
Joyann doesn’t remember the paramedics arriving at her house that night. However, she does remember being spoken to by a kind and reassuring voice while in the back of the ambulance on the way to the hospital. While constantly reassessing Joyann’s condition to make sure the treatment was working, the paramedics never forgot that simply talking to a patient, something so fundamentally human, makes a big difference for how a person experiences a significant health episode.
Meanwhile her husband Brad was understandably worried about what was happening. Her condition progressed so quickly, which took Brad by surprise. Brad had very complimentary things to say about the Emergency Call Handler Cailin Sinclair who provided him initial instructions over the phone, and to all three paramedics who took care of his wife on that night. Brad mentioned that all the clinicians involved displayed a calm sense of control in the situation, but also maintained their compassion and empathy towards both the patient that they were caring for, and her beloved husband who was watching on.
Advanced Care Paramedics Tiarne and Lucy had the wonderful opportunity to reunite with Joyann and Brad in September. Joyann was diagnosed with heart failure and underwent extensive hospital treatment and rehabilitation before returning home. Joyann has worked very hard with her rehabilitation program to return back to full health.
Embraces were shared, tears were shed, and gratitude and appreciation were shown in earnest. Joyann refers to the paramedics as her angels, the ones who saved her, and without them she wouldn’t be back bouncing around the dance floor with Brad.