To the various people around when I called 999 yesterday for a bloke passed out in his own vomit in a pedestrianised area of my town -
To his mates who left him there - You are a bunch of pratts for leaving him like that, but I appreciate that you at least made an attempt to put him into the recovery position so that he wouldn't choke. I'm glad to see that you appreciate the principles of harm reduction even if I think you are shitty friends for leaving him there.
To the young bloke who decided to try to lift him on to the nearby bench - Under no circumstances are you to EVER move a casualty like that unless there is an immediate threat to his safety. You also MUST listen to the qualified first aider (me!) telling you to leave him still to keep him safe. Going and getting a bunch of your mates and trying to get them to lift him onto said bench, only for him to slide right back off again was foolish and likely hurt him as he started bleeding from his mouth at this point. Thankfully when he fell and you all bolted because he started vomiting again, you left him in what can be described as an accidental recovery position. You are a bunch of twatts for not listening to me and I really should have told you to fuck off.
To the two lovely young women who offered help and checked his responsiveness and breathing and flagged down the ambulance - You are truly awesome human beings who did exactly what was needed in the moment. I hope you have good karma for your good deeds.
To the young bloke who just stood there and stared and did nothing other than be an audience - You can just piss off. This bloke was in a rough way and you did nothing but stare. Even homeless people with substance misuse problems deserve dignity. Staring at a man passed out in his own vomit is the opposite of that.
To the lovely 999 responder - You were amazingly calm and collected and gave your directions well. Thank you for doing your job well and putting up with me telling off the blokes discussed above.
To the emergency responders - You have an utterly thankless job, but you still tried to treat this bloke with dignity despite him partially waking up and trying to kick you when you tried to get him on the gurney. They said this was the second call like this they had had that day, and they were only 3 hours into their shift.
To the bloke who was passed out in his vomit - You were in a rough way yesterday. I hope you are okay and that you get to a point where you are ready to sort yourself out soon. I suspect you have rather a sore head this morning.
To myself - You had a shitty day yesterday before this happened and stop beating yourself up for not intervening more strongly with those blokes and for not actually getting down on the ground to properly practise the first aid skills you have had for decades. You've dealt with these situations before, you know what you are doing, but you were right in your immuno-compromised state not to touch him or get to close to his body fluids without having gloves and a mask. Upon finding him, I was utterly overtaken with anxiety that I would pick something up from him if I touched him with bare hands, and not in a general I-don't-want-to-touch-your-vomit kind of way. I have been sick with repeated viruses all winter in part due to being on Humira, I can't afford to get anything else, and really can't afford to get anything more serious that you may have had. At least I noticed you and called you an ambulance.
My heart says that this guy needed help and I couldn't give it to you properly. I feel shitty that I wasn't down on the ground checking you more closely and being as reassuring as the woman who did. My head says you were right for knowing your limits and making yourself safe first, which is the first rule of first aid. And I really need to start carrying gloves in my handbag for these occasions.
