Within Netherlands each company is by law required to have first responders. These handle various situations until the professionals arrive. It’s usually one of (possible) fire, medical or an evacuation. Normally I’d post this at Google+ but as that’s going away I’ll put it on this blog. I prefer writing it down so later on I still can read the details.
While in a meeting I get a notification from my P2000 monitoring app (screenshot below), then a notification from the Dutch CPR app that there’s a need to perform CPR at work. The CPR app gives the exact address. I realize that I forgot my walkie talkie, plus my pager didn’t go off. I run out, I hear my colleagues explaining to others why I suddenly run out.
I’m wondering if to call security or to get my walkie talkie. I decide on the latter, security is usually busy enough during incidents. I make a mistake going to my floor, then to the correct one. I get my walkie talkie and ask for instructions. Incident is on 3rd, but I need to go to reception. I fetch an AED. A fellow colleague and first responder notices that and joins me. We go to reception (ground floor) but that was a miscommunication; we needed to go to reception 3rd floor. I’m not entirely happy with my mistakes.
While going back to 3rd floor we get an update, person is conscious. We arrive to 3rd floor and are directed towards the person. There’s loads of people around, actually too many. I stay at a distance, my colleague gets closer. A more experienced first responder is closer and asks my colleague to stand a bit away. I’m very happy that despite the mistakes everything is under control.
Me and my colleague decide to assist with waiting for an ambulance. This despite not having a bright jacket, nor my jacket (it’s cold outside). I might at least get a bright jacket from security, having this on is pretty critical. At the same time we overhear that the ambulance arrived. Using what security taught me in a previous incident we reserve an elevator to make it respond only to the buttons on the inside, not to anything else.
We further overhear that the ambulance arrived to the wrong part of the building, this means that we will have difficulty getting the stretcher up to the incident. We guide the ambulance personnel inside the building without the stretcher. While passing the reception I notice ground floor reception is talking to someone who is a relative/loved one/etc. We ask all of them to follow us inside the reserved elevator. The ambulance personnel is relaxed (as always!), they casually ask us to bring us the stretcher after. We were already planning to do this.
Together with my colleague we go down to ground floor to fetch the stretcher from floor -1 somehow. The stretcher needs go up one floor. At this point I’m not entirely sure how to do that, we need more people actually. We discussed this various times but the idea was to have 5 people, not 2. While walking to the stretcher we see 3 people actually carrying the stretcher up a staircase (from -1 to ground level).
The goods elevator meanwhile is reserved but standing at -1. I ask it to be redirected to ground level. No response. We arrive with the stretcher to goods elevator, it’s still at -1. We ask again, seems the new goods elevator system is annoying to use. Goods elevator arrives, there’s some people inside which we get rid of. Later I hear that those people were a bit overwhelmed. Using the goods elevator we take the stretcher to 3rd floor near the incident and then wait at 3rd floor reception. Reception has a few people, at least one person was shaking a bit due to emotions, we try and calm the person down. After that my colleague goes back to work.
Eventually I guide the ambulance personnel without a patient back out of the building . Fortunately no CPR and I’m quite happy they didn’t need to take anyone with them. While closing the doors of the good elevator a big wooden pallet almost falls upon me. Entirely dangerous! I later notice that this took the walkie talkie off my belt… so for a while I’m searching for my walkie talkie. After this I go to my colleague to talk everything over for a bit, followed by discussions with others as well. Various good things and also various improvement points.