Eleanor experienced three cardiac arrests and was found to have a blood clot on her lungs. Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance was tasked in the outreach car and treated Eleanor at the scene, before travelling with her to hospital in a land ambulance.

Sudden Collapse at the Doctor’s Surgery

Back in September, after weeks of struggling with breathlessness and dizziness, I finally secured an emergency doctor’s appointment. Despite feeling terrible and unable to find answers, I was fortunate to get an appointment with less than an hour’s notice, as I live just 15 minutes away. I vividly recall feeling incredibly unwell as I made my way to the car, but the next part of the journey is a blur. I don’t remember driving to the surgery, only what I’ve been told by others. Apparently, as I got out of the car in the doctor’s surgery car park, I fainted. Thankfully, people at the surgery found me and rushed to help. I regained consciousness briefly, only to immediately suffer a seizure. It was then that I had my first of three out-of-hospital cardiac arrests. Two of these occurred in the car park, where my heart reportedly stopped beating for a total of 36 minutes. The third occurred upon my arrival at the hospital.

Roadside Treatment and Emergency Care

Lauren, a critical care practitioner for Dorset and Somerset Air Ambulance, was on duty in their outreach car. She was tasked to my incident and treated me at the scene, before travelling with me to Poole Hospital by land ambulance.

Intensive Care and ECMO Treatment

Once at the hospital, it was confirmed that I had a large blood clot on my lungs and I have subsequently learnt from the A&E doctor that I was not expected to survive. After time in intensive care at Poole, I was transferred to Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital in London for urgent Extra Corporeal Membrane Oxygenation Therapy (ECMO). ECMO is the use of an artificial lung, located outside of the body that puts oxygen into the blood and continuously pumps this blood into and around the body. This is required for patients who are very ill and who have not responded to other forms of treatment. It supports the patient in taking over the job of their lungs and allowing their body to rest while other treatments are carried out.

Recovery and Adjusting to a New Life

When I woke up in London, I was extremely confused by what had happened and over time, I have learnt how critical my condition was. I am still having appointments and tests as part of my recovery and am not the same person I was before; life has dramatically changed for me.

A Special Visit to the Airbase

In February, I had the most wonderful chance to visit the airbase, see ‘Nemo’ the helicopter and find out more about what happened to me. It was lovely to meet Lauren in person, as I am so thankful to her for saving my life, and to be reunited with Sam, who was, and continues to be, a fantastic support to me and my family; this makes such an amazing difference.

---

View from the Crew: Lauren, Specialist Practitioner in Critical Care

I remember Eleanor’s incident exceptionally well as she was so critically ill. I was really pleased to be there and be able to utilise the equipment and medicines that we carry as part of our enhanced care response by car.

Eleanor was unresponsive on my arrival. The whole team worked together quickly to stabilise her and move her into the ambulance out of the rain and cold. As she was moved, we witnessed her heart begin to beat very slowly and then go into standstill. I immediately inserted an airway adjunct, a cannula into her vein, applied the LUCAS chest compression device, administered some medications and her heart started beating again quickly.

She remained in a really unstable condition with some changes to her heart rhythm, so I used our ultrasound machine to look at her heart. Here I was able to notice specific changes to her heart that made me suspicious of a pulmonary embolism – a life-threatening condition if not treated quickly.

I was able to pre-alert the team at Poole Hospital, so they could prepare specific drugs that Eleanor would need to save critical time and restore her circulation as early as possible, to improve her outcome.

I was thrilled when we had the chance to meet up again and see how far she has come on her journey of recovery.

---

Aftercare: Sam, Patient and Family Liaison Nurse

I visited Eleanor on the day that she was transferred to London and she was obviously very unwell. I was able to get in contact with her parents and provide some emotional support and signposting during this very frightening time.

Eleanor and I were then able to talk through what happened on the day of her incident. I was able to help fill in any gaps and answer questions about the care that was provided during the pre-hospital phase of her treatment. We talked through the events and I was able to validate her feelings, provide information on support groups and discuss trauma reactions.

It has been a privilege to support Eleanor and her family during her recovery and so lovely to be able to have her visit the base to meet Lauren again.

Next: Pete's Story