Medical Mission (6 page)

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Authors: George Ivanoff

BOOK: Medical Mission
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Then Matt was back with bandages and a splint. They put a gauze pad over the bite, which was still bleeding, and then wrapped it up tightly. They put Josh's whole leg into a splint – two metal poles either side, with straps that immobilised the leg. Then they got the stretcher from the ambulance. It was a complicated-looking thing with wheels and bits that extended, allowing it to go up and down.

‘Can we come with him?' asked Sally, voice unsteady, indicating her and Pete.

‘That's not really possible,' said the first paramedic.

‘I am sorry,' added Matt.

‘Don't youse worry,' said Ratchet, stepping forward. ‘I'll drive ya to the hospital.'

‘Thanks.' Sally smiled at Ratchet, then looked to Josh. ‘It'll be okay.'

‘Hang in there,' said Pete, awkwardly.

‘Dad,' Josh suddenly remembered. ‘Pete, could you call him and let him know what's happened?'

‘You can use my mobile,' Ratchet said to Pete.

The paramedics carefully lifted Josh onto the stretcher they had placed flat on the ground beside him. Then they carried it over to the ambulance and slotted it into place. The paramedic who had examined him got
into the driver's seat, while Matt climbed into the back with Josh, closing the doors.

As the engine revved and the ambulance started to move, Josh could see Sally, Pete and Ratchet staring at him through the back window. Marceline was behind them, ordering the other kids around and getting them to continue with the clean-up.

‘Don't worry about Jeff,' said Matt. ‘His bedside manner's not great, but he's good at his job.'

‘Jeff?' Josh looked at Matt.

‘The other paramedic,' explained Matt. ‘He never introduces himself. He just gets straight down to business, uses a lot of technical terms, never explains anything … and always does the driving. He likes to drive.'

‘Am I going to be okay?' asked Josh. He was feeling rather overwhelmed by everything. It had all happened so quick. The pain was getting worse. And now, here he was, in an ambulance being carted off to hospital.

‘Sure you will,' said Matt reassuringly. ‘Lots of people get bitten by snakes. You just need some antivenom.'

‘Then why do you need the RFDS standing by?' he asked.

‘It's a matter of what sort of snake bit you,' explained Matt. ‘If it's an ordinary brown snake, then we have the antivenom on hand at the hospital. These snakes are fairly common around here and their venom is pretty fast-acting, so we always have it available. But if you were bitten by a
King Brown snake, then you have to go to Adelaide. King Brown bites are a lot more rare and we don't keep any antivenom for those. But don't worry, the King Brown venom is slower and we have plenty of time to get you to Adelaide.'

A wave of nausea washed over Josh and his head spun.

‘I'm not feeling so good.'

Josh was wheeled into an emergency room, where beds and stretchers with patients were separated by plastic curtains. It made him think of a giant bathroom because his grandmother had white shower curtains that looked a lot like these.

Josh expected the hospital to be really quiet.
Sick people need silence, don't they?
he thought.

But this area was full of sounds. Lots of doctors and nurses and orderlies were bustling about talking to the patients and to each other, people on wheeled stretchers were being moved about, curtains were being drawn back and forth with a swoosh, and medical machines and monitors were making pinging noises.

He wondered if it was like this for Mum and Nate.
Are there noises and movements all around them? Are they confused?
An image of Mum, lying in a hospital bed surrounded by a flurry of activity, flashed into his mind. She looked scared.

Josh's heart pounded. His breathing quickened.

He was relieved when Matt drew the curtains. He took a deep breath and tried to
banish the images and calm himself down. A doctor promptly arrived and the paramedic filled her in on what had happened, before heading off with a wave and a ‘See you round, kid.'

Introducing herself as Pam, the doctor asked Josh all the same questions the first paramedic had. He let her know that his headache was now worse, he was feeling quite dizzy and his leg was throbbing with pain.

Putting on a pair of latex gloves, Pam removed the splint, bandage and dressing to examine the wound. It had swollen up and was looking bruised. Blood oozed from the two punctures. Josh winced when she touched the area.

‘It's still bleeding because the snake venom
has an anti-coagulant in it,' she explained. ‘That, combined with your symptoms, means that envenoming has occurred.' When Josh looked at her with a quizzical expression she elaborated. ‘Envenoming simply means that the venom has actually gotten into your system, so we need to make sure to get some antivenom into you. Now, I'm told it's reasonably sure that you were bitten by a King Brown, but we need to be absolutely certain. We don't want to give you the wrong treatment. So I'm just going to get a Venom Detection Kit and conduct a little test. Okay?'

Josh nodded. A wave of nausea and dizziness overcame him and he closed his eyes for a moment. Next thing he knew, Doctor Pam was back.

‘This is going to sting a bit,' she warned. ‘Sorry.'

Using a long cotton bud, she poked at one of the punctures. Josh gasped and gritted his teeth. The doctor then put the swab into a little bottle.

‘This will take about ten minutes,' she said and disappeared again.

Josh's heart pounded as he waited, his mind going through worst-case scenarios. What if they couldn't identify the snake venom? Then what? Did they just keep pumping him full of different antivenoms, until one worked? Or would he die? A horrible, slow, painful death?

And then he realised that he was alone. What happened to his friends? Didn't Ratchet say she would bring them? Why weren't they here? His heartbeat quickened.

How long has it been?
he wondered
Shouldn't the test he finished by now?

Doctor Pam came back in. ‘Okay,' she said. ‘It's definitely Mulga venom, so we're going to have to get you to Adelaide for the black snake antivenom.'

‘Hang on,' said Josh, voice shaky. ‘So it wasn't a King Brown?'

‘Sorry,' said the Doctor. ‘Mulga is another name for a King Brown. It's also sometimes called a Pilbara Cobra.'

‘So then it needs brown snake antivenom,' insisted Josh, his voice still strained.

‘No,' explained Doctor Pam, patiently. ‘The King Brown is not actually from the brown snake family. King Brown is probably a silly name for it. It definitely needs the black snake antivenom.'

‘And where are my friends?' Josh was working himself up into a panic. ‘Why aren't they here? What's happened to them? They said they were coming.'

‘It's okay. Relax,' said Doctor Pam, placing a reassuring hand on his shoulder. ‘They're in the waiting room. I'll get you moved out of emergency, then they can come and visit you. But first I'm going to put some numbing gel onto your hand. We're going to have to attach an IV drip, so this will make sure the needle doesn't hurt. And then I'm going to put a compression bandage on your leg. That will slow the movement of the venom through your system.'

Josh took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. ‘Okay.'

An orderly wheeled Josh into a waiting area, which was little more than an alcove with a couple of chairs. The pain was making it hard for him to think straight and nausea was starting to build up.

‘I think I'm going to be sick,' said Josh.

The orderly calmly reached under the stretcher and pulled out a sick bag, holding it in place just in time. Josh vomited, his breakfast splashing into the plastic bag, with a few stray splatters hitting the floor.

When he finished, the orderly quietly cleaned it up and passed Josh a clean bag. Josh clung onto it, the sour taste of orange juice and milk mixed with stomach acid still in his mouth.

As the orderly left, Sally and Ratchet came in. His first thought was,
Where is Pete? Why isn't he with them?

‘The doctor told us the RFDS are going to take you to Adelaide,' said Sally.

Josh was about to ask for Pete when a nurse came in. She checked his blood pressure and heart rate, then attached an IV drip, inserting a needle into the vein on the back of his left hand and taping it down. She connected a plastic bag full of liquid to the drip and hung it from the metal rod attached to the top corner of the stretcher.

‘I'm giving you some painkillers and anti-nausea medication,' said the nurse. ‘It should make you feel a little better.'

Pete came running in clutching a mobile phone. The nurse glared at him and he slowed
down, handing the phone to Ratchet, who was standing uncomfortably in one corner. Her bulk made her look and feel quite awkward in the small space.

‘I've been talking to your dad,' said Pete. ‘There's no way he's going to be able to make it here before you're flown off. He said he'd ring your mum in Adelaide and that she'd be at the hospital waiting for you.'

‘Did he say anything else?' asked Josh.

‘Something about your aunt not being there anymore,' said Pete. ‘She's gone home, he thinks.'

‘Anything else?' Josh's voice rose.

‘No,' said Pete. ‘Sorry.'

Josh felt disappointed. Empty. He was hoping that his dad might have said more. That he loved him? Just something.
Or that he would at least try to get here before the RFDS took him away.

The orderly came back. ‘Okay, time to go,' he announced, taking hold of the stretcher.

‘We'll go to the airport too,' said Ratchet, emphatically. ‘We'll see you there.'

‘Thanks.' Josh smiled. He felt strangely assured by her presence and was happy that she was also coming to see him off.

And then everyone was moving – Josh and the orderly to the ambulance; Pete and Sally with Ratchet to her ute.

Josh was pleased to be met at the ambulance by Matt. Even though he didn't really know him, it was good to see a familiar face.

His mind drifted back to Mum. But this time, the images that played were calmer
and more pleasant. He realised that he'd be seeing her soon – for real – and that made him feel better. He had missed her so much that even the snakebite now seemed like an acceptable price to pay for getting to see her.

‘Can I have that?' asked Matt, indicating the sick bag.

Josh realised that he was still clutching it to his chest. He nodded and let Matt take it. His nausea had eased off, and his leg wasn't hurting as bad.

He closed his eyes as he was loaded onto the ambulance.

It seemed to Josh that a blink was all it took to get to the airport, although Matt told him the drive had taken ten minutes.

Ratchet, Sally and Pete were already there, waiting as he was taken out of the ambulance. He barely had time to say anything to them as Matt wheeled him towards the tarmac.

‘Good luck, mate,' said Pete.

‘Take care.' Sally leaned forward and gave him a little hug.

‘Don't you worry,' said Ratchet, patting his shoulder. ‘These RFDS people are the best there is. They'll look after ya.'

Josh nodded. He was too scared to say anything in case his voice betrayed how emotional he was feeling. He had a choked-up sensation in his throat and a prickling at the corners of his eyes.

As he was wheeled out onto the runway, he caught his first glimpse of the plane. Josh held his breath. It was the same plane that had come to the station that night for the birth of his brother. Well, the same type of plane, anyway. Now he was able to get a good look at it.

The sight of the plane, combined with the
medication pumping through the IV, was numbing his worry as well as his pain.

It was a small aircraft, with only one propeller. The body was white, with a red undercarriage and a curved blue stripe above that, which extended all the way to the blue tail. The wing tips were angled up – Josh thought it made the plane seem sporty.

Matt wheeled him to the open rear hatch, where a guy in a light blue shirt and pants was waiting.

‘Hey,' said the guy, with a little salute and a big smile. ‘I'm your flight nurse for today. My name's Josh. And they tell me that's your name as well. How's that for a coincidence! In all my time as a flying nurse, I've never had a patient with my name. I reckon that's pretty cool.' He pushed his
black-rimmed glasses further along his nose, then ran a hand through his spiky, bleached hair. ‘Now, let's get you loaded on board.'

Nurse Josh attached the stretcher to a mechanical arm extending from the rear hatch. The gizmo whirred into action, lifting Patient Josh up.
It's like being on a carnival ride
, he thought, and giggled at the silliness of it. He waved down at Matt.

As the mechanism pulled him into the cabin, Nurse Josh climbed the stairs through the front door. He disengaged the stretcher from the arm and secured it to the wall of the plane.

Nurse Josh checked out Patient Josh – his temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, the works. Then came more questions about headaches, nausea, vision, levels of pain.
The nausea was under control, but the pain in his leg was on the rise again, as was his headache. Nurse Josh asked him to rate the pain from one to ten, where one was a pinprick and ten was the worst pain he could imagine. Josh gave his head a three and his leg a five.

‘Get set for takeoff,' the pilot's voice sounded over the speaker.

‘Once we're up and off,' said Nurse Josh, ‘I'll adjust your pain meds to make you more comfortable.' He sat himself down in the seat opposite the stretcher and did up his belt.

The engine roared and rattled to life. The noise bounced around the cabin and everything shook. Josh watched the liquid trembling in the plastic IV bag.

The plane lurched into motion down the runway, the sound and shaking rising a few notches. The IV bag was now swinging back and forth on its hook. Nurse Josh's glasses slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up.

And then, moments later, with a stomach-churning whoosh, the plane leaped into the air. Josh gazed through the window as the buildings and treetops dropped away and the clouds drew nearer.

It wasn't long before the aircraft had reached its cruising altitude and the pilot announced that seatbelts could be undone.

‘Well, I can unbuckle mine,' quipped Nurse Josh. ‘But you're stuck where you are.' He started adjusting the IV. ‘It's going to be about a two-hour flight, so it's important
that we keep you comfortable. Please let me know if the pain increases, or if you start to feel anything different. Particular things to watch out for are any sort of muscle stiffness, numbness or pins and needles. Okay?'

Josh nodded.

‘Right,' continued the nurse. ‘When you get to Adelaide, they're going to administer antivenom. There is a slight risk of allergic reaction to the treatment. Do you have any allergies that you're aware of?'

‘No,' answered Josh, his fore head crinkling in thought. ‘But my aunt is allergic to coconut?'

Nurse Josh smiled. ‘No need to worry. The chances of an allergic reaction are less than one per cent. But it's always best to play it safe. So, I'm going to give you some antihistamine and hydrocortisone in the IV.
These medicines will help reduce the allergic reaction on the off-chance that you have one.'

Josh nodded and closed his eyes. As if getting bitten by a snake wasn't bad enough, he also had to be bitten by one his local hospital didn't have the antivenom for!
And
there was the risk of allergic reaction: Rash? Lumps? Pain? Inability to breathe? Instantaneous death? He was working himself up into a panic again.

He wished that Mum or Dad was here with him. Or one of his friends. He didn't like facing this alone. He would be a lot braver if he had someone with him … even Ratchet. He'd grown quite fond of her.

His thoughts turned to home – the cattle station in the centre of nothing. Alone. Isolated. Like him.

And then he thought of Mum. He'd be seeing her soon. And that calmed him down.

He looked through the windows on the opposite wall of the cabin. There were five of them. He watched clouds going past, following them with his eyes from one window to the next. But he was soon bored with that.

He felt a warmth spreading through his body and a fuzziness through his brain. He wondered if it was the medication in the IV.

Or maybe it's the snake venom,
he suddenly thought,
spreading through my body, slowly killing me
?

‘How are you feeling?' Nurse Josh's voice broke into his thoughts.

‘Ah … scared,' he said.

‘Understandable,' said Nurse Josh. ‘You've been through a lot. But really, you've got nothing to worry about. You're in good hands. You'll be at the hospital in less than two hours now, which is within the safety margins for treatment of a King Brown bite.'

‘Okay.' Josh's response was half-hearted.

‘The trick is to keep your mind occupied,' said Nurse Josh. ‘How about a game of I Spy?'

‘No, thanks,' he answered.
That's a little kid's game
, he thought. Out loud he said, ‘I'm a bit too sleepy.'

‘Not surprising with all the pain meds we're pumping into you,' said the nurse. ‘They should be taking effect by now. Why don't you try to have a nap? It'll make the flight go faster.'

Josh nodded and closed his eyes. He couldn't imagine falling asleep at a time like this. He was too worried – too scared. Too much was happening.

Josh woke with a start as the plane jolted.

‘What happened?' he asked blearily.

‘We've just landed,' said the nurse.

Josh was vaguely aware of a throbbing in his head, a queasiness in his stomach and pain in his leg. And he was still tired.

He yawned and tried to cover his mouth. His right arm felt funny. He couldn't move it properly. He shifted on the stretcher. His whole right side felt odd. And he couldn't move his injured leg at all.

What's happening to me?
The question thundered through his mind.
Am I dying?

Josh's mouth went dry, his heart pounded uncontrollably and his stomach tightened.

He leaned to the side and threw up all over the floor.

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