Two sides to the coin (The good and bad of being a Revenue Officer) Part 1

It’s been a bit strange on the rails this week.  I have once again seen the good and bad side of people in the course of doing my job and I can still say I love every minute.

Friday Night

Friday night was pretty much a run of the mill shift on the barriers with one noteable difference, I helped to save someones life.

Coming to the end of my shift I had just finished checking my penultimate train when a passenger came running up to me informing me that a passenger had collapsed at the top of  the platform entrance ramp.  Cue slightly overweight (dashing, handsome, oozing sex appeal) revenue officer running up the ramp towards the apparently collapsed person.

Arriving on scene I was relieved to find the passenger had managed to return to a vertical position but was obviously in a lot of pain.  First thing I noticed was the distinct smell of alcohol (VERY strong) rising from the patient and the near incoherent attempts at conversation.  Talking to the passenger I managed to determine that she had recently broken a rib and had fallen on the site of the previous injury.  Calling upon the excellent first aid skills of one of our Network Rail colleagues, between us we managed to get the lady into the First Aid room and my colleague examined the injury site.

From the examination, it was clear that the rib had indeed re-fractured but this was only the start of the problems.  Firstly the patients boyfriend (also three sheets to the wind) was making an ass of himself insisting that they both catch their train home and he will take her to the Doctor when they get there.  Secondly, with further talking to the lady patient, we managed to find out that she had been prescribed Morpheine & Tramadol (two high strength painkillers) for her fractured rib.  Thirdly, the lady informed us that she had an alcohol problem and had been prescribed Temazepam, oh, and she is also an Asthmatic.

Cue frantic radio calls to Network Control for urgent ambulance assistance, all the time with the boyfriend insisting he should take her home.  Luckily we didn’t have long to wait before a Rapid Response Paramedic arrived and agreed with our diagnosis that the combination of medication and half a bottle of vodka was not a very good idea.

A further 5 minutes passed before the ambulance crew arrived and we wheeled the lady out to the vehicle and the paramedics settled her in for the short run to hospital.  Time for a quick cigarette before going back to finish my duties on the barriers, only for me to see a very worried ambulance driver running from his cab to the rear of the ambulance, our passenger had chosen that moment to lose conciousness.

A slow run to hospital turned into a full blue light run and to be honest I just went back to work hoping the lady would be ok.  After finishing my shift I decided to telephone the hospital on my way home to enquire about her health.  A lovely nurse informed me that she had regained conciousness and had been on the rough end of a stomach pump but she was very much alive and improving.

In all this, I bet you’re wondering where I helped save her life?  Think about this, what would have happened if I had caved in to her boyfriend’s demands to let him take her home?  What would have happened if I had just written her off as another Friday night drunk? Simple answer, unless she was VERY lucky, she would have died on a train, in the middle of nowhere, with help too far away.

This job can be rewarding sometimes.  I’m afraid you will have to wait for the other part of this post as it’s late, I’ve had a long shift today and I need some sleep.