Part 3 (2/2)

The A and E department was already busy, although it wasn't quite eight. After changing into her uniform of trousers and tunic, Georgie made her way to the staffroom where the ward report would be about to start. Inside she found Lata, one of her colleagues, studying the board where all the patients were written up.

'Hi, Georgie. Good holiday?' she asked.

Lata, with coffee-coloured skin and almond-shaped eyes, was naturally reserved but she had a mischievous sense of humour and Georgie enjoyed working with her. Being a mother to Jess meant there was little time or opportunity to socialise, so the team in the A and E department were the closest thing to friends and family-other than her brother and mother, and Jess, of course-that Georgie had.

'Eventful,' Georgie said with a smile.

'The new consultant's starting today,' Lata continued. 'Dr Hughes has called a meeting at lunchtime so we can all meet him. The place is buzzing. Apparently he's here to establish a new emergency outreach service-and he's a bit of a hunk.'

Before Georgie had a chance to quiz Lata further, or to admit that she'd already met the 'hunk', the door opened and Dr Hughes, the consultant in charge, came in with Jamie and Sarah Carruthers, the two other consultants that made up the medical team. Jamie and Sarah were married and had recently returned to the hospital after a stint in Africa. They also had a young son, who, although older than Jess, was an occasional playmate of Jess's. Georgie would take Jess with her to Sarah and Jamie's home or Sarah would bring Calum over to hers, and the two women would chat while their children played.

As usual Sarah looked jaw-droppingly gorgeous. Had it been anyone else, Georgie would have hated her on sight, but Sarah was funny and self-effacing and the two women had hit it off straight away.

'Glad to see you back,' Sarah said, dropping a kiss on Georgie's cheek. 'We missed you. How's that adorable daughter of yours?'

They caught up for a few moments before taking their seats to discuss their patients. The final member of the s.h.i.+ft was Lizzie, the nurse in charge, who wasn't expected to join them until later as she was dealing with over-anxious parents reluctant to trust their child was over the worst.

'So tell us. What's the story behind the new consultant?' Lata asked when the report was finished.

'Everything will be revealed later, when the back s.h.i.+ft comes in.' Dr Hughes smiled. 'In the meantime, folks, we have patients to see.'

The morning pa.s.sed quickly. There was the usual mix of colds and sprains as well as broken limbs to deal with. Unusually for a Monday morning there was nothing too dramatic. Georgie grabbed a sandwich for lunch and was just making herself a coffee to wash it down when Lizzie called her into her office.

Lizzie was never one to waste time in idle chit-chat and came straight to the point.

'You've probably heard by now that we have a Dr Harris joining us for three months?'

Georgie nodded. 'I've already met him.'

Lizzie was surprised. 'You have?'

'There was a rescue on Ben Nevis at the weekend. I ended up attending. Dr Logan was part of it too. He flew in with the RAF search and rescue team. He's pretty good, from what I could see.'

'I heard about it,' Lizzie said 'There was a paragraph in the papers. But how come you were involved? I thought you'd given up working with the Lochinver Mountain Rescue?'

Georgie grinned sheepishly. 'Timing, I guess. Kirk got the callout and I just happened to be the only one he could rope in...'

'I expect a blow-by-blow when s.h.i.+ft's over,' Lizzie said warningly.

'Okay, but there's not much to add.' Georgie tried to sound casual. 'So what about Dr Harris?'

'He's on loan to us from the army. All the doctors working at the front line are required to take three months off to work at civilian hospitals and he's been sent to us.'

'He'll be working in the department?' Georgie asked, her heart doing that annoying pitter-patter again.

'He specialises in acute trauma care. The army's always up to date with the latest advances in treatment. In fact, that's why he's here.'

'Oh?'

'For some time now, Glasgow NHS has been in talks with other boards across Scotland about setting up a rapid response medical team.'

Georgie frowned. 'He mentioned it when we met, but don't we already have that?'

'I think the best thing is to let the man himself explain,' Lizzie said. 'There's a general meeting about it at the end of our s.h.i.+ft. But seeing as you're going to be involved more closely than most, I thought we should have a chat first.'

'I am?' Georgie squeaked. This was unexpected! Her heart catapulted inside her chest.

'Yes. He's asked for you especially. Now I understand why. You must have impressed him.' Lizzie quirked an eyebrow, waiting for Georgie to fill her in.

Georgie's heart gave another uncomfortable kick. 'He asked for me? Especially?' This was getting ridiculous. She really had to stop repeating everything Lizzie said.

Before Lizzie could answer, there was a knock on the door and Logan swept in without waiting for a reply. Her heart started banging against her ribs again. Grief, was it going to do that every time she saw him?

'Here's the man himself. I'll let him explain, shall I?'

'I think that might be easier,' Georgie replied, trying not to show how fl.u.s.tered she felt.

Logan took the chair next to hers and stretched out long legs in front of him.

'How far have you got?' he asked Lizzie.

'Not far at all, I'm afraid. I think it's best if you explain.'

'Okay.' He leaned forward in his chair, elbows resting on his knees, his eyes locking onto hers. 'This is the way it works. We're planning to set up a team from here that will mainly, but not solely, be involved in medical emergency retrievals-or MERT, as we call it.'

'Don't we already have one of those? I mean, with the Scottish Ambulance Service?' Georgie asked.

'Up to a point. As you know, the Glasgow City Hospital will soon be the largest in the northern hemisphere, with a tertiary centre for most specialities.'

Georgie nodded. Work had started a couple of years ago to transfer paediatric services from its current stand-alone site, and the Glasgow City Hospital currently took spinal injuries from across Scotland. Add its world-cla.s.s neurology wards and bring the burns and spinal units into the equation and it was easy to understand why the hospital was in the throes of a ma.s.sive expansion.

'It also currently has a substantial helipad-big enough for large helicopters to land and take off, as well as being ten minutes away from Glasgow airport. It's got great advantages.'

Georgie nodded again. 'I know that the Scottish air ambulance has to land at Glasgow airport and the casualties are transferred the last few miles to us by road.'

'With the exception of having to land a few miles away from the hospital, the air ambulance can only pick up casualties where there are runways,' Lizzie interrupted. 'And that leaves the majority of Scotland's rural areas out on a limb. With the exception of the Highlands and Islands, which have their own rescue service.'

'So we use one of the other rescue services that have a helicopter for those circ.u.mstances. The navy, the RAF, the coastguard-'

Logan interrupted. 'True. Unfortunately, at the moment the air ambulance and the other rescue services currently only carry paramedics. While they can manage most emergencies very effectively, there's still a small group of people who'd survive serious injury if...' Logan stressed '...the helicopter was manned with a doctor and a nurse who could carry out advanced life-support procedures at the scene. Just like we currently do in the army behind the front line. We think of it as bringing the ER to the patient.'

Although it was good that the service was going to be improved, Georgie still didn't see what all this had to do with her.

Logan continued, 'London has developed a rapid medical response team, which has been running for a few years now, and as Lizzie said, the Outer Hebrides has another system, which uses doctors to go to patients who are too far from hospitals to get there quickly. But we're going to do something slightly different here. We plan to form a small team with a doctor and a nurse or paramedic who's trained to work to strict protocols. Unlike the current system in London, or the one in the islands, the team will only attend those emergencies where advanced life support will make the difference between life and death. We call it ”grab and go” or ”stay and play” in the army. We either pick up the victim and start life support immediately in the helicopter-grab and go-or if that's not possible, the doctor and paramedic do the same thing on the ground-stay and play-until the casualty is stable enough to be airlifted.' He grinned. 'I know the terminology sounds a bit frivolous, but I can a.s.sure there is nothing casual about the army service. Besides, it describes what we do excellently.' He stretched, locking his hands behind his neck.

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