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It was 6 o’clock on a frosty Wellington morning and Janet was going into work early. As she raced down the outside stairs to her car, she realised the windscreen was covered in frost and she wouldn’t be able to see out of it. She needed some tap water to pour over the windscreen.

As she turned and went back up the stairs, she slipped on the frosty steps and landed on her back.

“I couldn’t get up,” explains Janet, “due to the severe pain in my ankle”.

She started calling loudly for help and her next-door neighbour came rushing over. “Seeing my injury, she told her husband to call an ambulance.”

Getting the pain under control

When the Wellington Free Ambulance paramedics arrived, “they took a look, assessed the situation and gave me some pain relief. It didn’t really work for me so another ambulance was called with a more senior paramedic who could authorise and give me more pain relief.”

Paramedics operate at different levels through an authority to practice. It’s granted at different practice levels, from emergency medical technicians through to intensive care paramedics, and defines the medicines and interventions the paramedic can administer or perform when treating patients. In Janet’s case, she needed stronger pain relief than the first responding paramedics were able to administer – which is why a paramedic with a higher authority to practice was called. This demonstrates how our frontline crews work together to get patients the right treatment at the right time.

Janet recalls that “in the ambulance with the help of the ‘breath pain relief’ [also known as the ‘green whistle’, it’s strong pain relief that you breathe in], I was still in severe pain”.

That’s when the paramedics decided to stop at the nearest Wellington Free ambulance station to get Janet further pain relief.

“I was told all would be ok and that I would see rainbow colours and could relax. However, I didn’t see any rainbow colours. I panicked but thought to myself, I didn’t see any light at the end of a tunnel so I must be ok!”

‘The ambulance crews were absolutely amazing’

The next thing Janet remembers is waking up in a hospital bed with a tight bandage on her leg to support her ankle. A few days later, she had an operation to secure the three bones she’d broken in her ankle.

Reflecting on her Wellington Free Ambulance experience, Janet says:

“The ambulance crews were absolutely amazing. Their professionalism, care, continual support and information on my condition and overall safe feeling gave me confidence, which continued throughout the months of my recovery. Thanks Wellington Free Ambulance!”

Even though Janet now lives in New Plymouth, she says she’ll “never forget the care I was given”.

Help us continue to be here for people like Janet, 24/7, free of charge by donating online.