BRAUNSTONE BLUES STREET SURGERY SAVES LIFE
A simple knock on a door from the emergency services’ Braunstone Blues team, helped to save a Braunstone woman’s life.
It was during a street surgery last year that Braunstone Blues Police Community Support Officer, Geoff Harrod, knocked on Mary’s door, which ultimately saved her life.
Braunstone Blues regularly conduct street surgeries across Braunstone, spreading their healthy, safe, and secure messages, from the three blue light services.
As part of their street surgeries, the team also encourage residents to step outside to an ambulance, which is parked in the street, so they can receive a free health check with a Braunstone Blues paramedic.
It was during Geoff’s chat with Mary on the doorstep about health, fire safety, and police security, that he was right to be concerned about Mary’s health.
PCSO Geoff Harrod, said: “I didn’t want to leave Mary on the doorstep when I knew she needed help. She told me her legs had been hurting for a while and she was noticeably in discomfort, so I persuaded her to come to the ambulance to be checked over by our paramedic.”
Paramedic Mark Ross, who conducted the health check, suspected Mary had a blood clot due to her badly swollen leg and foot, which she had been suffering with for over two weeks.
He said: “During a thorough examination of Mary, I thought she was displaying all the symptoms of a blood clot, which, left untreated, could have been life- threatening. She needed further assessment and hospital care to prevent this.”
Speaking about her ordeal, Mary said: “It was Mark who urged me to visit the hospital urgently. They discovered two blood clots in my groin, which were floating. It is obvious to me that my life was most probably saved by the check-up and advice from Mark. It is an essential service that is provided to me and others in the area.
“I am really most thankful that Geoff persuaded me to go into the ambulance and especially many thanks to Mark, for recognising the problem and his most urgent advice. My son had already tried to get me to go to the hospital but I wouldn’t go. I am so thankful the Braunstone Blues knocked on my door.”
Mark added: “We were so pleased that Mary came to see us that day. It was a pleasure to help her. It was made extra special by receiving a very kind thank you card from Mary.”
For more information on the Braunstone Blues team, and details of their next street surgeries, visit, www.braunstoneblues.org or follow the team on Facebook: @braunstoneblues, Twitter: @braunstoneblues, and Instagram: braunstoneblues.
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- To find out more about Braunstone Blues please contact Braunstone Blues on 07800 709 802 or braunstone.blues@lfrs.org
- You can follow Braunstone Blues on social media:
Facebook: @braunstoneblues
Twitter: @braunstoneblues
Instagram: braunstoneblues
About the Braunstone Blues
In May 2015 Braunstone Blues was established. This is a dedicated team consisting of a Watch Manager and a Community Safety Advisor from Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service; Police Constable, and Police Community Support Officer, from Leicestershire Police; and a Paramedic from East Midlands Ambulance Service. The team has since extended to a second Paramedic and an Occupational Therapist.
999 demand data from all three services was analysed and it was found that the small geographical area of Braunstone produced close to 4,600 999 calls every year. This was roughly a 56% EMAS, 40% Police, and 4% Fire. The population of the area was 15,700 people living in 6,000 homes. This was shown to be the highest area of demand in all of Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.
The team work with partners and residents of Braunstone to deliver a healthier, safer and more secure community by educating and directing residents to appropriate services via a home visit service and delivering appropriate campaigns, to reduce the number of emergency calls in the area.
There are four main streams of work for Braunstone Blues; Home Visits, Community Events, working with high demand users and running Life Skills sessions in the community.
Contact:
Jessica Essex
Braunstone Blues Communications Officer
07966 111 273
jessica.essex@lfrs.org
Download a PDF version here.
