Sleeping in the street?

I was walking to the station on my way to work this morning, when as I was about to cross the street at the end of my road, I noticed what at first seemed to be a drunken man sleeping on the pavement across the road. He had his head resting on a bag (which gave me the impression he was asleep), but as I got closer, I noticed a walking stick, and then I saw the card in between his fingers (he was diabetic and seemed to have collapsed)!

I used to be a regular reader of two London Ambulance blogs Random Acts of Reality and Nee Naw, and have read both good and bad stories of people reacting to strangers in distress or medical emergencies. The first thought that came to my mind was Oh No I'm going to be late for work, and that someone else will come along soon and offer help, but I decided to stop and help.

I checked and though he wasn't conscious, he was breathing. I tried waking him up, but he wouldn't bulge. I took out my trusty Sony Ericsson K750i phone and dialled 999 (our emergency service), the operator answered and asked what service I required, to which I responded Ambulance. The Ambulance dispatch asked how she could help, I gave her details of the situation, she asked if he was breathing, conscious and what position he was in (I still don't know if he put himself in the recovery and supported his head or someone else did it), then asked what his age was. Having confirmed that the patient was stable and not in any immediate danger she then took the address and asked if I would wait with the patient till the Ambulance arrived, to which I said Yes. She told me to flag down the Ambulance when I saw it, and to call back if the man's condition worsened. I hung up the phone and then waited. Two other people had since joined me while I was on the phone, but once they saw everything was under control and the Ambulance was on the way, they left.

I didn't have long to wait (less than 10 minutes) when I saw a Rapid response vehicle (these are usually cars driven by trained paramedics that can provide emergency treatment and stabilise a patient before an ambulance arrives), I flagged the driver down, and once the driver got out the first thing she did was call the man by name, apparently he collapsed almost everyday. I was told that I could be on my way, so I left.

Luckily for me, I wasn't even late for work! Photos were taken by the Sony Ericsson K750i.