Homeless charity in Peterborough joins forces with emergency services to save man's life
The life of a man sleeping rough in Peterborough has been saved thanks to the joint efforts of a Peterborough charity and the emergency services.
Homelessness charity Light Project Peterborough (LPP) has shared the story of how a rough sleeper was saved from near death – after a woman raised the alarm at their Garden House facility in Gravel Walk.
Recounting the incident, an LPP spokesperson said: “It was the end of Friday afternoon, and staff from LPP were already supporting a guest following another emergency. Police, ambulance services, and nurse Jess from Boroughbury Medical Centre (BMC) were onsite, working together in what was a pretty intense situation.
“Shortly afterwards, a woman rang the bell asking for help. In broken English, she explained that her partner was in a tent nearby, unable to move his legs and in need of medical assistance. A staff member recognised the woman as someone who is sleeping rough and who doesn’t engage in services and often avoids professionals altogether.
"We were already helping with the other situation and didn’t know how urgent this new situation was but recognising how significant it was that this woman had reached out, it was decided that we had to help.
"A police officer onsite offered to help, and we followed the woman's directions, along a muddy path, and through a field. It was pitch dark at this point and so we were uncertain of what we were going to find.”
Situation becomes more serious
"When we got to the tent, Jess assessed the man and quickly identified that the situation was more serious than we thought. The clinical assessment indicated he was critically unstable due to a very high temperature, low oxygen levels, increased respiration rate, an increased heart rate and was barely responsive to speak.
"We called for ambulance support and were told that it could be up to a 90-minute wait. The police officer supported us by communicating with the patient’s next of kin by using 'language line'. Whilst waiting, his condition deteriorated. He lost consciousness and the clinical assessment indicated he could have been suffering from Sepsis. A second call to 999 was made for immediate support, and a defibrillator was brought from the Garden House to the scene as a precaution.
“When the paramedics arrived, a verbal handover was completed, and they worked alongside Jess and everyone on the scene to stabilise the man. The fire and rescue service also attended to help safely extract him from the tent to the waiting ambulance. He was transported to hospital and was admitted to intensive care."
A life-changing moment
"Had this additional support and the staff’s willingness to go ‘over and above’ not happened at that exact moment, the outcome could have been fatal. However, we recognised the risk if we had not responded to the woman during the time of need. We also believed that the woman may not have engaged with support services again if we didn’t help in this moment. It is likely she only approached LPP because she had seen the emergency services onsite for something else. Nevertheless, this was a life changing moment and through the trust she gave to the staff, it meant a positive outcome of the gentleman was achieved."
The spokesperson added: “This incident is a powerful example of what strong multi-agency working can achieve and this has been built through daily engagement with our partners. In difficult, unpredictable circumstances, the right people were present, communication was clear, and agencies worked well together — resulting in a life-saving outcome. Sometimes, it really does come down to being in the right place at the right time — and having partners you can rely on when it matters most.”
Jess, BMC Nurse commented: “When I trained as a nurse, we all say, ‘we want to help people’. Throughout my nursing career there have been a handful of life changing situations that have made a real difference, and this is one of them. “If the partners were not willing to help me go over and above, this situation could have resulted very differently. Our working partnership, friendship and respect for each other have shone through and we were able to achieve a great patient outcome together. The ongoing collaborative work across the partnership has allowed us to meet the needs of the couple and he is being cared for in the correct place as part of the multi-disciplinary team.”
To support the work of Light Project Peterborough, visit their website – where you can also sign up to their A Night in the Nave sleep out campaign.