Language of Love

Chapter 12 - Resus

The beach was packed. The day had been beyond crazy. There'd not been time for a proper lunch break, a mass rescue in backpackers interrupting lunch. Abi had been called in by Beardy at one point to help with translation for a lost German child at North End. He'd heard her over the radio in the tower as he'd come back from a rescue but had had to go back out, and she'd rushed off for work by the time he'd gotten back to shore.

Yatesy was on the megaphone shouting for swimmers to move to the flags.
"Almost as bad as Christmas Day." Yatesy called down from the back to where Troy stood beside the black rhino with his eyes on the water.
"It's mental, mate." Troy called back. He clambered up the side of the rhino to get a better view.
"Is that heads out the back?"
"Yeah, mate. At least 4. Go. I'll radio in then back up."

Troy took off running and could see the heads really struggling. He hopped into the waves with his rescue board and paddled as hard as he could out to the back.

When he passed the waves he saw that it was worse than he thought. Two swimmers were nearly under and a third was beginning to struggle. Troy couldn't see a fourth head. He brought his board alongside the worst two, pulling one over the board. As the other grabbed on, Troy spotted a shadow only slightly further out. The third person was screaming and desperately pointing in the direction of the shadow. "Lucia." He cried.
Troy jumped from his board, swam to where he'd seen the shadow and dived under. The shadow was a woman slowly sinking. Grabbing the unconscious woman's arm, he dragged her, with difficulty, back to the surface. He surfaced to find Yatesy had the other 3 holding onto his board. Rolling his patient so her head was out of the water he saw her face was already blue and lifeless.
"Yatesy." He yelled as he began to tow her body to the board that Yatesy pushed in his direction. "Call a resus!"
Yatesy pumped his arm in the air three times.
"There are 2 other rescue boards on their way out here." He called. "Roll her onto your board Gonzo."

Troy's first attempt failed. His second was successful, and he immediately began to paddle her back to shore. It was a struggle to propel the board through the water and keep her from slipping off. Some nearby surfers came to help stabalise the board and paddle alongside.
Terry paddled past, powering towards Yatesy. Mouse followed close behind, slowing as he approached Troy.
"Help Yatesy." Troy shouted.
Mouse paddled on.

Troy and the surfers got the woman back to the shallows. Beardy and Hoppo were immediately there to help carry the board up. Troy and Beardy lifted the woman onto the dry sand, rolling her to try to drain water and then rolling her back to start rescue breaths. Hoppo checked for a pulse and found none. Troy began CPR whilst Beardy prepped the woman for the defib. Harries seemed to appear out of nowhere and began bagging the woman.
"Ambulance on its way." He informed them.
"Clear." Beardy shouted, and they moved back. The defib shocked her.
"No pulse. Continue CPR." It instructed.
Hoppo took over the CPR. Troy checked for a pulse and still couldn't find one.
Yatesy appeared.
"Two of the others need oxygen. Mouse and Terry are with them. I'll keep the ring as far back as possible."

Troy took over CPR again. Then Beardy called for them to stand clear. The defib shocked again and again stated. "No pulse, continue CPR."
"Shit." Said Troy as he began CPR again. At 30 Beardy took over.
"Swap with Harries." Hoppo instructed him and Troy took over bagging.
A third shock of the defib still produced no pulse. Harries took over CPR.
"Ambos are here." Yatesy called to them.

Suddenly two paramedics were on their knees beside them.
"Pulled from under the water. No pulse, 3 shocks with defib. This is the sixth set of CPR." Hoppo updated the ambos. On the next round of CPR the ambos took over. Troy kept bagging as the other lifeguards sat back on their heels.

Eventually, the ambos called it. Two of the woman's friends had already gone to the hospital. The third, who had called her name in the water, wailed in despair and huddled over the body as Troy stopped bagging and sat back heavily into the sand. The ambos began to wrap the body. At some point Police had moved the crowds further away.

Beardy had moved away and was kicking at the sand. Hoppo, Yatesy and Harries stood quietly in a group to the side. However, Troy didn't take any of this in at the time. He staggered to his feet and trudged down to the waters edge, sitting heavily in the wet sand as the water lapped at his feet and stared emptily out to sea.

After a while, a hand landed gently on his shoulder.
"Walk up to the tower with me for the debrief." Hoppo said.
Once Troy washed the tears from his face with salt water, he stood and walked back silently beside Hoppo.
"You did everything right." His boss reassured him.

The beach had pretty much emptied after the drowning. Chappo and Matt Dee were taking down the flags and packing up. Everyone else was already up in the tower. Troy climbed up the steps to the main area with his head low. Yatesy stepped forward and hugged him.
"You did good Gonz. None of us could have done any better."
Other hands patted his back or gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.

Hoppo ran through the debrief.
"Gonz? How you feeling about it all?" He said when Troy hadn't shared his thoughts.
Troy continued to stare at the floor.
"Guess I'll be wondering if I missed something, messed up somehow, for a while."
"You didn't." Terry, Yatesy, Harries and Hoppo said at the same time.
"We need to get out of our own heads for a bit. First round of drinks are on me at the Bucket List." Hoppo said.

After showering, Troy had thought about just heading home, but Chappo and Mouse were waiting for him. They each slung an arm over his shoulders and led him to the Bucket List.

Barely sipping his beer, Troy sat in one of the booths the lifeguards had claimed. Matt Dee sat quietly beside him, offering silent support without pressuring him into conversation.
"Think I need something stronger." Troy said, pushing the beer aside and getting out of the booth to head to the bar.

He ordered a whiskey, images from the rescue and resus flashing through his mind as the barman poured his drink. The bar was noisy, everyone was happy and laughing. The other lifeguards were coping by being louder and drinking more than normal. Troy just didn't want to be here. He downed the whiskey and headed for the exit.
Chappo intercepted him.
"You alright?"
"Just going to head home. Need to be alone to clear my head."
"I get it." Chappo clapped him reassuringly on the shoulder. "I'm going to finish my beer and head back myself. See you at home in a bit."

Troy nodded and headed out of the bar. His feet didn't carry him home though. They led him back down to the beach and he stood for a while near South End looking out at the dark ocean. Usually, the ocean calmed him, but tonight it just threw up more images of the drowned woman. He wandered off the beach and made his way along the promenade. Thoughts of blame and guilt were swirling through his mind.