Come fly with me

It’s summer - which for thousands of us means jetting off to sandy beaches for some guaranteed sunshine and quality time with the family.

With 54 million passengers passing through Manchester Airport last year, statistically, some are unfortunately going to need some emergency help and this is where our airport team comes in.

Based at the airport itself, the team is made up of five staff, plus six bank staff, and responds to incidents within the airport boundaries, which could mean attending to a patient in a coffee shop at the terminal or waiting to meet an incoming plane with a patient on board.

To experience a typical day, we spent a shift with paramedics Adam Williams and Andy Tompkins.

The team has an office where they can restock their medical bags, charge defibrillators and enjoy a well-deserved brew and it’s from here that they receive their first call of the day. Incidents are relayed to them via mobile phones but are still logged on the trust’s main system. This first job is for a passenger arriving from Canada who has taken unwell on the flight.

Adam makes sure he has all he needs and we drive around the site on blue lights, passing through a security gate to get ‘air side’. The response car parks on the tarmac underneath the bridge which will connect to the plane once it arrives, and it is inside there that we wait.

Adam explains later that whenever a patient is met off a plane, a member of the border control team attends to check passports.

The patient, who has coeliac disease, has had a reaction to something he ate and so is suffering from stomach pain and vomiting. Adam checks his blood pressure, temperature and heart and reassures him that unfortunately, it is something that just needs to get through his system and he will feel better in a few hours.

He explains afterwards: “Falling ill thousands of feet in the air can be really frightening for people and in most cases, it is reassurance that they want and just a check to make sure it isn’t anything serious.”

The next case is a toddler who, while on a flight from Morocco, has developed a high temperature and a mottled rash all over his body. Mum is understandably worried and so the airline staff requested medical assistance to wait for their arrival.

Once off the plane, the little boy is very upset and clingy and clearly unwell. His temperature is high and the rash is getting worse so while his dad and older brother make their way through to passport control, mum waits with Adam for an ambulance.

Later in the day, after tending to an airline worker who has fainted on the tarmac and a car passenger who has an epileptic seizure in a car park, we attend to 85 year old Rose from Sheffield. After arriving back from a girl’s weekend with her daughter and granddaughter, Rose takes a tumble in the arrivals area of the airport hurting her knees and ankles.

Despite being in some discomfort, she manages to tell us all about her adventures in Majorca and reassures us that there were no holiday romances!

With lots of chuckles and smiles, Adam checks her over, gives her a helping hand to walk a few paces and explains to the family that some painkillers should do the trick and that she might be a bit sore and bruised in the next couple of days. Relieved it is nothing more serious, the family express their gratitude for his time and start their journey home.

There is never more than two NWAS paramedics on duty at the airport. The team is available 24/7 and in between attending to patients, they check the 40+ defibrillators on site to check they are all in working order.

The tarmac actually has a road system that Adam and Andy skillfully negotiate, stopping to allow planes to pass and to pick up any stray items or ‘fod’ as they are known by airport workers. Adam explained that everyone based at the airport has a responsibility to pick up any rubbish or other items off the tarmac if they see them, as there is the risk of them being sucked up into the aircraft’s engine.

Both Adam and Andy tell me how much they love their work and the people they meet. They say the worst part of their job is when they tell an excited holiday maker that they are too ill to fly but rather that then they take seriously ill whilst in the air!

So, if you are heading on your hols this summer and you see one of our team in green at the airport, give them a wave and a hello – they’ll always be happy to see you and will be there if you need them. However, we sincerely hope you don’t. Happy holidays!