‘Emergency doctor not dispatched, as already in the vehicle. Priority level: Code 3. Understood?’
‘4-2-6, understood,’ Jaden replies, fully focused. ‘Arrival on scene in seventeen minutes.’
I just manage to fasten my seat belt before we tear out of the parking lot.
Barely twenty minutes later, the ambulance comes to a stop with screeching tires. During the entire drive Jaden was unreachable, as if in a trance that had completely taken hold of him. There is nothing left of the fatigue that still dominated him on our last call.
Right down to his fingertips he is once again that hero who seems ready for anything. I can hardly hear him breathing, but I notice how he scans the cliff with his gaze. The car can’t be seen from here. A teenage girl with long dark hair is standing like frozen next to a fire engine, chewing on her pink-painted fingernails. Tears are running down her face; she must be the passenger. The two police officers have closed off the road, five firefighters are standing together in a heated discussion.
Even before I’ve unfastened my belt, Jaden jumps out of the vehicle. I hurry to follow him.
‘First we need to get an overview,’ I suggest.
Jaden nods. ‘You talk to the emergency services, I’ll take care of the woman over there.’ He points at the passenger and sprints off.
With the emergency backpack slung over my shoulder, I walk over to the police officer. ‘What’s the situation?’
‘The car is wedged between two rock outcrops at a depth of about twelve meters, front end down, driver’s door blocked.’ He hooks his thumbs into his belt and nods toward the cliff. ‘Thepassenger managed to get out in time before the fall; she’s in shock but outwardly uninjured. The driver is still in the car – she lost consciousness while driving, which probably caused the accident. No contact.’
Possible explanations immediately race through my mind. The information that she’s unconscious is simply not enough for a tentative diagnosis, so for the time being I have to classify her situation as potentially life-threatening.
Out of the corner of my eye I see the teenage girl talking to Jaden, gesticulating in despair.
I turn to the firefighter. ‘We have to get down there, as fast as possible.’
In the background I hear the front-seat passenger sob. ‘Yes, that’s her. My God…’
‘Access to the vehicle is currently not possible. The slope is too steep, and the force of the crash has destabilized it,’ the firefighter explains to me. ‘We’re waiting for a special unit.’
‘But the woman might not have that much time.’ Unease spreads through me.
‘She’s diabetic,’ Jaden yells to me a split second later. ‘It could be a severe hypoglycemia!’
I look over at him.
He turns toward the cliff. Starts running.
He’s not actually going to…?
Yes.
He will.
‘Jaden, wait!’ I call after him, but he doesn’t hear me.
I go hot and cold at the same time.
Fortunately, a police officer holds him back. ‘Careful, the ground is unstable.’
‘There’s an unconscious woman down there in the car with a dangerously low blood sugar level,’ Jaden replies, agitated. ‘If she doesn’t get glucose immediately, she’ll die.’
That’s true. Even so, he can’t approach the patient without safety measures. My God, he could plunge into the depths! That wouldn’t help anyone.
Jaden tears himself free. His whole body is on high alert, the adrenaline rush has long since taken hold of him. I can see it in the superhero manner with which he approaches the cliff.
Alex sprints after him and reaches her hand out to him. ‘Don’t do that, the risk is too great,’ she snaps at him, upset.
‘She needs help. Right now.’ His voice is sharp, allowing no discussion.