ABCD... in the bank, part 2

 I needed a wide bore cannula to relieve the pneumothorax but the place was a bank not a hospital!, I had to think fast and improvise. I had a penknife in my bag. I always carried it with me just in case . I located his second intercostal  along the midclavicular  line and made  an incision there into his chest cavity. The trapped air rushed out like gas coming out of a bottle of Coca Cola that has been  shaken vigorously before being opened. It stopped as sooner as I pulled the knife out. This was expected, I needed something to keep the hole open, ideally  a chest tube with an underwater seal. A pen top could do the job too, in this dire circumstance. I grabbed a pen top from one of the numerous ‘chained pens’ in the bank. I jabbed it into the hole and the air rushed out  till his left lung expanded enough to enable him breath with minimal difficulty. The next thing was to stop the bleeding. I had no bandages for that, hence one of his comrades gave me a bandana which I secured  firmly around the injury on his arm to stem the flow of blood.The bullet had broken the humerus and he needed  splinting and an arm sling. I accomplished this using some boxes and a scarf.

The dying robber was no longer in any immediate danger, the rest had to be done in a hospital.  The  hostages in the bank were in grave danger  now since the only thing keeping the robbers from shooting us was their dying comrade who was now out of danger. They quickly got to work.

They used one of the  hand grenades to blow the bank safe open. The bank notes inside were like sand on the seashore. There was a  collection of shiny gold bars huddled in a corner of the safe. The thieves had hit the jackpot and they knew it. They proceeded to load the booty into their van.

They finished carting off the money into their van in less than ten minutes and proceeded to run for it before the police arrived at the scene, but before the last of them entered the  van, he shouted to his comrades that they came to do a ‘clean job’ and the doctor had messed it up. While doing everything I could to save their injured colleague, his mask had fallen off and his face had been  tattooed onto my memory. All I had to do was give a vivid description of him to the police and the whole group of robbers would  be behind bars in less than 48hours.The robbers were well aware of this and they were going to prevent that at all cost, they were going to shoot me in the head. I had realized  this in the midst of saving their injured colleague and I had  taken some preemptive measures of my own without anyone knowing.

Two of the robbers  quickly disembarked  from the van and ran towards me with their AK 47 guns pointed at me, they fired together. I gathered all the strength in my body and jumped over the counter landing sideways on some shattered glass and chairs I felt a sharp pain in my side, I had broken some ribs.The pain was excruciating  but the  increased amounts of adrenaline running through my veins blunted the pain and I quickly jumped to my feet .The robbers kept firing . I took cover behind the counter which was made of  a thick metal that the bullets could not penetrate. I could hear the other hostages screaming and begging the robbers to stop. I rummaged through my bag and found what I was looking for . I quickly pulled out the safety pin, held down the safety lever and lifted it  above the counter and far above my head so that my assailants will see it. The shooting came to an abrupt end.

Slowly I emerged from behind the counter. My adrenaline rush was subsiding and I was beginning to feel the pain from my fractured ribs fully. The sirens from the approaching police cars were getting louder and louder, the robbers  knew the game was up . They had two options, either to shot me and have the hand grenade go off when my grip loosened killing all of us or leave me be and run the hell out of the bank back to their van and away. They chose the latter. I quickly inserted the safety pin back into the grenade. No longer sensing any danger my brain suddenly shut down to free me from the excruciating pain.

 I woke up  in the hospital 24 hours later. The robbers had not left the crime scene in time and had been apprehended by the police before they could make away with the stolen cash.The other hostages had narrated the story of my ‘heroic escapades’ to the police and it was all over the news. The police and the media were in a hurry to interrogate me but I requested that no visitor be allowed into my ward. I was in no mood to celebrate or be celebrated, the incident had shattered my mind and I needed some time to recover.

 I had done ABCD at the wrong place and it had almost cost me my life.

E.Y.