“Shouldn't we do something about the fire?”

Can this have happened only about 40 years ago? It would be unthinkable now, for many reasons. What makes it memorable is the aspect of saving life; we all, in our disillusioned moments, make cynical jokes about saving life, but on this occasion I may actually have saved several lives all in one go. I was a second year clinical student, doing part of my obstetric attachment in January in one of the colder parts of Britain.

Late one evening, the obstetric registrar asked me if …