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Fireball

by Reynolds on Wed 12 Jan 2005 02:03 AM GMT | Permanent Link | Cosmos

It would have been a good shift tonight, if only I wasn't sitting here blogging in order to stop my mind dwelling over what I saw on the drive home. As you may be aware I tend to prefer animals to people (apparently a sign of madness...). As I was nearing home I saw a young fox laying on the road, so I drove back to see if it was still alive (which it wasn't), only to see another fox watching me. Now the cynic in me thinks that the other fox wanted to eat the dead one, but I'm not so sure.

It has really upset me (daft I know), so I'm blogging to get my mind off it before I go to bed.

The shift itself was rather nice - Our first two calls were 'non-runners', we turned up and the patient decided that they didn't want to go to hospital (A two year old who had possibly drunk some white spirit he was a happy child with no signs of poisoning, and an epileptic girl who is a bit of a regular, who wanted to stay with her mum). Then we picked up a patient who was having mental health problems and drove them the 400 yards into hospital. He was pleasant enough, so this job was no real trouble.

Then we got a call to another hospital where they needed us to do a 'blue-light' transfer to another better equipped hospital. This is a fairly common job, and I started to drive us there. But, as we were getting some speed up, my crewmate and I both started to smell burning. The smell got stronger and stronger, and we got more and more worried...

I'd love to tell you how the engine burst into flames, how I wrestled the vehicle under control and how I saved both our lives...

...But I've sworn to tell the truth, so I just pulled over, had a look under the bonnet and called up Control on the radio and told them that we weren't happy to continue. We soon had a RAC man out to have a look, and finding nothing he told us to drive back to station while he followed us. So we crept slowly back to station, luckily we didn't burst into flames - but we did get to go to another call once we had changed onto a spare ambulance...

Only a short shift, and I now have two days off, followed by two days on and then it all gets turned upside down (more of which later...)

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Comments

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 02:37AM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Aww, bless you Tom. I am another who prefers animals, and no I dont think its a sign of madness at all!

Glad to hear you wernt hurt or anything. I loved listening to the radio show you did, you sounded fine!

Liz 20 weeks

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 04:10AM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Your fire story and driving reminds me of one of my stupidities. Long long ago, I had a Ford Thunderbird, and it did not like cold snowy weather, also it did not enjoy sleeping out side. It was very cranky to be sure, any way I felt sorry for the beast [or was it my pain in using a starting handle to wind it up on cold mornings in 10 deg of frost]. To cut the story short, I put a blanket under the hood the night before, and promptly forgot. Next morning it started [the beast that is] with no problems, so drove off and and about 3 miles down the road, there be flames coming out from under the hood , promply stopped the car lifted the bonnet and removed the burning blanket and dumped it into the snow, burned most of the insulation of the electrical wiring, drove on only latter did I realise what an Equus rectum be I. strange, nere a burn? Later that day. I had to insulate the wiring so the car would start, and the lighting system would function. Moral, never leave a flamable item on a v8 engine with its bonnet on.

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 12:30PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Remember biking along a country round and seeing a mated pair of ducks fly too low into the traffic, the male duck got hit and went under two cars before someone stopped. Ducks are easy to separate by gender, the male is brightly coloured and the female a plain brown.

The duck was badly shaken but alive, there was a tear of blood from its eye, and the lady in the car decided to take it to a vet, I helped her wrap the duck in a blanket and her passenger held it on her lap.

As she drove away I went back to my bike, only to see the female duck, its mated partner, sitting on the hedge watching us all ...

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 12:39PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Hey I too prefer animals to people *g* who don't but what I actually wanted to say is that I would love to listen to the radio stuff but the link doesn't work.
Does anyone else have this problem as well?

Greetings, Jay

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 12:55PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Don't know how it is organized in the UK but in our country there are special Emergency Ambulances for animals and pets I'm not kidding. I've just seen a report about it on TV yesterday where they were called to an "apathetic rabbit".. In spite of the "apathy" it still could bite quite well though:-)

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 01:22PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

Rabbits? Ambulances?

Who said they can't be mixed?

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 02:30PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

I've read that while cannibalism does happen in the animal kingdom, it is pretty rare. I would like to think that the second fox was jsut wondering what was wrong with it's buddy.....or sweetheart.

and having had an old MG burst into flames at a traffic light, let me tell you, it's no fun. and it starts like it did for you. " hey, you smell that?"

poof.

b

Re: Fireball

by U-B at 04:37PM (GMT) on Jan 12, 2005 | Permanent Link

While I was on holiday I saw some evil git light a fire-cracker and chuck it at an innocent cat. I like cats far more than people, but unfortunately, I like me far more than cats, so didn't remonstrate with the lunatic. Made no difference really as while walking past him he lit a firecracker and threw it my merry band and I.

Perhaps it's fairer to say I just don't like people...

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 01:21AM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

I love your blog - keep writing. and that guy who thinks you are a racist has never been subjected to being blackin Mississippi . .

The other fox probably could have been a mate . . . fox, like dogs, are quite loyal to their kin . . .

Re: Fireball

by CaptainHaZ at 08:35AM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

animals much nicer than people most of the time, that was very 'humane' of you. quite strange really, using that weird to describe someone who helps people, admittedley some of whom dont need the help, for a living yet it's the word that springs to mind when helping an animal in need.

also,. that ambo, was it a t-reg clapped out ldv 400 that broke down of west india dock?

Re: Fireball

by CaptainHaZ at 08:37AM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

Re: Re: Fireball

by Reynolds at 11:48AM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

Yes...

So the next question is...

Are you Control? Or did you just drive past?

Re: Re: Re: Fireball

by CaptainHaZ at 10:36PM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

a bit creeped out? you know the saying...

'just because you paranoid, it doesnt mean they aren't watching you....'

nah, i work at RAC so i can get the inside info, comes in handy sometimes

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 09:37AM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

Hi Love

Foxes don't actually leave the family group until forced (usually by vixen having another litter). If it was a fairly young fox then the other fox was probably its mother or a sibling. They will wait until it is cold and stiff and then they will leave it. Never knew you preferred animals to humans - I'll tell Jake (who has three puncture wounds less than a centimetre from his carotid artery but apart from that is just dandy).

Rag

Re: Fireball

by MarkMcL at 03:10PM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

At the weekend I went back to move a dead cat off the road. Having lost one of mine to an RTA I could not bear to think of this one getting smeared all over the road. I could not do more than chuck it over the wall into the field but at least nature can take its leisurely course rather than some Juggernaut Dunlop radials.

I am sure someone famous said words to the effect that you can judge the quality of a nation's civilisation by how well it treated its animals.

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 05:02PM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

Actually I don't know anyone who REALLY prefers animals to people *sorry* but my aunt has got a stupid ugly dog (called Charly) which she adores. She shares everything with him: her bed and even her meal so when she goes to Mc Donald's she buys two burgers: one for Charly and one for herself - really freaky in my book *g*.. Loving pets is okay but you shouldn't put them on a par with us should you;-)

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 05:05PM (GMT) on Jan 13, 2005 | Permanent Link

.. and what I forgot to say: the "fox discussion" is really cute *lol*

Re: Fireball

by Anonymous at 03:50PM (GMT) on Jan 17, 2005 | Permanent Link

I prefer people, this is why I save human lives not animal ones.

Welcome to Random Acts Of Reality, a Blog based in London, England, written by an E.M.T working for the London Ambulance Service. Also, number one search result for "Womble porn". All names have be changed to protect the guilty. This Blog was previously known as "Why I Hate Humanity" but the antipsychotic medication seems to have kicked in.
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