I'm going to apologise, for this post is a complete moan. Nothing positive about it in the slightest.

I'm on night-shifts at the moment and they are hitting me particularly hard. Last night I was feeling nauseous, which lasted into the next day. My eyes felt as if they had been taken out and rolled around in hot sand before being returned to their sockets. At one point I had double vision.

I was in an incredibly bad mood, something that turned into depression for the next day. For much of the night my legs were 'jumping', both annoying and painful. It also meant that when I could try and grab a moment's sleep I couldn't manage to do anything other than close my eyes.

So I'm feeling wrecked.

What then was I here for? Surely some sick person needed my aid...

Here are the calls we took, along with their need for an ambulance or A&E treatment.

* A two year old with a bump on their head after falling over. Needed neither ambulance or A&E. Was a 'blue light' response.
* A twelve year old with a cut finger. Needed A&E treatment but he and his mum could have walked 200 yards to the tube station that would drop him off outside A&E. It didn't need an ambulance.
* An emergency transfer from one maternity department to another. we got there before they were ready but the transfer otherwise went well. Needed an ambulance and hospital treatment. Was perhaps rightly a 'blue light' response.
* A young man with a sore throat and temperature for four days, had taken two of the antibiotics that his GP had given him. Needed neither ambulance or hospital treatment. Was a 'blue light' response.
* A teenager with back pain after drinking and smoking pot at a nightclub. Was a 'blue light' response, needed neither ambulance or hospital treatment.
* A woman, new to this country, with a blocked ear which meant she could hear her heartbeat. Another 999 call that apparently warranted a 'blue light' response.

Not a busy night in the grand scheme of things, but it was enough to keep us away from our station.

And I get to do it again and again and again. But first, while the glowing dayball is in the sky, I need some sleep before I start thinking about killing those who annoy me and then myself.

Go on, practice saying it, “He seemed such a quiet man, kept himself to himself...”.

This is why I need a new job.