While we deal with a lot of crap jobs on a day to day basis, but when we are really needed I think we do a bloody good job.

One of the people injured in the London bombings is getting married this weekend.

The thing that gets me is this quote.

“As well as losing both feet in the bombing, Ms Hicks lost 75 per cent of her blood and her heart stopped twice on the way to the hospital.”

That means that an ambulance crew successfully resuscitated her twice, long enough to get her to hospital and that because of that unnamed crew, she is now alive and getting married.  It’s stories like that which makes me happy to do the work that I do, that sometimes we can make a difference.

(Via: Going Underground)

Did you know that the Meteorological Office offers ‘health forecasts’?  We got a memo from them (via our office) about a predicted increase in paediatric respiratory infections.

No kidding!  For two days all I attended were patients with chest infections.

Then on Friday all but two of my thirteen calls were faints, or epileptic fits.  I’m left wondering if it is something in the weather that caused that little spike.

Oh, I also attended three schools on Friday (one epileptic and two fainters), while normally I wouldn’t see that many schools in on month.

A strange day.

I’ve checked with my sources, and the story is true.

At Poplar ambulance station there is no room to park.  The station itself is tiny, barely bigger than a portacabin.  There is a big metal fence and electric gate around it.  There is minimal parking.

So the ambulances park out on the street – if they didn’t then every emergency call would be delayed by minutes as the crews wait for the gate to open and then maneuver the ambulances out.  This would be very bad for the patients (and more importantly, extremely bad for our ORCON times).

There is nowhere else to park.

So…a couple of days ago the ambulances all got parking tickets.

Apparently there is a man who lives in one of the nearby tower blocks who keeps complaining because his daughter nearly had an accident pulling out of the turning.

So a nice man from the council (or a parking warden) came around and put tickets on the ambulances.  In his defence he did try to not ticket them by telling the crews to drive around the block…

The ambulance crews find this all very amusing.

(We are, by our driving exemptions allowed to park where we like as long as it’s not ‘dangerous’, we are guessing that this man has complained so much the council has been spurred into action).