So, I was at the RRU meeting yesterday, where we talked about response times, the future of the ambulance service and the new piece of equipment us RRU people are getting.

I'm not working for the next couple of days, so I'll spread these subjects out over the next few posts.

(It'll give me something to do in between wallpapering my new place).

The RRU cars are all getting a new piece of equipment, a propaq monitoring device.

They measure blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, respiration, ECG, and end-tidal CO2.

They weigh a lot. They also come in their own shoulder-strap bag.

At the moment we can measure blood pressure, oxygen saturation, pulse, respiration and ECG. We can't measure end-tidal CO2, but it is incredibly rare that we would need to. Ambulances, as opposed to RRUs can monitor end-tidal CO2.

The equipment we are using at the moment is lightweight, and fits in one hand (or our primary response pack).

Cost per unit for the Propaq? £9,000 each. (That is a discount because we are buying in bulk)

Cost for the kit we are using now? £320 (roughly).

Number of RRUs in service? 60.

Total cost for this new equipment that we really don't need? £540,000

Yes. Over half a million pounds for a bit of kit that is heavier, more fragile, more expensive to replace and does essentially what we can do right now.

I suspect that there is someone high up in management who. much like the Blair government, thinks that throwing I.T. at things will make life better.

I think I'll stick to manual blood pressure measurement, and an oxygen monitor that is the size of a box of matches.

Oh, and some bright spark has made them cut off the carrying handle, so that it wouldn't be so heavy...