And I'm moving house, which is the other reason I haven't posted much.

Anyway. A theme day again. Heads. And stomachs to top and tail it

Crack of dawn and we were zooming across town to a woman with abdominal pain. She had had it since about three in the morning and had been vomiting and pooing for England.

Luckily one of our ECP's followed us up and he managed to sort her out at home

That free'd us up to go to our first head job which was an RTA

Daytime stop-start traffic. A woman with baby in the back of the car. Ambulance (Ironically) in front of her. Baby cried, she turned round, traffic in front of her stopped, She didn't.

Very slow speed impact, and minimal damage to either vehicle

Problem was, she wasn't wearing a seat belt. We get there and there is a lovely star shatter pattern on the windscreen and she has a thumping headache.

She didn't have any pain in her neck so it wasn't too bad. We took her and baby in. Baby proceeded to try and eat the inside of the ambulance but hadn't quite finished the suction equipment by the time we got to hospital

Then to a couple of CVAs (strokes). They were either end of the scale as far as strokes go. The first chap was completely unresponsive and the second one had a slight tingle in his hand.

Then to a chap that had had a bike accident a few weeks ago and had been having headaches since. He was probably ok but you never know.

Then to the second stomach pain of the day. This one was a bit different. She had had this pain for seven years on and off. And today had had it since three in the morning (again). She hadn't taken any pain relief, because she "couldnt be bothered". The doctor had been called but would be an hour or so. She decided she wanted a scan so called us.

We took her in and that was about that for the day

I haven't written much since new years, I know. Basically because there hasn't been much to write about.

We spend a lot of time queing at hospital and there hasn't been anything interesting in the way of jobs

Anyway. Sunday afternoon we get a call to a road junction in the town to a man vomiting in the street. Drive we past it and there is nothing to find. We get back on to control to tell them this. Unfortunately they call the people back and we are pointed in the right direction (Which is nowhere near where we were sent. But such is life)

A man appears who has featured in this blog before. He is an IV drug user and he had OD'd outside KFC. He looked at me a bit funny when we turned up and announced that he knew me.

"This is true my friend", I thought, "I have saved your life when we last met"

He points us in the direction of an underground bin storage area where this vomiting man is.

No sign of any vomit but there is man asleep on the ground.

I wake him up and we have a little conversation about whether he wants to go to hospital. He doesn't, but he was very wobbly and having trouble staying awake. His pupils are tiny. He had obviously been taking heroin in some way although he denied it. Apparently he was just very tired.

Yeah right.

The "Good Samaritan" insisted we take him to hospital. We pointed out, for the fifty million billionth time in our careers that we can't just snatch people off the street. He got the hump and left.

Anyway, long story short, we got him on the ambulance, gave him some Narcan in the arm, to get rid of the effects of the heroin that he hadn't taken.

He came round a treat and discovered that his wallet was empty and his mobile phone had been nicked.

So, the moral is, if you want to render yourself comatose, do it somewhere secure where drug addicts can't get at you

             Conclusion.

Well, that was our new year. An interesting night although not as madly busy as we thought. Looking back I think you can lay all or most of the blame for the incidents on alchohol.

That was just the highlights. The rest was the usual mix of drunks, fights and old people falling out of bed.

Roll on next year. 

Part III

                                                A Cross Country Jaunt

Later we got sent to a car that had crashed into a wall. The bystanders said that someone was trapped inside and the car was smoking. It was about fifteen miles away though so it was going to take us a while.

Off we went. The fire brigade were going, and the police and another of our vans was going. They were a bit short of equipment which is why we were going. They were going to placate the great god Orcon.

Well, we arrived. Our colleagues were there, the fire brigade were there, the police were there but no patient or car.

He had driven off. Fortunately for the police and unfortunately for him he had left one of his number plates behind, together with most of the front of the car.

The police would be paying him a visit.

Ha Ha.  

Part II

                                                 The Battle of the High St or I fought the law and the law won

We had just dropped  the first drunk of the night off at casualty and were clearing down for another job. 

You know whats coming sometimes. The mobiliser sort of pauses on the radio before giving out the job; I think its because they read the job before deciding whether to send a particular crew to it.

They sent the job through. It was a double stabbing and two of our officers were on scene already.

Our first thoughts were that there was a potential for something serious but it didn't sound too bad.

Off we went. Arrived about three minutes later to be met with a war zone.

We pulled round the corner. Twenty or thirty police cars, Police with riot shields walking as a wall, vans, hundreds of people milling about.

And we were in the middle of it.

Bloody hell!!

We kept going. One of our officers was signalling so we went to where he was.

Stopping. I was almost pulled out of the vehicle by some hysterical woman who shouted that a) her friend was dieing and b) that she was filming us. She ran off so I never did find out any more than that

Apparently what had started as a  pub brawl had escalated into a near riot. Why? No idea.

A couple of people had been stabbed, one had run off and the other was in such an angry state that the police had arrested him. Judging by the noices coming from the police van he was in no danger of dieing any time soon

Another guy had been hit round the head a few times, He was about the most sensible person there. Sat in one of our cars he was just waiting peacefully.

We took him in. The others had gone somewhere or were in no fit state to be transported so we left.

Little did we know that a good chunk of the crowd were also making their way to hospital. We got there and they were all in the waiting room.

They had brought the fight with them, which was fun.

Casualty's waiting room was full of about thirty people fighting, police, police dogs, armed police. The receptionists, who did a sterling job, were getting the other people clear.

Our guy was on his phone, speaking to someone, trying to get them to calm down.

Calm prevailed, eventually.

Next: Part III Driving across the countryside for not very much.

Part I

                                                                              Jim

They knew him as Jim. He used to go to the pub regularly and was always friendly, good for a chat.

He thought that as it was new years eve he would go and see the new year in with his drinking buddies.

The night went well. They all sank a few. It was a good night and midnight was only a few hours away.

He needed to pee. That was ok though, he had had a few.

He was standing there, chatting about betting and......

"Collapse query cause- possible Cardiac arrest"

We were there within four minutes as we were just round the corner. Several worried looking people were in the car park waiting for us.

"I think he's dead mate"

We followed him into the pub, into the gents and there was Jim. On the floor. He was dead.

We got busy. My crewmate started with a tube down his throat. I put the defib pads on his chest. His heart wasn't beating at all so nothing to shock. We started CPR. As we were so close to the hospital we decided it would be best not to hang around so we got him out to the ambulance as quick as we could. His drinking buddies helped us with our kit. We got him on the bed and plugged him intoi the oxygen and other bits and pieces.

"What are his chances mate?" said one of them.

"Not good," I said

"Thank you for being honest," He shook my hand.

We headed for hospital. They called it soon after. Nobody knew his name.

Talking about it afterwards we both decided that it wasn't a bad way to go. He was with his mates, he had had a few drinks and it was quick. Better than a long lingering death I think. 

Oh yes. I wondered why the toilet was so urine free on the floor. Either the men were really good shots or...
 
I had knealt in it. I spent the rest of the shift smelling of wee. I don't think anyone else noticed but I did when the cab heater was on

Next: Part II - Where we come face to face with the law (and a few other people)

Intro.

Its 8am on New Years day. The drunks still roam the streets. Roaming about, trying to walk in a straight line and grunting at each other and those of us unlucky enough to be sober. Sort of like mans early ancestors, they are struggling to find their way home.