I don’t know if I believe in karma but it certainly seemed to come in to play with my patient last week. Although he was seen fairly promptly and spoken to politely, he was an impatient and somewhat objectionable man from the moment we made contact. As he told me the story of how he...… [Continue reading]

My first patient a couple of weeks ago was worried because following a routine visit to the dentist’s surgery she had come away with rather more than she bargained for. The dentist was working on one of her molars and during the procedure the drill bit came loose and was swallowed before the dental assistant...… [Continue reading]

I think that you can often predict the type of cases that we may see during the winter if you just consider a few influencing factors. It’s not very complicated really; let me give you some classic examples to illustrate my point: The weekend mornings during the playing season – guarantees an influx of rugby...… [Continue reading]

I know that this is coming a bit late to some, but if you’re still looking for a gift for the Paramedic in your life, here’s a few ideas: Streamlight stylus pen torch – £25 – Amazon.co.uk With a metal casing, this torch eschews quality. Batteries last for ages  and because it’s metal its of...… [Continue reading]

Lysa was asked at short notice to appear on Sky News today to talk about ‘Mad Friday’ – the busiest night of the year for office Christmas parties. Ambulance Services, Police Forces and Hospitals all experienced an increase number of calls last night related to people who were inebriated. Lysa appeared on Lorna Dunkley’s show...… [Continue reading]

This website was launched on Thursday December 4th, 2008, with my initial post, Snapshots. As a Birthday celebration I asked Jon (my website guy) to pull some facts and figures out of the analytics for the website. Here’s what he came up with. Aside from the homepage, the most popular page on the site is...… [Continue reading]

It must be something in the air at this time of year. One of my recent shifts was like a groundhog day. It consisted almost entirely of patients who had either vomiting or diarrhoea or vomiting and diarrhoea. These were all otherwise healthy young people; all had a pair of legs in good working order...… [Continue reading]

It can be a bit hit and miss when you take an observer out for a shift on the ambulance. No self respecting observer arranges an observation shift with the London Ambulance Service hoping for a quite night on station drinking tea and watching Strictly Come X Factor on Ice; and of course we want...… [Continue reading]

You know what it’s like when you have a new born baby to look after. You would do anything in your power to keep them safe from harm. One new mum took things a little bit far recently when she found a wasp’s nest in the family home. A scaremongering friend panicked our new mum...… [Continue reading]