Recently, after a bit of a break away, I had a couple of shifts working in A&E. I really enjoy working in that environment, not least for the interest factor. Some shifts in particular I find that I can entertain myself for hours trying to figure out the real story behind the euphemisms I’m re… [more]

  After discovering his very kind review of my book in the Nursing Standard I felt duty bound to purchase and read Dr Nick Edward’s book in return. I don’t normally read books of the medical genre because: a) I live and breathe medical type issues for the day job and I usually prefe… [more]

Working on the car recently, I was called to a large gated residence situated on a private road. A retired professional couple lived there; Mr Middleton, (not his real name) called because he was concerned that his wife, who’d been having antibiotics for a chest infection for a couple of weeks, se… [more]

This chap came in to an Urgent Care Centre where I was working with a young lady and a toddler in a buggy who looked about two years old. After our polite introductions he said to me; “I’d like you to document all my injuries; I’ve been a victim of police brutality and I’m covered...… [more]

After years of being in the role of care provider, suddenly a couple of weeks ago, late at night, an unbearable pain in my tummy meant my husband had to pop me to our local A&E department, the hospital where I trained as nurse and have worked intermittently in various guises since. Now I was...… [more]

I saw a lovely patient this week, he was a very shy young man who didn’t speak much English but sadly he had just been mugged. There were three of them and only one of him – so violence really wasn’t necessary, but still they punched him in the face a number of times as...… [more]

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...… [more]

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 denta… [more]

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 in… [more]

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 … [more]

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 ineb… [more]

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 … [more]

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… [more]

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...… [more]

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...… [more]

Tom was brought in by a friend who wore a distinctly sheepish expression as he manoeuvred the wheel chair along the corridor. The patient had a particularly swollen and painful right foot; even I didn’t need an x-ray to tell me that something was amiss. “This chap ran over my foot” he said by … [more]

I was telling my friends and family about a call I went to recently. It involved a toddler hit by a car with possible life changing or life threatening injuries. My colleagues and I were busy – we had a child screaming with a head injury and the pain of numerous broken bones needing our...… [more]

I saw a 25 year old man recently in an Urgent Care Centre where I work; he was in an awful state with an infected wound to his hand. Just over two weeks earlier he had a nasty accident which involved white spirit and a lit cigarette. He sustained terrible, full thickness burns to his...… [more]

One of the toughest tasks that I’ve ever had to do at work didn’t involve any blood or trauma, but it left me choking back the tears just the same. We had been called to a young mother found by her husband when he arrived home after work, as he entered the living room he...… [more]

Things aren’t always what they seem at first. When people are describing what has happened to them when they call 999 for help, it can be open to interpretation and even a small breakdown in communication can mean we find something completely different to what we were expecting when we arrive. Lan… [more]

When it comes to dislocation of the shoulder, rapid treatment is best to eliminate the stretch and compression of nerves and muscles in the area; it also reduces the muscle spasm which can make getting the shoulder back in to the correct position more of a challenge if left for greater lengths of ti… [more]

Some people just seem to have the worst luck. I was given a call to a road traffic collision (RTC) and the control room asked me to provide a report for HEMS. The initial calls to 999 must have made it sound very serious if they were considering sending the helicopter out. As I pulled...… [more]

I’d put my name down to work at the Notting Hill Carnival a few weeks ago, well before the London riots hit the news. I usually enjoy working at these big events (you may know that I have also worked at the London Triathlon, the London Marathon and in the centre of town on New...… [more]

I had to feel sorry for one of my patients last week. She’d been sent in to the Urgent Care Centre (UCC) for an x-ray to her right leg by her GP. Sadly at the beginning of the year, she had lost a close relative under tragic circumstances and was still feeling very low in...… [more]

I was back in Italy last week with my friends Carol & Jaqui, and on our first night there we were enchanted as we watched a spectacular performance of Verdi’s ‘La Traviata’ in Verona’s majestic 2,000 year old Roman amphitheatre. Under the inky blue night sky, only the occasional breeze g… [more]

Occasionally through my work I have witnessed things that have been beyond my comprehension. Some cruel acts have been so premeditated or extreme in their nature that they still distress me to think about them now; senseless murders, shaken babies and domestic violence for example. In other situatio… [more]

Once again I got roped in to taking part in a local Junior Citizens Scheme. Well if I’m honest I actually offered as it’s a lot easier than a tough day on the road as far as I’m concerned and I really enjoyed last time. There is also an abundance of cake and biscuits available...… [more]

Coincidentally, and just in time for my birthday (It was my 21st birthday, just in case you were wondering but were too polite to ask) my very own signed copy of ‘Police, Crime and 999’ by John Donoghue arrived in the post this week. This is the sort of thing that happens in my life...… [more]

‘Continuous Fitting’ This type of call always comes up as a high priority, and a paramedic will always be sent in case the patient needs a medication called Diazepam to help stop the fits. But things aren’t always what they seem at first glance… I arrived ahead of the ambulance and found… [more]

I was working in a very busy Urgent Care Centre in the ‘triage’ room. I’d been there for four hours and the flow of patients never stopped. One chap with not much more wrong with him than a dose of ‘man flu’ left the room to sit and wait to see the doctor and asked...… [more]

We’ve had some gorgeous spring weather lately and one particularly sunny late afternoon I was called to someone reported as being ‘unconscious’ by passers-by. When I arrived there was a small crowd gathered around a man who was lying flat out on the pavement of a very busy road. Well as you kn… [more]

A word of warning to those of us of a certain age who are considering a return to sporting activities after a few years break. You may still believe that you are able to run around the squash court or football pitch with the vigour of a teenager but you may have an ‘Achilles heel’...… [more]

I was recently interviewed for Ambulance Today magazine – here is a direct link to the online PDF version of the magazine. I was interviewed by the editor, Declan Heneghan, about my career – starting from my job in the circus, which regular readers of this website will know all about! Fo… [more]

On a stunning early spring day recently, I was called by the police to a quiet street where a young man had been injured. The details were given as ’19 year old male, hurt himself on a fence.’ I was only a couple of minutes away in my car so I got there quickly and...… [more]

Deciding to challenge my Italian language skills beyond their limits and seeing the opportunity for a little jaunt to my favourite country in with the deal, I signed up to attend a presentation on safety on the road in Italy. Those who have passed a holiday in a city in Italy will recall the chaos … [more]

I thought I would give you a brief summary of some of the patients that we saw today at the hospital. The man who had had a lump on his arm for 3 years and then came in by ambulance (yes folks you did read that correctly – by ambulance!). He made us giggle as...… [more]

I had a young student paramedic out observing with me this week. With her ‘gateway’ exam coming up soon Jane wanted to spend the day with an ECP to observe physical assessment techniques. Our first patient was a young man who had fallen almost 3 metres while working on a construction site. It wa… [more]

Early help ‘key to tackling mental health problems’ Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-12338540 Reading this article reminded me of a young man I saw recently. Both his parents had died: his father a few months ago and his mother, tragically, on Christmas Day. In the eyes of the wo… [more]

I had a something of a busman’s holiday recently. I went back to Verona for a few days to visit some of my friends Massimilliano and Alfonso who work for the emergency services there (See my previous posts on visiting an Italian ambulance service: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3). Last time I went to...… [more]

I worked all over Christmas and New Year and it has been extremely busy. I guess it’s the usual mixture of alcohol, seasonal flu, adverse weather conditions and the perceived unavailability of GP services during the holidays, all culminating in the previously unseen number of calls. Whichever of t… [more]

Well is it just me or did that seem to have come around very quickly?  It’s Christmas time again already. Like many of my colleagues, I have pulled the short straw and will be working during the festivities. It will probably be extremely busy too if the last few weeks are anything to go by....… [more]

I worked on an ambulance a couple of weeks ago. We arrived at the house to find an elderly woman called Mary, experiencing abdominal pains. We introduced ourselves and discovered that she had quite a complicated medical history. We examined her and performed all her physical observations as well as … [more]

Bearing in mind that the emergency services were stretched to capacity during the snowy period due to the high call rate coupled with the fact that many staff were unable to get in to work, you would imagine that people would exercise a degree of caution and put some thought into calling 999. Howeve… [more]

Like many of my colleagues this week I had to forsake the car and walk in to work. Having finally made it in I was crewed up on an ambulance with a guy who had also tackled the journey on foot. Our first patient was a ninety year old female with a head injury. We...… [more]

Sometimes simple detective skills and a well practised ability to not appear patronising are all that is required of a health care practitioner when confronted by patients in an urgent care centre. Take the young man that I saw last week: “I broke my foot three months ago and it still hurts.” Wh… [more]

I was working on a car with my colleague Richard when we were called to a RTC (Road Traffic Collision). It was the rush hour, already dark and it had just started to rain. The traffic was dreadful as we neared the scene and even though the drivers were trying their best to move their...… [more]

No post from me this week as i’m a bit under the weather, so i’m going to direct you towards the facebook group for your weekly fix of paramedic stories. The group is aimed at people thinking of a career as a Paramedic and is therefore practically titled ‘So you want to be a Parame… [more]

I have been visiting a young offenders institute regularly to deliver sessions on the effects of weapon crime as part of a Gang, Guns & Knives programme for young people. The 4 day course tackles gun and knife crime and looks at ways of helping the young people lead different lives when released… [more]

This month I had the pleasure of taking part in the Croydon Junior Citizens Scheme. This is a multi-agency project involves the London Fire Brigade, Police, Transport for London and the London Ambulance Service amongst others. The children are taken through a range of practical scenarios that highli… [more]

I was nearly at the end of my shift travelling in steady traffic through South London. The evenings had already started drawing in and it was dark, but still warm, so I had my windows open. Suddenly a woman wearing a dressing gown and slippers ran out into the road into the path of my...… [more]

Well I had an unexpected bit of drama while on my holiday in Sicily. I had been enjoying a spot of sunbathing on a small beach by a jetty when the weather suddenly changed for the worse; apparently this is not an uncommon occurrence on the island. The sunny blue sky was rapidly filling with...… [more]

My last shift before my holiday was comprised of a diverse bunch of calls and here are some of them; Firstly there was the 45 yr old lady found dead on her kitchen floor. Not seen for days; found by a neighbour who held a key. The police were on scene too and we suspect...… [more]

It was given as “police on scene, male stabbing; no further details”. The call came in on a beautiful, warm summer evening but no sooner had I started to drive there when the heavens opened. The wipers were in overdrive trying to keep my screen clear for the high speed, blue-light journey. I put… [more]

From BBC News: Bipolar disorder ‘not to blame for violent behaviour’ People with a severe mental illness are no more likely to be violent than anyone else – unless they abuse drugs or alcohol, a study has suggested. [source] I read this article with interest because it reminded me … [more]

Luckily I was just around the corner when I got called to this one. Traffic police were driving by on their way to curry night at the local police station. They saw a young man on the ground just inside the grounds of a park. They pulled up to investigate and saw that he was...… [more]

This is part 2 of a 2 part article. If you missed it, read part 1. The next morning I met another anaesthetist who was willing to let me assist her, this time with cannulation.  I wasn’t expecting this to go very well as I don’t really like needles, especially when I have to have...… [more]

Despite finishing my university time for year 2 back in June, it wasn’t time to kick back and relax for the summer holiday until last week.  On successful completion of all the academic components of the second year, each of us had to complete a fortnight’s placement in a hospital operating the… [more]

Anyone who has worked for the ambulance service for even the shortest period of time will have experienced the following situation. Someone with a serious medical condition unexpectedly deteriorates and a panicked family call 999 to summon ambulance staff to resuscitate their loved one. Recently I h… [more]

From The Press Association: A £224 million government database holding the records of all 11 million children in England has been scrapped.  [source] What a wasted opportunity to assist professionals to protect vulnerable children and young people. So much developmental work had already been under… [more]

Like many of my colleagues who work in a range of health care roles, I have got used to and don’t usually mind, being asked for medical advice by family, friends or occasionally even relative strangers when off duty. We get used to the unexpected knocks on the front door or approaches at social ev… [more]

On my way to work one day I approached a busy junction. I could see that the lights weren’t working so I stopped and pulled on the handbrake. I noticed with horror that a motorcyclist and car approaching the junction from different roads were on a course for collision. As the vehicles impacted, su… [more]

[This article was written by Jon Yates from Hero Consulting. Follow him on twitter.] I must say i’m partial to kitsch items that are somehow related to anatomy or medicine. I’m not afraid to admit it. I thought i’d share a few i’ve seen that have caught my eye (and some that … [more]

It was the last shift before I was due to go on my holidays. It was also a very hot and sunny day. The last thing that I wanted was any jobs that were going to give me any stress or cause me to break in to a sweat. I was simply intent on winding...… [more]

Charlotte and I were on the car recently and we had a call to go to an elderly lady believed collapsed behind locked doors. She had had a blood test a few days earlier and the pathologist (a doctor who specialises in the scientific study of the nature of disease and its causes and processes)...… [more]

This poor lady had a nasty surprise when a telephone call interrupted her knitting. She had tucked the needles down the side of the arm chair and as she sat back down to chat, she impaled herself on one of the needles. It had gone approximately six centimetres in to her arm and she was...… [more]

A few of us from work went to Indigo2 at The O2 recently to see a wonderfully smutty musical performance by Adam Kay and Suman Biswas – better known as The Amateur Transplants. Adam plays the piano while they both sing along to the tunes of a variety of popular songs. The difference is that...… [more]

Early in my shift I was sent to a young man who was complaining of feeling faint. When I arrived at the grotty estate I took a glance at the seedy block of flats with its boarded-up windows and was rather wary about going in. I called up our control room and asked if they...… [more]

In response to requests from their commissioners, London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) has decided that they will no longer employ Emergency Care Practitioners (ECPs) as part of their workforce. Existing ECPs will be transitioned into suitable alternative employment, with the hope that they will… [more]

In the evening of one of the beautiful warm days that we have had lately (which also happened to be my birthday!) I had an observer called Jenny out in the car with me. We were called to a ‘collapse behind locked doors’. This is quite a common call for us. Sometimes a concerned relative...… [more]

One day recently I was working a shift in an Urgent Care Centre. As I called in my next patient, up stepped a very pale young man, his injured finger was supported in a high arm sling. As we moved towards the consulting room he began telling me about his accident at work and how...… [more]

I created a facebook group – So you want to be a Paramedic? You can visit it by clicking on the image above or on the facebook logo in the top right hand corner of the site. In this post I talk about why I created it. After I wrote my book ‘999: True Stories...… [more]

It seemed to come around very quickly – that time of year when London hosts the Marathon.  A few quick stats: 36,000+ Runners 6685 Casualties treated (6515 runners; 170 spectators) – 47 requiring hospitalisation 1400 Medical, Nursing, Ambulance and St John Ambulance staff and volunteers… [more]

Charlotte has been coming out observing with me since she first started studying as a paramedic. In order to assist her make the most of any learning opportunities I decided to undertake the Practice Placement Educator course. This means that now when Charlotte is out with me we can get some of her … [more]

I had a strange one a few shifts ago. I was called to a house along with the HART (Hazardous Area Response Team) team to a young man who believed he had been the victim of a chemical incident. He had received a package that was ordered from a mail order company by post which...… [more]

Any ideas why people don’t take painkillers when they are in pain? It drives me absolutely crazy how someone can think something is serious enough to call an ambulance or visit an Accident and Emergency department without doing the slightest thing to help the situation for themselves first. Obviou… [more]

Someone had a really lucky escape when they walked away unscathed from this wreck! Incidentally, on my way to this call I was surprised to see Spiderman running along the pavement, closely followed by four Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles and three grown men in tu-tus; at this point I remembered that the… [more]

I have to stifle a snigger sometimes when I am trying to obtain a history from some patients. On occasion the things they come out with are comic genius; you couldn’t make them up if you wanted to. Here is a small selection of recent examples. Some of these serve as lessons of what not...… [more]

Cast your mind back a little… do you remember what you learned in physics in school about kinetic energy? This referred to energy forces from “things in motion” and “impact”? We learned that the weight of an object and its speed have a direct impact on the outcome. Real… [more]

We were called to an office for a man of about thirty years old. We arrived to find him lying on the floor amongst a maze of desks and chairs. Concerned colleagues were on hand to inform us that he was normally a fit and well man, but that day he had been feeling very...… [more]

It was a cold and dark evening when the call came in – ‘RTC car vs pedestrian’; luckily I was only a minute away and arrived while the caller was still on the telephone giving details to the ambulance service. At first glance, there was the usual array of bystanders milling about the scene; Th… [more]

The front garden is littered with rubbish; the gate hangs impotently ajar on one hinge. The concrete path is split and the gaping holes have been filled with opportunist rampant weeds. The broken front door has been ‘kicked in’ one too many times, evidenced by the clumsy attempts to repair it wi… [more]

The funny thing about our job is you can be having a really ordinary day when suddenly it all changes in an instant. One rainy afternoon recently I was given a call to a ‘Road Traffic collision, car versus tree’ – no more detail than that. As I started to drive the mile or so...… [more]

Part 3 of a mini-series I am currently posting about some calls I have been to where people have either behaved inappropriately or seemingly called the ambulance service inappropriately.  I fully acknowledge that sometimes people react out of panic, and sometimes people do things because they are s… [more]

Part 2 of a mini-series I am currently posting about some calls I have been to where people have either behaved inappropriately or seemingly called the ambulance service inappropriately.  I fully acknowledge that sometimes people react out of panic, and sometimes people do things because they are s… [more]

A bit of a change Over the next few of weeks I will be posting about some calls I have been to where people have either behaved inappropriately or seemingly called the ambulance service inappropriately.  I fully acknowledge that sometimes people react out of panic, and sometimes people do things be… [more]

[Note: This is a guest post by Charlotte. If you missed it, make sure you read Part 1] Probably most peoples’ favourite modules and those that readers will be most interested in are the practical ones included in our first year timetable. The first of these is the skills module which includes the … [more]

[Note: This is a guest post by Charlotte. Stay tuned for more articles on Student Paramedic life in the future!] I’m currently in the second year of the honours degree in Paramedic Science at Hertfordshire University. This course is 4 years long as opposed to the foundation degree which is only 3 … [more]

With memories of the freezing cold that I had endured last New Year’s Eve still prominent in my mind, I wore four layers of clothing in preparation for the evening ahead. We sat in on the briefing with a hundred or so other staff from the LAS and St John’s Ambulance which was followed by...… [more]

It’s that time of year again and I am looking forward to seeing in the New Year while working the night with my London Ambulance Service and St John Ambulance colleagues in a treatment centre in the centre of London. There are a few things that I can reliably predict for the evening. It will...… [more]

Apologies to those of you who visited the site on Friday only to find no weekly update. You may have heard of the escalating amount of 999 calls we have received during the snowy period, and it really has been quite exhausting! I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. For those...… [more]

Ever seen the Thunderbirds trees that lean over to the side and then move back?  How about Batman’s bush that collapses to allow him to join the road from the batcave which then pops back up to hide the path? When we receive a call for a road traffic collision (RTC) it isn’t usually too...… [more]

I have been looking back over some old posts and find it hard to believe that it has already been a year since the birth of my website. It hasn’t always been easy making the time to write the posts, but somehow I always seem to get there just in the nick of time. I...… [more]