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…
Tag Archive: 999
Don’t point that thing at me!
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…
I’m a firestarter
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…
Cat’s Whispers
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. Language barriers, third party…
Book Review: Police, Crime and 999 by John Donoghue
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…
Achilles Heel
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’…
Interview in Ambulance Today
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! For those of you…
Educazione Stradale
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 of…
Christmas and New Year 2010
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 these it was, there has certainly been…
Photographic Memory
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 a 12-lead ECG before leaving…
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