Carmelo Alongi

I've Moved.

2006-11-23T15:45:00.000Z

http://carmeloalongi.wordpress.com

If you do want to carry on reading my (mis) adventures, please have a click on the above link to my new blog. Thanks.

A Day On the FRU.

2006-11-17T08:43:00.000Z

So. During the week, the Xfileman (of The Paramedic's Diary fame) was kind enough to take me out for an observational shift on his FRU.

First call was to a ?abdo pain in a tube station. The traffic was a nightmare, crews were radioing in delays left right and centre as the volume of traffic was just immense. While we were on route we were stood down from the call, but soon enough the MDT started ringing again, and off we zoomed again to an elderly lady who had a ?fall. We both scratched our heads a little as when we turned up there was already an FRU on scene, equally the Tech who was with the lady seemed just as confused as to why we were there and not an ambulance. Needless to say we didn't stay there too long.

The next call was a bit disturbing (as it was the first domestic abuse call I've seen) was to a police station. I won't go into too much detail about it for privacy/criminal reasons, but suffice to say hitting a woman is the pretty damn low, however then proceeding to kick and punch her further is even lower. Men (and women) who do it should be strung up. Full stop.

Next a 15 month old boy with ?heart problems. When I saw that flash on the screen my heart rate immediately skyrocketed.
Kid. Ah. F**k.
Everything calmed down a bit once we went in the flat and he was crying, so at least he was breathing. We drove behind the crew to A&E, just in case anything happened on the way, which it didn't. Thankfully.

Then a stint on standby in Trafalgar square, which was nice, if a little odd due to the giant wooly mammoth model in the middle.

We were there for 10 minutes, if that, before we got a call to guy with back pain in a coach station. We arrived and found the guy sprawled on the stairs of the office, as apparently that was the most comfortable position. Xfile tried to get the guy to move to an upright position by himself, but the guy struggled and gave up. After some Entonox he was sitting, but that was all he could do. Xfile decided to pop a line in and give the guy some morphine so he could stand, by which time the ambulance had turned up. It was nice to see a fellow Uni bod crewing the bus, he was looking a bit nervous. I think I would too. He was only a year older than me. The only thought that was in my head was "Hell, that'll be me in a year if I do things right". The idea scares the whatsits out of me.

Off we went again to a girl hyperventilating in a large department store's nail bar. Bless her, the only cure she needed was some relaxed talking to in the back of the car and chocolate. Xfile stood down the crew who were also on the call once we were there, but it was too late, as they had just pulled around the corner before receiving it on the MDT. I felt bad for them, but I'm guessing that's just the way things work.

Then, my first drunk. Sprawled outside some steps around the back of a pub, the barman was apologetic about the call, but he was worried as the gentleman hadn't moved for quite a bit. We woke him up, he was very confused:

"What the f**k am I doing here?!"

However, as we got to know this gentleman he became the most self-aware drunk I had ever met:

"Why are you doing thish?! There are people lying about in za street bumped an' bruised, go and help them! I brought thish upon myshelf, look I have money! (proceeds to pull several notes out of his pocket) I can get myshelf home! Lishten, jus go! Heck I'll pay you!"

As we carried on talking to him, Xfile became increasingly concerned about the fact that the gentleman didn't have a clue how he had got there. I must admit I was very, very, very impressed with Xfile's approach to him, it was extremely professional. A seasoned pro, for sure. We transported him to A&E, just to get him checked out. In the end he was a very smart man, he wasn't an idiot. He knew what he had done to himself, he mentioned about cremating his wife and how she was the one, but she was dead now. That was pulling on my heart strings. He needed help, but we both suspected he probably wouldn't get it.

The last two calls were uninteresting, and to be honest neither really appeared to need an ambulance.

All in all I had a great day, flying along the famous streets and squares across central London, squeezing through traffic all in an effort to help someone. I didn't mind being a pack-horse for Xfile at all, I thought it was the least I could do for him. I learnt a lot too. Like just how stretched the service really is, and how in reality there is no real time for a break. Thanks again Xfile, I really appreciate it. If I end up even a quarter as good at this job as you are, I hope I should be alright.

DICKHEAD.

2006-11-17T00:03:00.000Z

I've been reading back what I've written over the past few days and in a way I'm disgusted. I've been rude, obnoxious and generally a wanker. I know I said earlier that this was the end of the subject but its still been playing on my mind quite a bit. Even my Missus said I was being "big-headed". I was. I know I've pissed a fair few people off about this, I would like to properly apologise.

It shouldn't have taken an episode like this for me to come to my senses, but unfortunately it did.

From now on, things will be different. Promise.

"Keep your standards high and don't let others drag you down."

2006-11-16T14:03:00.000Z

First, a huge thank you to all who commented so productively towards the last post. I mean everyone, both positive and negative. Its means a great deal to me, thank you again.

Secondly, I would like to reiterate the apology towards Tom about my comment. After some considerable thought about it, the manner in which I presented the comment, and subsequent post was done in a dick-head like manner. However I think my "get out of jail free card" is that I am a newbie and as such make comments that appear stupid/misinformed/naive etc. Sorry again. I promise I'll watch my mouth a bit more.

However, I feel I must respond to anonymous' comment:

"This job is about respect and so many uni bods don't understand. Many of you prattle on about your uniforms then totally ignore the dress code...Your uniform alone does not make you an ambulance man or woman, the respect of your colleagues does. Why do you think its necessary to tell the world about yourself and how you feel..? I don't think you are doing any of your uni friends any favours by making yourself look like a big headed loud mouthed geek."

This job is not about respect. This job is about the patient. Respect might come second, but regardless of my experience we are here for the general public.
However, to say that us Uni kids don't understand respect is complete rubbish. That view is old and antiquated, and if, and that's a big if, you did bother to read through this blog you would realise just how much I do respect those with more experience than me. Not only do I respect it, but I try and learn from that experience in whatever way I can, do you think I read all these Paramedic and Tech blogs just for the fun of it? No. To learn from their anecdotes.

"Many of you prattle on..." Do not attempt to put me in a box.

As for "Why do you think its necessary to tell the world about yourself and how you feel..?"

I don't. I write this blog as a record of me growing up, if people enjoy reading about the experience then I'm delighted about that and encourage them to continue reading and commenting when they see fit. Also, couldn't you put that same argument to all the other bloggers out there?

Its not like I'm forcing you to read this by holding your family hostage or anything is it?! Geez you obviously care enough about how I feel to place a comment on here in the first place, regardless of whether you agree with my sentiment. I smell something in the air, could it be? Yes! Hypocrisy!

I don't think you are doing your colleagues any favours by making yourself look like a cowardly (hence anonymous), rude individual. Are you desperate to drive a wedge between the established crowd and Uni entrants? For Christ's sake, who's the grown up here?
All of the people I have met out on the road have been really nice, and respectful. Know why? Because I paid them the respect they were due. In the end, what really matters is how I act in the real world.

"big headed loud mouthed geek" - Sticks and stones my friend, sticks and stones.

Right. That's the end of this subject.

On to pastures new. Yesterday I did an observational shift in London in my free time (TO GAIN EXPERIENCE!), which I am still currently typing and waiting for edited approval once typed. It was a real eye opener, and I enjoyed myself immensely. The post *should* be up by the end of the weekend, until then take care y'all.

This blog used to be so light-hearted...

"Eyes and ears open, mouth shut"

2006-11-13T19:52:00.000Z

Sir, may I kindly direct you to the last portion of my last post. It may have came across in a manner that befits a Uni bod, and that's the way it should have been as that's what I am. For that I make no apologies, I'm simply commenting using my meager experience as a background. I apologise if any offense was taken due to this post, it was all very much in jest.

Out on the road do you think I'm stupid enough not to realise how this looks to all you seasoned road staff if said out in the open? If you kindly look through my back records you will see how much I agonize at length about being young in this profession, how much I really do not want to stick my size 12 feet in it.

" "Eyes and ears open, mouth shut" was the advice given to me when a trainee, and it works wonders. "

Wise words. Believe me when I say I mutter pretty much the exact same motto to myself everytime I go anywhere or do anything to do with the ambulance service, and that's without TO's telling me to shut up. Its just sometimes this blog is one of the only outlets I can let go some frustration generated by this ritual, especially hard being a generally loud person. The other being my Missus and family (cheers guys).
This blog is the place I can shout about how geekishly happy I am to wear my uniform for the first time, the place I can say I still get excited when I see an ambulance on blue lights. This is the place I can say about how genuinely excited I am about embarking on my dreams.
I'm very much aware of how somebody quickly becomes branded a "fool" in this business, and I can assure you I am not one.

May I quote a certain Donald Rumsfeld:

The Unknown

As we know, there are known knowns.
There are things we know we know.
We also know there are known unknowns.
That is to say we know there are some things we do not know.
But there are also unknown unknowns, the ones we don't know we don't know.

(For those of you who did check out the Big White Taxi Service a while back, this is pretty much the exact thing they crucify people for- so if this blog suddenly stops because I've been killed you know where to go... but on the other hand I'm banking nobody over there cares enough about this to give a toss. We're all winners!)

Ruffled Feathers.

2006-11-11T18:29:00.000Z

Take a look at this post by Tom Reynolds. It depicts a job where having a working torch would have made things far easier as there was a power cut.

I put this comment:
"That'll teach you to do a decent VDI..."

(VDI- vehicle daily inspection, check everything is working properly etc)
(I had put the comment in jest, promise)

To which he replied:

"Bleedin' newbies - you better keep that 'sense of humour' in check. Besides, there was only one torch, and no spare. Make ready have already put in an order for a new one."

To which I will reply:

"Am I bothered though? Really, look at my face? Am I bothered that I'm a newbie? Do I look bothered? Ask me if I'm bothered. Don't bother because I'm not even bothered though."

(If this means nothing to you please take a look at The Catherine Tate Show)

O how we do love being immature!

P.S. Before everyone starts jumping down my neck about punching above my weight etc, I would like to say that this post was all done in a sense of ironic good humour. I know how much people respect experience in the ambulance service, and I do too. I know in terms of everything such as exeperience I am but a tiny baby, and as such have the respect of one. Take care y'all.

Brown Bread.

2006-11-07T18:15:00.000Z

The title refers to the cockney rhyming slang for "dead". Let me elaborate:

In something that has broken the past spell of boredom lately, today the medical school allowed us into the anatomy labs so we could get to grips with some real anatomy. This materialised itself into me walking into a room full of dead bodies. At least forty. At least. Now, having never, ever seen a dead body I'm sure you can imagine this was quite a shock. All of the bodies were covered in green plastic, with towels underneath, you couldn't see anything apart from the outlines. We split into two groups.

Our group's leader started off by showing us a skeleton, and the various movements we could and couldn't do. Every time his hands moved over the body everyone flinched in case he whipped the cover off and the body was revealed. Then he took the sheet off.

The gentleman had no skin. His head was covered with a towel, and his muscles stood out proud to see. Various arteries, veins and ligaments were scattered about. His (I'll refer to him as opposed to "it", he deserves some dignity) body was the same colour as meat in the supermarket (as if I'd know, I'm going on what people said to me). His hand still had skin and nails, the wrinkles were still there. The lecturer started to indicate his biceps, how big they were. He motioned people to touch it. Nobody moved. I did though. My first thought?
It was cold. Very cold. Also slightly moist. As the lecturer carried on, I gained confidence and started to find various veins in the arm.

Then he took his chest off. Well, the layer between the skin and the thorasic cavity. It was already dissected, so came away like a layer. Plain to see were his guts, lungs and heart. Boy did he have a big heart. A huge one. Others started to take his organs out, and look and feel about. I took his lungs, he wasn't a smoker but you should see what living in London still does to the lungs. Everything was just so.... text-book. I mean it. Most of it looked pretty much like it did in any A&P book. At this point I think I was begining to get over the "Oh my God this is a dead body" factor, so started to feel a bit more confident. I was the first to remove the towel from the head, and see the man's face. For me it personalised it, up until now I was trying to think of his body as merely a piece of meat, nothing more. We were all laughing and giggling to hide our fear of his humanity. I felt this was disrespectful. Seeing his face allowed me to realise that this was a human.

As we carried on with various bodies I held hearts, lungs, kidneys, livers, intestines, spleens, pancreas' and spinal cords. I put my finger through somebody's eye socket (eyeball was removed). I peeled the skin off somebody's face. I held a dead person's hand. I pulled a ham string.

I'm still looking at my hands. Part in disgust. I can't get the smell of the sterilizing agent out of my nostrils.

Remember, Remember...

2006-11-06T08:16:00.000Z

I don't know what it is, but large events such as the fireworks display in my town often seem to draw the worst groups of people together. Much like Social Dispatch, I too become slightly wary when you place alcohol, fire (works) and stupid people together in large groups surrounded by children. It felt like the fireworks were a very pretty flame, drawing all of the scummy and low life moths that inhabit my town towards it. I think the worst thing was that it wasn't always the Chavs being idiots, it was the adults letting their kids do some really stupid things with sparklers. However prize idiot of the night award goes to the clever (Chav) man who thought it would be a good idea to let a firework off in the car park, once the display had finished and everyone was walking back to their car or home. I saw him do it too, I really wanted to go up to him, grab him by the neck and scream in his face "Are you an idiot or just plain stupid?!" Such violence Carmelo, tut tut.

I would also like to wish my Missus a very, very happy 19th birthday. Love you darlin'!

Hardly Blogworthy.

2006-10-31T17:10:00.000Z

Title says it all. Life is, tranquil. I went back to my old school yesterday, it was nice to show off to the people I knew that I was living the dream. My Health and Social Care teacher hugged me, I didn't expect that from him.......

I ironed my uniform and placed it neatly in my cupboard. And that's about it.

Its nice being able to see the Missus every day, and the family too. Its just being stuck inside all day is driving me a little bit potty.

*sighs*

As The Numbers Increase..

2006-10-27T15:45:00.000+01:00

I thought it would be nice to share a few new blogs with you all:

Basic Proficiency- Ellis James' blog about life as an EMT with MRAS. Scoot on over there and have a look, its always interesting to read somebody else's viewpoint on things. Cute kids too.

The Paramedic's Diary- a blog from a Paramedic in Central London.

Life of a Trainee Paramedic- a trainee Paramedic like myself, and at Uni to boot! Things will never cease to amaze me, as I thought I was the only trainee blogging. Ah well I had my time. It'll be nice to compare their experience to mine.

Slip of the Tongue- Dianne's blog about life in general, she works with "Yoofs". Brave lady. She was the first ever person to link to me without me seeing her site, I was touched. I took it as a deep compliment.

On a sadder note, Defib appears to have given up the ghost. I took him off the "Things I enjoy reading" list, because there's nout new to read. A real shame. Come back!

Also, since when was the colour red a bloody trademark?!?

Somebody Must Be Smiling Down On Me.

2006-10-26T13:03:00.000+01:00

Isn't it nice when you find the cause of all your problems is something tiny and easy to fix?
Just spent the entire morning ripping apart my car dash-board with my Dad to try and ascertain why the fans and de-mister aren't working. In the end we were happy to find a little, tiny connection that was burned out, nothing more. Its also nice to spend time with Dad, we actually work as quite a good team.

On another note site-meter appears to have died, so my 2,500 hits have gone down the drain. Although thinking about it I probably won't get another counter, it becomes a silly obsession trying to get as many hits as possible. Also I feel quite rude in a way, as site-meter is quite a clever little thing that can tell you all sorts about those who came to your site. Anyway, so more monitoring. Hoorah!

*UPDATE!*
For some unknown reason sitemeter had returned, so I lied. Lots more snooping about then.

Life In The Electronic Jungle.

2006-10-24T18:01:00.000+01:00

Ok then. Second day on the trot of e-learning, and amazingly I'm not finding it too bad. We get given a dose of material each day to read through, I make notes by hand and then print off diagrams. There's also a forum on which all the guys in my class can discuss what we are doing under the supervision of the module leader. This electronic classroom stuff is more intuitive than I thought it would be, although a bit lonely. Mum was very nice and took me to her hospital's library, I borrowed 4 A&P books under her name so I can start reading around the subject, under various interpretations. Until I buy my own book that's all I got.

Its nice to be home. Its nice to be indoors and close to all the people I love, I knew I missed the Missus lots and lots, but didn't realise just how much I had missed my family.

My uniform is sitting nicely folded in a box in the corner of my room, and that's where it'll stay till the 13th of November when I go back to the training centre. No more trying it on, and anyway I don't want the novelty to get too old too quickly.....

Its also odd as the past three weeks have been dripping with stuff that's blog-worthy, but now things are calming down a bit, and truth be told I'm not entirely unhappy about it. Its nice to reflect, chill out and calm down.

Don't ask me why..

2006-10-22T22:44:00.000+01:00

...but if you type "johnny bast" into google (with quote marks), I'm the 5th search result. To anybody whom that insult means anything I swear I have nothing agaisnt St. John, and if you check the search, you will see the reason for it coming up is a comment made on here. Not by me!

Uniform.

2006-10-22T13:58:00.000+01:00

That is what (in no particular order),

1 x pair of leather gloves
4 x pair green combat trousers
1 x black glasses case
1 x safety glasses
7 x boot socks
1 x utility belt
1 x LAS Hi-Vis tabbard
7 x white t-shirt
2 x LAS green fleece
2 x pair Redwood safety boot
1 x LAS long sleeve shirt
7 x LAS short sleeve shirt
1 x wooly hat
1 x LAS kit bag
2 x LAS Hi-Vis Jacket

looks like. I didn't include the epaulet's, but I got four of those that simply say "London Ambulance Service" on them, denouncing me as the lowest of the low. Bloody hell that's a lot of uniform. Yes, before you ask I did parade around both my house and the Missus' house showing it off. Yes it does look fantastic. Ok, I think I have (just about) got over the uniform thing now, as surprisingly when we found out that it had come on Friday it was a bit of an anti-climax for me.

Unfortunately for the moment, that's about it for ambulance things for the next couple of months. We are just starting an anatomy and physiology module that is delivered via the net, that takes us up until Christmas. Of course during that time I'll try and get some more observational shifts wherever I can, Mum's trying to get me some at the hospital, hopefully I can go out with the local ECP as well, as they're funded by the PCT. Although I am waiting on an e-mail from another ECP to hopefully go on an obs shift with them too, but I suspect they're quite busy. We've also got a few dates back at the training centre to practice ambulance skills, so it won't be completely dead. I think I also need to earn some money, car insurance is coming up soon. Eeek.

A Sense of Accomplishment.

2006-10-21T09:04:00.000+01:00

This is the first A&E ambulance I ever went on. I know before I said I was going to be on a car, but in the end I ended up on this with a training officer, Sally, and newly qualified Paramedic, Phil.
I was due to do a 07:00 to 19:00 shift, and I wanted to be early. I left my house at about 05:00, and was at the station by 06:00. I knocked politely at the door and the night shift let me sit down and wait for my crew. As the crews came in I sat there quietly until Sally came, and we introduced ourselves. Shortly after Phil came in, we shook hands. They seemed like nice guys.

Ensuring that their Paramedic bags were stocked up, we waited for our vehicle to come in from a job night staff had been on, but another job came through on the phone. So, we had to take the ambulance that was in the garage, the one above. In went all the kit, as well as me, in the back. And off we went, sirens screaming at the traffic to move out of the way, while the blue lights bounced off the surrounding buildings. It felt strange, I was expecting a rush of adrenaline to be pumping through my body, to be fair I thought my brain owed me a little stimulation considering I had woken up so early, but alas none came. I was excited, just not as much as I thought I would have been. So after going through lots of red lights and round the wrong way of traffic islands, we finally made it to the address in double quick time. The MDT (mobile dispatch terminal, it gives information about the job in question) stated that it was a 76 year old male complaining of chest pain. Phil told me to grab the carry chair and blanket, and off we went. The FRU had already beaten us there:

(taken on station, I'm not silly enough to whip my camera phone out on a job)

The FRU Paramedic had started doing some basic obs, and had the gentleman on O2. Phil started to ask the gentleman whether he had any chest pains, and we quickly began to ascertain that he didn't, but that he had been having a domestic dispute with his wife, and wanted the police. Phil asked me to set up the carry chair and blanket it. Thank God the training kicked in. Up until this point the experience had felt a bit like watching an episode of Trauma, but it changed once I began interacting. Phil got the gentleman onto the chair with ease, and asked me if I wanted to take the bottom end of the chair and carry him down the stairs. For a second I panicked. i had only used dummies before. Then, a moment of clarity, "I'm going to have to do this for real at one point, so it might as well be now." As there was a training officer there I wasn't too worried about anything going wrong, so we did it. By this point the adrenaline had kicked in good and proper (finally), the gentleman must have been about 50kg, but it didn't feel like it, for all I knew he could have been made out of paper.

In the gentleman went into the back of the ambulance, and we did some more obs on him. Phil explained everything he did, he was so damn smart! We took him to the hospital, and handed him over to a member of A&E staff looking rather dubious about dealing with this gentleman. Bless.

Back into the ambulance, to carry out a decent VDI (vehicle daily inspection). That took a good hour, checking everything was stocked up and clean. I now have a good understanding of what equipment we carry, and where it is too.

So. Off we continued through the day, all the jobs we went to apart from the first were people who were genuinely sick. No time wasters. I was amazed.
The jobs included:

Suspected heart attack who we had to blue light into hospital.
A lady reported having severe respiratory distress, who had a heart rate of 226. Needless to say we blued her into hospital, and the doctors gave her a drug called Adonzine (I think), that slowed her heart down, as if she kept beating so fast her heart would probably stop. I think the diagnosis was Narrow Complex Tachycardia. I helped carry her to the ambulance, so in a tiny, tiny little small way I helped to save her life. It feels good..
A poor gentleman who had extreme abdo pain, you could tell he was in deep pain. Its really not pleasant to see somebody who is genuinely in pain, you can just tell there are. We carried him down two and a half flights of stairs too.
A gentleman with a query stroke, who looked really ill and was shaking a lot. We suspected an infection of some sorts, but Phil was surprised when he took his pulse and it was 29. He asked me to get the chair quickly, he thought we needed to move sharpish. However, he did ask if this (66 year old) gentleman was an athlete, or a runner and he was, which explained the low pulse. Panic over. Phew.
A transfer for a gentleman to an eye A&E from his home. The doctor advised him not to drive and to call LAS, but the gentleman wasn't expecting an A&E crew to turn up, to be honest neither were we. In truth a "green crew" should have been sent, crews who deal with low priority calls, but none were available. But since we were the only available resource we were sent. I was just about to go to the loo when the call came through on station, I swear that damn phone is connected to the toilet door handle. Bless this guy, he knew he didn't need an A&E ambulance, but I tried to reassure him on the way there. The trip took us about 45 minutes, so once we got there we popped to the loo and pushed green to mobile i.e. ready for a job. Unfortunately it was about 18:15, we knew were going to get a job before we got back to station and of course we did.
A pregnancy! A Somalian lady was lying on her bed writhing in pain at the contractions, her husband had to translate as she didn't speak a word of English. We had to take all the family, as there was no one else to look after the couple's other two kids. Very cute they were too. The lady didn't give birth in the ambulance, but all the time I kept thinking, "I bet you're kicking yourself for doing the naughty nine months ago".

Well that was it. We got back onto station at about 20:00, so had done a thirteen hour day. It had zoomed by. I honestly don't know where the time went. All the time during the day all I could think about was "What an absolutely fantastic job!". The fact that someone is mad enough to pay me to do it as well is the icing on the cake. Life is good.

Tomorrow: UNIFORM! I got a massive box of it yesterday, I just need to catalogue it. The Missus loves a man in uniform. Till tomorrow then.

Patient Transport Service.

2006-10-18T15:31:00.000+01:00

Ok first things first. It might look like an A&E ambulance, but its PTS (Sorry I should have taken a picture of the side that said "Patient Transport Service" in big blue words). This is an "Urgent Care Vehicle", so is equipped with all sorts including blue lights and sirens, O2 and basic ambulance equipment. It also has a stretcher in it too, but oddly can seat 6 as the stretcher acts as a seat and the rest of the seats fold from the walls. Its a strange hybrid, somewhere in the middle between A&E and PTS, and as with most things that try to do too much at once wasn't particularly good at either. All sorts of little things were badly designed inside it, making it not quite useless as an A&E ambulance but close, yet it couldn't sit enough people to be a really useful PTS vehicle. However, being able to carry a stretcher places this vehicle in its element, it was the only non-A&E truck on station that could carry one.

I was with a two-man crew, Fred and Gavin. Gavin had trained up to EMT 2 standard, but had stayed with PTS as opposed to going to A&E, for reasons unknown. This meant he could use all the equipment on board if it was needed. Not all at once of course, that's preposterous. Don't be silly.

We started off nice and easy, taking 4 OAPs to a day centre. I had a nice chat with one about Cornwall and Butchers, I had fun pretending I knew what meat tasted like, otherwise I would of have had to explain all about being a vege etc etc which is all very boring, trust me.

Next we transferred a stretcher patient to a hospital about 20 miles away, which went without a hitch. I did try and talk to her but she was a bit confused, a lad trying to speak to her while wearing a bright yellow observers jacket (picture to follow later) probably wouldn't help much.

Back to the hospital for lunch, then a request to quickly drop a lady and her mother home. The lady had been staying with her mother in hospital, and both seemed happy. The mother was a hundred years old! I'd pay to look that good at a hundred. She might not of been able to stand up on her own accord, but apart from that she was in perfect working order. I also saw for the first time the Banana Board used in anger, as well as the carry chair.

Lastly we transferred an elderly gentleman by stretcher from his ward back to his nursing home. It was BUPA run, and a word of advice, when(and if) you do need to go into a home ensure its a BUPA one, as it was very nice. I mean really nice. I mean super-dooper really, really nice. Nice advert there lad..

So (unfortunately), we didn't get to play with blue lights, but I had an enjoyable day and I'm sure I'll get more than my fill of "The Blue Mist" tomorrow.

Nee Naw Nee Naw Nee Naw Woooooooooo Woooooooo OoOoOoOoOoOoOo................ etc.

Back to Control.

2006-10-17T20:39:00.000+01:00

Well. Apart from being an hour early to Waterloo, by severely underestimating how fast the Northern Line can be, today went off without a hitch. I was with a great EMD named Glen, it was nice to be back.

Calls of note:

Woman had pulled feeding tube out of a tracheotomy patient and wondered why it was bleeding.
Road traffic collision that happened behind the caller, who was now a good two miles away from crash site. Why he didn't stop I don't know, but at least he made us aware. Another call came in about the crash, the driver had blacked out and crashed into a bridge pylon, with severe hip injuries.
Heathrow Airport had a report of a plane coming in with a crew member who had been fitting, so phoned us in good time (well over an hour ahead of the plane landing) to tell us about it.
Poor old dear who had fallen in the street, and hit her chest and throat on the kerb. I'll never forget what the caller said "I told her not to worry about calling an ambulance because they'll be here in three minutes". Sorry about a reality check about to come in darling.
Classic heart attack, all the symptoms the system could throw at the caller she said yes to, textbook it was.
THE PERFECT CALLER! A woman had tripped and fallen in the street, hurting her ankle. A nice gentleman had dialed 999. You could her here cries of agony over the phone, but since it wasn't life threatening it was classified as Green 2. Which meant she could be waiting a long time for an ambulance. The caller and her did, but at least control rang him back to tell him about the delay and lack of resources. Then something amazing happened. He rang back, cool, calmly and collected asked if he should transport her himself, as he could see there was no ambulances immediately available. None of this "WHERE'S MY BLOODY AMBULANCE?!!!!!" malarky, just a nice calm gentleman. Because he was so nice we even helped him get directions to the nearest A&E.
Also lots of requests for transfers of patients with schizophrenia, all of whom had a police escort. I think I counted at least 4 in so many hours. The world is going mad I tell you, mad!

Also, receptionists at Surgeries are useless. Some of these women (sorry, not a single man was a receptionist) didn't even know the address or phone number of their workplace. I was disappointed. Towards the end of the shift I sat on dispatch for about half an hour, chatting along merrily with everyone there. I also gave some advice to an EMD 1 who is in the process of applying to Uni to do Paramedic Science. I left her my e-mail if she needed any help. That felt quite odd. Me helping, or at least giving advice to, someone who is in the position I was this time last year. Definitely odd.

PTS tomorrow!

Highlights for the coming week:

2006-10-14T15:16:00.000+01:00

Tuesday- Another observational shift in Emergency Operations Control, I'm supposed to be there from 8:00 till 13:00, but I might stay later if the fancy takes me and the EMDs can tolerate me.
Wednesday- I'm observing on a Patient Transport Service Vehicle from 7:30 till 15:00, I know it isn't tearing about the streets of London on blue lights and sirens, but it allows you to talk to people from all across life. I like listening to stories.
Thursday- A 7:00-19:00 observational shift on a Fast Response Unit. Needless to say I'm, as they say, "bricking it", especially as I'm with a training officer.

I'll do a much more detailed post about each as it happens, although I don't know when I'll be able to get them up, as between Wednesday and Thursday is a long trip from south London to my home, and then leaving home Thursday morning about 5:00ish (probably earlier) ready for the 7:00 start at a station in north London. I was told specifically to be there 15 minutes early, which translates to me being at least an hour early in the oddly twisted method of logic that I enjoy practicing. Big things are happening!

On Thursday I was strapped to one of these,

, and lifted up. My group then decided to turn me upside down. I shall never again make the statement: " I don't believe that velcro alone can hold me to that thing, let alone when I'm upside down!"

Sometimes the only way you can describe yourself as..

2006-10-11T18:55:00.000+01:00

..is a dickhead. That's how I felt today. Let me explain.

Today we were "familiarized" with the vehicles. Basically this means being shown around the back of the standard Mercedes ambulance (sorry no photos), told where the equipment is kept, and given a basic introduction into the cab and Mobile Dispatch Terminal (MDT).
Anyway. Next was the driver's seat. A guy from my course was sat in it, playing with the blue lights and occasionally (I suspect accidentally) sirens, under the guidance of our training officer. The guy was getting slightly confused by the controls, so put the lights on and jumped out of the cab to check they were on for himself.

He invited me to take the seat while he checked the lights. Of course I obliged. I took my seat. It was raining, the headlights and front strobes flashed against the surrounding vehicles. The rain made the light distorted somewhat, but the LED lights cut through the droplets of rain with a crisp precision. Time slowed down somewhat, Matrix style. I was here. Sat there in the cab. Lights flashing all around, yet oddly I didn't feel excited. It instead was something more of content, of "I belong here". I brought myself back from this state with an abrupt embarrassment. I suspect I wasn't there for more than a couple of seconds, but I switched off the blue lights anyway to bring me back down a bit. As I pushed the control to switch them on again, the siren came on for no real apparent reason. I panicked and fumbled it off ASAP. Little did I realise that coming over was another training officer from the direct entry tech group. He opened the passenger door;
(Angry training officer's voice) "Is there any reason why the siren keeps going off?"

(Me, worrying) "Um, er, um, er, no not really I just tried to turn on the lights and the siren came on"

(Even angrier training officer) "Well, maybe you should stop fiddling with the buttons, that siren going off is very annoying"

I felt like such a dickhead. Imagine this from the officer's view. 18 year old Uni student playing around with buttons that he doesn't have a clue what they do while playing "ambulance". I later found out that the reason for the siren going off while I was in the driving seat was my friend leaning over from the passenger seat, and pushing the pedal that (I didn't know) also operates the siren. I had simply got into the cab, hadn't pushed the siren once and now I felt like an idiot.

Wrong place, wrong time doesn't even cover it. My youth had been playing on mind all day since that incident so when I voiced my concerns about being young to one of the officers in casual conversation (a really nice guy from the north of London), he said something that really helped:

"You know what Carmelo? 4 years ago I would have agreed with you. 18 is too young, but since then I've seen guys come from Uni at 18, enter the service and become bloody good Paramedics. Good luck to you"

Everything melted away. I felt fine.
I'm starting to get over this youth thing. I honestly think before I was making a bit of a big issue out of it. Yes I am 18. Yes I am enthusiastic. Yes I do make mistakes. Yes I'm immature. Can I help that? No. I need to remind myself that despite my youth I got through the interviews and selection processes.

Despite my youth an employer is willing to pay £3000 a year for my education to do a job that can change people's lives.

Riding the Airwaves.

2006-10-10T18:23:00.000+01:00

Well today was interesting. We had a nice talk about data protection, and as far as I can see writing this mean's I'm safe, as long as I don't implicate patients. That means by any names, photos or identifiable traits. Which is fine, I have been trickling along this course so far with a niggle at the back of my mind asking, "are you sure blogging about this is a good idea?". Well I'm now pleased to say that niggle has turned a few notches down, but I'm still aware of it..

Next on to the most important form ever, the infamous Patient Referral Form (LA4 in LAS-speak)*. This huge A3 piece of paper for reporting everything about a job seems comprehensive, although a right b!tch to fill out. I suppose with time writing it will become easier, at least I hope so. Alas, it is a very important piece of paper I need to know how to fill it in properly to report things, both to help the patient and cover my own ass. Sometimes I dislike the blame culture we continue to perpetuate.

Finally on to the radio. We are lucky enough on our course to have an EMD 4, so he obviously knows how to play the radio game. He, in conjunction with a training officer from the north, mapped out all the key phrases and operation techniques about RT techniques, so we were in good hands. After an hour or two playing about with the EMD as "control", and sending fake jobs down the radio I felt much more confident in its usage. I love that LAS radio terminology for "dead" (we can't certify death) is purple, or purple plus for really dead, although purple for the Met's Diplomatic Protection Group and Airport Police means a royal passenger, I suspect you can all imagine potential mix ups that might occur...
(I'm very sure that Nee Naw has touched on this)
Altogether now:

Charlie
Alpha
Romeo
Mike
Echo
Lima
Oscar!

*So much LAS terminology is seeping into my vocabulary at the moment I may have to do a reference page..

What a brilliant idea!

2006-10-09T20:32:00.000+01:00

Just stumbled across this, first aid MP3 downloads! So if anybody feels they need to brush up on their first aid skills download these files to your Ipod or MP3 player. Always good to know, and they're free too. I'll do a post tomorrow regarding some ambulance stuff.
You know what? Actually being able to talk about ambulance stuff with some (small amount of) knowledge is a great feeling.

Ok. I know I shouldn't. I really shouldn't. But I've been looking at The Big White Taxi Service. For those of you who don't know, this site is full of rude, obnoxious and bad-taste humour regarding ambulance work. Do not click that link if you are easily offended, it isn't generally meant for public viewing. BWTS is a place for ambulance staff to vent off steam, and I didn't really feel like I"deserved" (is that the right word?) to look at it, at least up till now. Well, I've been browsing through it, and while some of it is quite shocking, some of it is actually funny, the picture below sending up Tom Reynolds was simply too good to miss, I genuinely laughed out loud when I read it:

It also served as a bit of a reminder not to keep this blog too serious..

5 of 5: The end of the beginning.

2006-10-07T08:35:00.000+01:00

Well folks, that's the end of my first week. Yesterday we had some interesting debates regarding capacity and consent of patients, and also a very nice talk about the history of the LAS, again given with lots of passion. Just how I like my teaching. I also found out about my three placements coming up, the first at EOC, second with PTS and lastly with A&E. Except my A&E placement is going to be on an FRU, with a (two star) training officer. Should be fun, but I crossing most parts of my body that I get my uniform before placements as otherwise I'll have to wear an "observer" tabbard and look like a right pillock.
We are also having to get out CPR skills up to a really high standard, the resus annie's they have plug into a little machine that measures you performance to both the millimeter and second...
Next week I have more of the same, 8:30 to 16:30 days, but we get introduced to some more complex ambulance equipment. I however, am knackered, and intend to enjoy today relaxing with the Missus, enjoying every moment I spend with her. Speak to you next week.

4 of 5: Life through rose-tinted spectacles.

2006-10-05T19:05:00.000+01:00

Well after yesterday's bout of exciting uniform fitting, today we went on to have a talk about "diversity". I'm sure lots of people have their own opinions on political correctness, and I suspect there is a very diverse range of opinions in those. Mine falls into to the area where I should, regardless of any guidelines, treat others as I would like to be treated and in a manner in which is polite. I realise that to be polite in some cultures requires a certain amount of research for the slightly ignorant like myself, but in general I think I've got it right. However, today somebody made a very good point about respecting diversity:

"If people are nice they tend to stay nice, but if people are dickheads no amount of classes or guidelines will ever change that"

Hard to disagree with that I think.
As the day progressed we moved on from PC things to more practical ones, Basic Life Support. We were all given a free (not so very) Pocket (size) Mask, and introduced to the idea of primary survey. This is all new to me, so I'm trying to keep my mind open very wide to absorb everything. After this we got to practice our new BLS CPR skills on a very expensive mannequin, that gave an electronic readout on our performance of CPR. I got 83% first time, not too bad I thought, but it should be around 95%. Again back on to the carry chair, this time with a 45kg waited dummy on it. It wasn't so much the weight I found difficult (being O so very strong...), more the technique to lift it correctly. A skill I need to develop for sure.

Finally we moved onto stretchers, playing with the 3 different types we have for the 3 different ambulances. The first and most basic was for the LDV trucks, and we also practiced loading it onto the back. Bearing in mind the LDVs don't have lifts, it was actually easier than I thought it was going to be, a pleasant surprise. However I'm sure the addition of a 60kg person screaming in agony may make a slight difference..

The other two are for the Mercs. In a startlingly dangerous move back towards ambulance geek-dom, though most LAS Sprinters look the same, there are some differences between them. I *think* they're already on the 3rd edition, somebody correct me if I'm (probably) wrong. The differences lie in the Blue lights, going from strobes to LEDs and some other internal positioning of equipment. The stretchers are (blissfully) hydraulic, so much easier to use and load compared to the LDVs.

So as I lower the lift at the back of the ambulance, lift up the hand rails and lower it to the floor, I feel content. Despite the fact that the rain is coming down hard and fast, and soon making my white shirt appear see-through, I feel happy. As I load the stretcher on, and press raise on the controls, push it in and lock it, the rain drops don't bother me a bit. For all I know those rain drops could be little beats of sunshine beating down on my back. I then take off my rose tinted spectacles, and enjoy the fact that I'm still young enough to enjoy simple things like this.

3 of 5: First steps...

2006-10-04T18:58:00.000+01:00

(Please excuse both the terrible acne and tired look, the week's taking its toll already..)

As I tried on the LAS uniform for the first time ever, a sense of pride surged through me. Despite the fact it was only trial wear to ensure we get the right sizes, I didn't care. For that brief glimpse of time I had properly, truthfully and tangibly achieved my dream. I was wearing it.

Elation just about covers it I think.

I definitely think green's my colour.
I also realised I'm about to receive copious amounts of uniform, hopefully in the next two weeks or so. I was also measured for my stab vest, great fun. I also passed the fitness test no problems, its hard being the Demi-God I am. (SARCASM)

Anyways. Lola's bit.
1.The last movie you saw in a theatre, and current-release movie you still want to see.
Snakes On a Plane, and I desperately want to watch the upcoming Tenacious D movie.

2. The last movie you rented/purchased for home viewing.
Um, Dodgeball, Constatine and 28 Days later on UMD for my PSP.
3. A movie that made you laugh out loud.
O geez..um most things, Dodgeball I suppose having just watched it.

4. A movie that made you cry.
Patch adams... but shush.

5. A movie that was a darling of the critics, but you didn't think lived up to the hype.
Lord of The Rings. All 3 of them. Rubbish. Dwarfs and beards. Great..

6. A movie that you thought was better than the critics.
Not much..

7. Favorite animated movie.
Shrek. Full stop.

8. Favorite Disney Villain.
Zurg from Toy Story.

9. Favorite movie musical.
I don't do musicals.

10. Favorite movies of all-time (up to 5).
I'll get back to you on that one..

2 of 5: My first Trolley Cot.

2006-10-03T20:19:00.000+01:00

Today was fun. We had a lecture through the morning and up to lunch about communication and the various ways on how to manually handle a patient safely and correctly. Again I sat at the front.

The afternoon involved getting acquainted with the various stretchers LAS use. The first is the one the new Mercedes use, its all hydraulic and easy to use, unlike its equivalent in the LDV's. These ones seem a world away, no high-tech equipment, just metal tubing and a mattress. Guess which one I liked best?
It was lovely to open the back of the Merc, pull out the lift and stretcher, lower it and discover that somebody hadn't cleaned it properly. Cue blood in all the little nooks and crannys that should have been cleaned but weren't. Also cue an officer trying to show us said piece of kit getting slightly angry, taking fleet number of said vehicle and tracing back who used it last. Needless to say I think heads will be rolling...

(tomorrow I'll do Lola's tagged thing)

1 of 5: Merys isn't the only one with a Stethoscope...

2006-10-02T17:47:00.000+01:00

Carmelo's back baby yeah!

I have just returned from my first day in the world of ambulances, and I've been lumbered with more paperwork and books than I suspect most libraries contain....

But, I'm not complaining. I enjoyed it.

When we first walked in, I took the very mature approach of sitting by myself at the front of the room. I'm very aware of the side of me that can become easily distracted, so I did my best to hide it as the rest of the guys seem to distract me somewhat, much as I try to hide it. See, reflection in action. Realising faults and trying to correct them. Maybe I am growing up?

Anyway. So we sat through the usual things that happen on the first day, introductions to the course and ice breaking activities. I was also issued with the following:

The above stethoscope. (Doubt I'll use it much in the coming months)
A pen-torch.
TufCut Paramedic Shears.
Blanket Clips (?)

We were also given a talk by our training officer about Health & Safety, I was very impressed as I had never seen anybody talk about a subject I had considered quite boring with such passion and interest. Well done that man. So I've sat quietly all day, and also have been quietly trying to control quite an urge of the ol' "ambulance fever", the centre I'm at is stuffed with them.

Its hard not to go into childish giggles about it all, I'm very sure most LAS crews would shoot me on site for being so "into" it.

Alas, do I care? Nope. I'm me, I can't change that so I might as well enjoy it. Speak to you tomorrow.

Lucy Did Good.

2006-09-28T13:31:00.000+01:00

I passed my C1. I'm happy, as I only got 6 minors, not bad considering the actual test is an hour long. I didn't crash either.

One step up the ladder I suppose.

About next week, as I'm sure I've already mentioned about 48 times that's when I start "properly" . I think I shall post once every day to show you all what's happening, I'll hopefully grab a couple of photos to put up too.

I feel like I'm flying as high as the kite I'm flying...

As Lucy and I trundle round London..

2006-09-27T08:41:00.000+01:00

As I drive around London in this Van, I think about just how much I'm enjoying it. I must admit I do secretly pretend I'm driving something big and yellow, although in a way I wish I wasn't as it looks bloody hard.

I'm starting to appreciate just how hard it must be driving something this big through heavy traffic on Blues.

Although one thing you learn driving something so big is just how responsible you have to be, motorbikes and cyclists have a terrible habit of creeping up the inside on both sides of the road, so I try not to squish them. Its actually really nice to drive, the steering is light and the clutch is good. I also like the driving position, when I get back into my Golf after driving Lucy for 4 hours my Car feels like nothing more than a souped up go-cart. My test is lined up for tomorrow, *hopefully* I'll do fine. I do not enjoy retakes of any kind.

I look forward to next week....

This photo acts as a good metaphor for how close I feel to actually starting, I'm about 20 meters away from the front door of HQ. I'm 4 days from starting training. One is a short walk, one is a short wait.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As is clearly demonstrated I haven't lost an ounce of enthusiasm.

September.

2006-09-24T10:48:00.000+01:00

What has September brought for me?

Daddy Long Legs for a start.
The Fair, and all the associated smells of vomit mixed with candy floss, burgers and beer topped with the screaming antics of drunken teenagers.
The end of a long summer of fun spent with the Missus.
My first shot of Sambucca.
My first day at University.
New shoes!!!
Lots of new people.
A new determination to get fit.
A sense of how young I am.
A sense that despite being young, I'm reasonably mature.
Driving through London for the first time.
Getting to grips with driving in London.
Getting lost in London in my car.
Finding my way again.
Me fixing my MP3 player.
Lots of rain.
Lots of sun.
Wind!
A new exhaust for my car.
A wealth of knowledge gained by reading any one of the many blogs to the right.
A realisation that I use far too many bullet points in posts at the moment.
An intention to stop using aformentioned bullet points.
A very interesting spell in Control.
My first sit in an Ambulance.

I'm sure there was lots more, but it's been quite an eventful month so far. I've been lonely, been happy, been angry and been intrigued. Its only the 24th.

Its nice to be able to reflect, isn't it?

Free Money!

2006-09-22T16:37:00.000+01:00

I love free money. So much. So its great to see that in the post this morning my University has decided to give a £150 bursary. Great!
My bank has finally gotten off its arse and started the process of sending me my 10 free CDs.
I start my C1 driver training on Monday, with my test scheduled for Thursday.

Apparently the Missus has just been in a (small) car crash, she wasn't driving but I understand everyone in the car is pretty shaken up, but not hurt.

LAS Education and Development of Me.

2006-09-20T14:06:00.000+01:00

I start at a training centre in South London on October the 2nd, at 8:30. I finish at 16:30, and then repeat the same process till Friday. Tis a long week. Also a fitness test on the 3rd, but I'm not sweating about it (get it?!) as I feel fit as a fiddle at the moment, having only yesterday ran from my Halls to Wimbledon and back, a good 5 miles I reckon.

It all feels a bit like joining the army:

"when reporting for duty"
"Operational Uniform"

Lots of militaristic terms were being thrown about in the letter I received. The countdown has begun. Carmelo is actually, really, 100% doing it. Who would of thought that?

Diary Entry Part Two

2006-09-20T10:49:00.000+01:00

Here's part two of my diary. Wordy I know, sorry.

My Diary Entry (Part two of two)

Well after last week’s heavy events I’m pleased to say that this week has been much more light-hearted. As to whether this is because the “guy” mentioned last week has been ignoring me or not is something I ponder. I suspect it has something to do with him reading the last entry; he hadn’t started his diary yet and was looking for “inspiration”. Of course I had nothing to hide, and let him read my entry. I wasn’t afraid to let him read it, why should I hide my opinion?

Well I saw him read the first page, but that was all he could stomach. He left immediately, and the worst thing was I didn’t feel the slightest bit guilty. I feel I can only truly express myself through my writing; it’s defiantly my preferred medium of communication. Its part of the reason I keep my Blog online (no URL I’m afraid, I need secrecy), it allows me to comment on things in a way that I can never do in real life. In a way it allowed him to see a clear slice of my point of view, undiluted by the niceties and rules of etiquette experienced in normal life. After that I pretty much left the issue to lie, as I haven’t really been bothered by it.

However, one thing I have been bothered by this week is how young I feel. Initially, being one of the youngest on the course made me feel proud that LAS and the University had picked me, but increasingly it’s becoming a subject of concern to me. Everybody seems to have so much more experience than me, in everything. I dislike immensely feeling like I don’t have the wisdom of age behind me, I feel in a way I’m missing a key part of getting me through this job. On the other hand though, I have no intentions of wishing my life away. I may be young, but that’s not my fault is it? I think the best way to get through this is to hush up and start listening to others. It’s a strange position that I’m in at the minute, being fully aware of how naïve I am, but being unable to do anything about it. I’m definitely too young to start worrying about varying levels of consciousness.
I also believe that my youthfulness may be a help. My enthusiasm for this course remains unabated, despite the others seeming to have a slight lull in concentration as what we are doing at the moment isn’t directly linked to ambulances. In a way that makes me feel mature about various things we do, as I seem to be the only one in the room at times who seems genuinely interested. Again, being patient as I am is a skill I feel quite proud of being so young, so maybe this youth business isn’t all bad, and anyway I don’t pay income tax. So ha.

Writing this without touching too much on the forthcoming essay is difficult, as the series of presentations we saw gave me a great deal to reflect on. I think here I shall reflect on the personalities of people in the group, as the essay is a more formal affair where I’m restrained somewhat. So, let’s begin.
First point, I have even more respect for nurses than I did before. My mother has been a nurse her entire life, and is now on matron level, I suspect that’s the main reason I wanted to go into healthcare. The two guys on the course who are presently male nurses have my up most respect. I realise that male nurses are becoming more and more accepted into our culture, but they seem to still carry quite a burden of stereotype. I feel so envious of how they can work in a culture that seems to be dominated by a feminine view of things and still retain their masculinity. It also seems slightly odd and more to the point ironic that the culture they are going into now seems a much more masculine one, dominated by bad humour. Almost the reverse of where they are at the minute. Brave guys.

Second, and more important point. I get on with every single person. During my life I’ve tended to find I’m very much a person of poles, you either like me or hate me. To be fair I tend to do this to others, so it can only be expected back to me. Which is why I’m still astounded as to why everyone still seems to like me, and I still like them. I know in terms of real time we haven’t spent that much time together, but I feel we all have bonded well. Especially after last night at The Little House. I’ll leave it at I drunk a bit too much. Too much being a single pint. Also in a turn of events I didn’t see coming, the other group from SECAS joined in with us. Up till now I personally saw a slight divide forming, but I now can see that isn’t a problem, as they are a good bunch who seem to me just as fun loving as we are. Every time I leave the group to go back to my little room I think what a great group of people they are, and genuinely look forward to spending the next three years with them living my dream.

Well that’s it. My diary is complete. I’ve moved into University, met a great group, had deep religious debates, missed my girlfriend, eaten well and I now look forward to starting my ambulance module.

Little Old Me.

2006-09-18T22:48:00.000+01:00

Its not often in life that I feel small, (being 180cm tall and weighing 97Kgs, metric I know but I can't work in imperial), so it was startling when it happened twice today.

First incident was in the car on a roundabout near Lord's Cricket ground. This giant green coach just didn't see me at all and nearly squished me inside my Golf against a wall! Its not like I crept up in his mirrors.

Second incident was on my bike, I'm still getting used to riding in London. This HGV again just didn't see me and nearly took me out with the rear end of his trailer, not fun I can tell you. I have a funny suspicion that I'll be attending lots of RTCs when I start doing shifts.

Also, a note to the fat lady in a BMW 5 series, number plate starting GIL 75, you are a silly, fat old hag whom has no right to beep incessantly at others when they don't let you into the lane you want. You were clearly in the wrong, and your Channel Sunglasses were obviously fake.

Emergency Ambulance...

2006-09-16T09:20:00.000+01:00

...what's the problem? Tell me exactly what happened. That's what I heard an awful lot yesterday. Let me explain a little.

Yesterday, myself, the Missus and a few guys from my group went to LAS control to have a look around, with the help of an EMD on the course, mentioned here.

It was incredible.
The room is divided into two sections, the call takers who take 999 calls and transfer requests, and dispatch the other side. London is broken down into sectors, each sector has its own desk for management. In addition to this is the FRU desk, they watch all the 999 calls come in and send a resource if they deem it appropriate. Lastly is the HEMS and biker desk, who again watch all the 999's come in and send help if needed. I never really understood how the bikes are tasked until now, they operate within a certain footprint of central London, and are sent if the dispatcher believes it will be beneficial for the patient to have early Paramedic intervention. This differs from the cars, as a lot of the time they're crewed by Techs as there simply isn't enough Paramedics to staff all the cars. The bikes have VERY loud sirens.

After staring in awe at the organised chaos before us, we were able to sit in with one EMD each and listen to the incoming calls on headsets. I was sat with a lovely lady named Helen. At first, which I was glad about, the calls were mostly transfer requests from wards and Doctor's urgents. First thing, they receive a lot more urgents than I thought they would. Also some of the injuries described by the Doctors sounded reasonably nasty, including an 80 year old lady who had a broken pelvis and arm, yet hadn't called for an ambulance. Another was a request from a ward to transfer a patient with Encephalitis. When Helen heard it she shot me a look of "what the hell is that?!", especially as they wanted a blue light transfer. Once the call had ended we looked it up in the medical dictionary, and discovered two things:

1. That Helen had spelt it right despite never hearing about it before
2. That Encephalitis is in fact swelling of the brain caused by a virus. Its actually quite rare and potentially lethal, obviously the nurse wasn't lying when she said she wanted a blue light run..

After a few requests to transport patients with various ailments, the 999 calls started coming.

My God.

People do not have a clue how to use the ambulance service. At all. In the slightest. A vast majority of the time most of the callers simply wanted a lift. There were two calls that stuck out to me as to genuinely needing an ambulance, one where a man was finding it so hard to breathe he could barely talk, the other where a girl had rang about her diabetic brother who was seemed like he was having a Hypoglycemic attack. The others were from reasonable nut cases, including a man who had banged his knee last night, decided that he had ruptured his ulcers, and wanted a wheelchair. He was sat in Euston station, and then proceeded to give us the most exact description of a person I had ever heard...right down to his army wings, explaining he was an ex-soldier. It also amazes me how most people seem to think throwing their entire medical history at the EMD seems to help matters, this guy starting talking about his GTN spray at which point both of our eyes lit up a little, but we both realised it nothing to do with the present call.

The one call that made me angry was the Hoax. This 16 year old girl gives a full address, contact number and name before starting giggling down the phone about her friend overdosing on something, before hanging up. The worst part was that Helen had to ring them back to confirm if they did or did not need an ambulance, which after some abuse to her they answered "No". Why do people do this?!

Well, while my calls weren't exactly nerve shredding stuff, it was typical that the Missus was sat the other side of the room listening in to every exciting thing happening in London, including a "suspended", where the EMD she was with was talking a man into how to give CPR, and a lady who was stuck in her car after trying to drive to hospital to give birth but started while on the way, in the driver's seat. Another call one of the guys got was a man who had a dog bite to the well, um er, you know..........ouch.

So after spending about 2 hours in EOC the EMD showed us round the ambulances and cars that were parked about. First we had a look inside the Zafira pictured below. It wasn't exactly reassuring that whenever the radio was pressed both the horn and blue lights came on.

The guys (excluding myself, the EMD and the Missus) in front of the dodgy car...

After that we had a look at a spare ambulance, prodding about in the back and front. It was very interesting, bigger than I expected too. I'm sure I'll have more time to dote on the interior details of ambulances later, so I won't bore you with it now.

(My first view from the cab of an ambulance in the passenger seat, I'll probably get bored of looking at it, but I want to savour the moment)

What a great day. I enjoyed myself so much, and sharing the experience with the Missus felt good too. She's now considering becoming an EMD as a career after Uni, bless her.

I learned an awful lot, about how useless the AMPDS system can be, how difficult it can be to understand what the hell people are saying, how stressful it can be, how much abuse EMDs get and how good it feels to hear someone who genuinely needs an ambulance get one. I now have the deepest respect for all EMDs, you guys do a fantastic job, despite having your hand's tied. So to Mark Myers at Nee Naw and Beaker at Not so Newbie at EOC, thank you so much for doing what you do, and despite all the crap you face everyday still being able to smile and be friendly. Cheers.

(This isn't the post all the swearing was about last time, I gave that up as a bad idea)

Hell.

2006-09-13T21:05:00.000+01:00

You know what? I just spent 45 bloody minutes typing a post, 45 BLOODY MINUTES, spilling my heart out and the bloody computer crashed. All of it gone. Completely. I'm now bloody ****** off. I'm off to sulk. Maybe tomorrow I'll try and retype it. Gr.

Religion vs. Science vs. My Conclusion.

2006-09-12T16:19:00.000+01:00

Here's draft number two of that assignment I wrote:

I moved into my frankly dank and rather depressing room, and was feeling rather low, so was glad that the guy across from me was near the same age as me and doing the same course. We had similar tastes in music, and he seemed nice enough. We talked, and met up with a girl also on the course. After the classic student “take a beer and chill” session we decided to go exploring round Tooting.
First point of reflection, I apparently have no sense of direction at all. I always relied on having a good internal compass, yet still managed to get us very, very lost. We ended up 2 postcodes away with a good 3 miles between ourselves and Tooting high street. However, since this situation has occurred I have driven through London numerous times and got lost on purpose, but managed to find my way back on course without the use of maps. I’m reasonably happy to place this isolated incident into a “freak moment” category. I also suspect the addition of alcohol didn’t help all that much either.

Despite this, spirits were high and off we ventured, eventually ending back at the palace that is St. George’s Grove. Since the house is still empty, we occupied the common room, letting the TV fill the uncomfortable gap when we ran out of things to talk about. Until a programme regarding the war in Iraq came on. I made a flippant comment about how the Army was more of a religion than anything else, as the mindset to be able to kill a man was something that needed to drummed into the mind using a highly disciplined doctrine. I didn’t expect the guy I met to demand me to explain myself. I did, and in the process found out that he was a committed Christian. Meeting a person who is so devoted to one thing is a rare event in my life, so I began to ask him questions about his viewpoint on certain things, so I could be a bit more aware.

Classic clashes between science and religion, the theory of evolution, creation and of course aliens all flew into my line of questioning. He answered, but I wasn’t sure whether I was making him feel uncomfortable about the issues presented, his body language said he wasn’t exactly pleased, so I eased off.

In bed that night I reflected on the answers he gave me, and pondered them for some time. When I asked about his views of evolution, he simply stated God made animals and God made Human’s. That was his answer. I was desperate to start ranting to him about the reams of “apparent” scientific evidence, but I didn’t. Partly because I was biting my tongue so hard it bled a little, partly because I was stunned. His absolute conviction that it was a fact seemed near the far reaches of my comprehension. It seemed to him as real as fact that God made the earth in seven days as to me that it was a process that took billions of years.
However, the manner in which he presented it to me seemed slightly arrogant, and when I said that Christianity in general appeared occasionally arrogant, he seemed to care very little, almost reinforcing my view. I still don’t know what to quite think about it all, as I have no wish to insult him. I think the short answer to a long question is just to try and avoid the subject of religion, as views differ so much I can easily see why so many wars are started over it.

Yet on the other hand, I need to be able to reflect on this experience and draw something positive from it, instead of ignoring the issue completely. London is a town full of different views and religions, and I hate being ignorant. First port of call, a definition of “creation”:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creationism

Basically, “creationism is the active acceptance of an origin belief that humanity, life, the Earth, or the universe as a whole was specially created by a supreme being or by supernatural intervention”

So far, I don’t have a problem with that statement. I have no problems accepting that God or something similar created the world; I simply have a problem with ignorance. This ignorance I mention comes in the form of blind belief that some Christians display in terms of the development of the world (as outlined above). For instance I take the theory of evolution.

After 2 years of A-level biology, I see no real reason how this can be a theory, when it is simple enough to demonstrate it inside of a Petri dish with some Bacteria. When I mentioned this to the “guy”, he stated that natural selection was a fact, i.e. survival of the fittest, but that it was a separate issue to evolution. I felt somewhat confused, as he seemed to mean that God created the world X number of years ago, and it has since progressed on since then. This sounds an awful lot like evolution to me.
Yet something inside me says that despite the mounds upon mounds of evidence to suggest the world may have come about in a way stated other than in the Bible, committed Christians will never listen. I think the faith they have over rides all over elements, not so much “clouds their judgement” as it does completely dominate their view. That is something that I don’t think I can ever have. This isn’t something I can accept easily, but grudgingly, something that I must. I don’t feel that I can empathise with the view, as it so polar to my own.
Therefore, in the future, if and when this subject comes about again, I feel I can respond to arguments with a better backing of evidence behind me, but also an understanding of where the other party is coming from.

Realising this I know full well that I can’t change the other’s view, nor would I want to. This reflection and research simply gives me a better grounding on to which I can base and back up my own opinions, and has also clarified the matter for me in my own mind. I now feel I have a comfortable belief about the creation of the universe, one that seems to take into account both religious and scientific ideas. For me, both opposing forces hold the answers to the other’s question. Science can go as far back as it likes, and prove just how old the Universe is by measuring light many thousands of light years away, yet it can’t answer the simple question as to why it happened in the first place. For me, that takes a leap of faith. Yet on retrospect religion needs to heed science. My rational and logical mind sometimes screams out at the blind ignorance some people put in the name of belief. They ignore proof put before them, and it seems to me a somewhat waste of a mind, in a way.
As far as I can see the most powerful gift we have is the freedom to make up our own minds, not do so and rely on the propaganda of an institution alone seems, to me at least, slightly idiotic. People seem to be afraid of making up their own minds, and find comfort in having a higher authority do this for them. I do not.

So, my conclusion to this rant of mine?

I now have a strong idea in my mind about the origins of the Universe, a confirmation in my mind that it is my choice to make that decision and an understanding of another’s viewpoint on the matter. Not bad for my first week at University.

Sorry if anybody takes offense to this.

Is your Cactus dead yet?

2006-09-11T20:52:00.000+01:00

Is the question the Missus has just asked me over a text message. How rude. I'm a vegetarian, of course I can look after a Cactus!

Well wasn't today fun. We sat in the classroom, and we learned all about various learning styles and the roles people take in teams (I'm a Chairman Plant, and an Active Theorist, both contradictions in terms). No really I actually enjoyed it, even if I must admit that I was playing devil's advocate with the lecturer simply for the fun of it. I also started getting to know my fellow students a bit better, and they are an absolutely stellar bunch. I like all of them, well those with LAS anyway.....
...as the other half of the group are with the South East Coast Ambulance Service, and have somewhat segregated themselves from "us lot". I don't really know them that well to be honest. Afterwards we sat in the Pub for about an hour talking.
Somebody mentioned about LAS blogs, only my friend knows that I do this out of that lot, so we both shot an interesting look at each other. I kept quiet, and that was the first time I felt a sense of anonymity about this whole "blogging" experience. Odd.
One of the guys works in Central Ambulance Control already, his stories were fantastic. He also occasionally goes out to drive crews about in trucks to keep up his blue light training in case he needs to drive control vehicles, so it was nice hearing about his experiences. Best of all on Friday he said he shall show us round CAC to see what its like inside, which is good as some of us and the Missus are meeting up to look around London on Friday too. I feel oddly content, yet I have a huge hole in my heart. Being away for so long from my Missus is hard, yet at the same time here I am pursuing my dream. Torn is a better word.

The hindrances of Modern Technology.

2006-09-09T10:27:00.000+01:00

You know occasionally when you do something so stupid you could hurt yourself? Guess what I did...

..This is a "self-scan" checkout. At our local superstore they've been installed for quite some time, and I've been using them fine. Until last night. I was about to pay for our goods using my Debit Card, fumbled and the stupid card feel into the machine!!! The next 15 minutes involved myself and the attendant attempting to dismantle the machine while the Missus stood there looking embarrassed. Did we find it? Of course not.

So off we went to customer services to leave my name and number, and we hear a shriek of excitement. The attendant comes running over waving a card in her hand, I'm thinking "GREAT!".

I then look at the card and realise that its an American Express Credit Card. Not mine. I sighed. And sighed again. Then proceeded to phone the bank, and have the card cancelled while a new one is sent to the bank near my University.

On Friday.

Looks like I'll be writing myself a few checks. I am living by the motto it could have been worse, and at least my money's safe. Also the fact that some other poor sap has obviously dropped their's into the machine too makes me feel slightly better.

I have Returned.

2006-09-08T11:47:00.000+01:00

Well I'm back at home. Thing's weren't exactly "banging" at Uni so I came home a couple of days early, much to the delight of the Missus. I was over the moon to see her again, I missed her a lot. I'm still doing work though, planning for a presentation that myself and my partner are doing to the group in 2 weeks time. Gulp.
I booked my driving lessons and test, so the week starting the 25th of September I shall be driving this for a week, in anticipation of bright yellow things with blue lights:

(the van, not the man)
The problem is that is the week she starts Uni, studying Law. Her parents are off on holiday as is her twin, so she's scared of being alone. I'll try to be there as much as possible to support her, but I know she's strong inside.
Apart from that the Missus got me a University pack that consisted of a bottle of cider, holiday photo album and a cactus. I want to name the cactus something, but I'm not sure what. I suspect that the reason for the cactus was that's all she thinks I can deal with!
I was touched.
She also got a new ipod, and I am grudgingly starting to accept that itunes is quite a good bit of software. I hate being wrong.
I'm driving through central London Sunday back to my Halls, ready for a Monday start. I still stick to my original statement that London driving is bonkers.
Things are progressing.

Wasted Journeys?

2006-09-05T17:25:00.000+01:00

Well today my friend and I decided to try and find the training centre where we shall be, well, trained. Off we set this morning, ready for a long walk. We were following the green kite on my map that indicates an ambulance station. We walked and took the bus and eventually got there:

Bugger. No we didn't. I took us to the wrong green kite. I felt, to say the slightest, idiotic. Ah well. We asked inside and a very nice officer showed us the way on the map to the training centre, even walking out to the bus stop with us to show us which one to take. The bit that made me smile was when he said he was looking forward to seeing and working with us on placement.
Anyway, back on the bus and we did get there in the end:
We walked straight into the ambulance yard, I don't think we were allowed in either, which may explain the funny look the mechanic gave us.
On a more serious note, apparently us vege's are now fair game for eating:

Religion vs. Science vs. My confusion

2006-09-04T20:18:00.000+01:00

I just wrote this for an assignment to do a diary entry (never thought that writing this would come in useful) and thought it was one of the better pieces I had written lately:

I moved into my frankly dank and rather depressing room, and was feeling rather low, so was glad that the guy across from me was near the same age as me and doing the same course. We had similar tastes in music, and he seemed nice enough. We talked, and met up with a girl also on the course. After the classic student “take a beer and chill” session we decided to go exploring round Tooting.
First point of reflection, I apparently have no sense of direction at all. I always relied on having a good internal compass, yet still managed to get us very, very lost. We ended up 2 postcodes away with a good 3 miles between ourselves and Tooting high street. Fantastic start. Despite this, spirits were high and off we ventured, eventually ending back at the palace that is St. George’s Grove. Since the house is still empty, we occupied the common room, letting the TV fill the uncomfortable gap when we ran out of things to talk about. Until a programme regarding the war in Iraq came on. I made a flippant comment about how the Army was more of a religion than anything else, as the mindset to be able to kill a man was something that needed to drummed into the mind using a highly disciplined doctrine. I didn’t expect the guy I met to demand me to explain myself. I did, and in the process found out that he was a committed Christian. Meeting a person who is so devoted to one thing is a rare event in my life, so I began to ask him questions about his viewpoint on certain things, so I could be a bit more aware.

Classic clashes between science and religion, the theory of evolution, creation and of course aliens all flew into my line of questioning. He answered, but I wasn’t sure whether I was making him feel uncomfortable about the issues, his body language said he wasn’t exactly pleased, so I eased off.
In bed that night I reflected on the answers he gave me, and pondered them for some time. When I asked about his views of evolution, he simply stated God made animals and God made Human’s. That was his answer. I was desperate to start ranting to him about the reams of “apparent” scientific evidence, but I didn’t. Partly because I was biting my tongue so hard it bled a little, partly because I was stunned. His absolute conviction that it was a fact seemed near the far reaches of my comprehension. It seemed to him as real as fact that God made the earth in seven days as to me that it was a process that took billions of years. The manner in which he presented it to me seemed slightly arrogant, and when I said that Christianity in general appeared occasionally arrogant, he seemed to care very little, almost reinforcing my view. I still don’t know what to quite think about it all, as I have no wish to insult him. I think the short answer to a long question is just to try and avoid the subject of religion, as views differ so much I can easily see why so many wars are started over it.

Addition: I do believe in "something", and inside I feel very spritual. There is more to life than exsisting. I'm also very sure that the Church is in general a good thing, it inspires good morals and examples to live your life by that are very good. I just don't see why religion and science can't sit happily together, they fill each other's gaps.

Science: The big bang happened don't know why. Duh God!

Religion: Earth in seven days. Fossil record. Skeletons. Carbon dating. Etc. Can't these things be God's work?!

Well here we go...

2006-09-04T18:51:00.000+01:00

First day. Sorted. The people I met were varied and from every background, and not one I didn't like. We did a day of "learning how to learn", involving learning how to write in terms of reflective practice. It wasn't exactly riveting stuff, but I did find out that my first observational placement's start in about 6 weeks, I can't wait.

We were all excited to be there, its nice to be in a room full of people with whom you share a common interest.

Despite the fact that I was one of the youngest in the room, I didn't care. I'm here for me, and intend to enjoy the hell of a ride that I will experience as I carry on, despite the fact my room isn't great.

I'm here!!!!!!!

Here I am..

2006-09-03T22:48:00.000+01:00

Well. I'm here. That's the view from my bed. The people here are nice enough, I just feel homesick and I miss the Missus a lot too. Carmelo is lonely.

Good Afternoon One and All!

2006-09-02T14:06:00.000+01:00

Well, I have returned. After leaving at 6:30am, got home at about 12:30pm. No traffic problems, which was great, unlike the poor people on the other side of the A303 going to the Red Bull Air Race. Silly little people. Nothing quite beats the feeling of flying past a "jam" doing 70...

O I forgot. Tomorrow I move in to my Halls of Residence, and Monday I start. Just like that. Finally I start living the dream, scary stuff.

Well this is it then. No it hasn't dawned on me yet about the immensity of the task before me, but I can't wait to start. I'm also very, very, very, very, very, very scared about leaving all of my loved ones at home, especially the Missus, after a week together I feel closer to her than I ever have.

AND TO MR. DEFIB!

How's that for a British Beach? The infamous Fistral. Newquay's my second home, well it was at least until my Nan died, but I'm still a bit in love with the place, despite the tourists.

I'm also very pleased to see Magwitch has returned to fine form after a missed absence. Welcome back.

Well that's it for now, I'm going to finish packing. I'll post tomorrow with a photo to show you the horror of my room...

Greetings!

2006-08-27T18:40:00.000+01:00

Thought I might share with you what im looking at right now...

Goodbye and Farewell!

2006-08-25T08:21:00.000+01:00

Well, I'm off. Tomorrow anyway, to beautiful Cornwall for a week. Me, the Missus, a fixed car and the open road...or the blocked M25. Well I'm posting this now because I won't have a chance later, and tomorrow we leave at 6am. I might send a couple of photos in, if the scenery's good. Back next Saturday (2nd of September), then moving in Sunday 3rd and I start on the 4th. Take care all, hope everything goes well.

My faith restored.

2006-08-24T08:58:00.000+01:00

Finally Tom Reynold's has returned to his routes.
I read this with a degree of excitement that I haven't felt in a fair few months. This is the stuff I love to read about, patient interaction. When I read this it reassures me completely that I have made the correct decision in life.

O, 50 posts. I'd like to thank my Missus, my Family and all of you lovely people for being so supportive. Here's to another 50...

Shandong Linglong Tyre Company

2006-08-23T11:27:00.000+01:00

You couldn't make it up, could you?

Well. Car troubles are apparent no more, myself and my Dad have just spent the better part of the morning fixing the window. I also got some new tyres, hence the above. Sorry about the lack of ambulance related things, I'm sure in a couple of weeks I won't be able to write fast enough about all the things happening.

And Its Goodbye Subway...

2006-08-20T17:14:00.000+01:00

Finally, I've finished. No more coming home smelling of footlongs (leave it...). FREEDOM!
I was surprised that nothing spectacular happened, no hugely annoying customers, just a quiet day. The God's must be smiling down on me. If there any, one or none.

Sod's law dictates that the day we have torrential down pours of rain, my driver's side window refuses to raise, hence:

Dad's had a bash at fixing it today (my Dad's a mechanical genius 100%), and discovered it isn't a horribly expensive thing like the motor, just a wire in the connection that has been ripped. We'll fix it Tuesday. For the moment, the window is up and duck-taped to the side. Very ghetto indeed. Such fun!
A week off to get my head together, sort out my housing arrangements and pack for my holiday.
Then holiday, for which I have been looking forward to for an age, and then I start. Two weeks tomorrow. Bugger. 4/9/2006.

Happy Birthday!

2006-08-20T08:26:00.000+01:00

Today its Edelee's birthday. She is the nice lady who introduced me to blogging in the first place, and reading about her escapades in and around London is highly enjoyable. Have a great day.

Something that made me laugh

2006-08-18T18:46:00.000+01:00

The Now Show

Download the podcast for the 18th of August or listen to it again, the bit at the start saying how the reduction in air travel caused by the terroist threat means that Al Qaeda has done more for the Kyoto Treaty in the past week, than both the USA and UK combined in the past 9 nine years.

Well done! (Part 2)

2006-08-17T13:27:00.000+01:00

Well, I passed the theory test. Pleased about that.
My exam results weren't outstanding, neither were they disgusting:
English: C
Health and Social Care: C
Biology: D
General Studies: C

Onwards and upwards.

Well done!

2006-08-17T09:11:00.000+01:00

My fantastic Missus has just excelled at her A-levels, straight B's throughout. I'm so proud of her! She's now off to study Law, guess who's the brains in the relationship..

11:30 today I have my theory test for my C1 licence. Oo-er.

After that I'll collect my results, although I'm not too worried, my place doesn't depend on grades but I'm interested to see how I did.

"Glenda Never Misses"

2006-08-15T15:41:00.000+01:00

Ok. So yesterday. Up at 5, at work by 6. Open shop till 11, then mad dash to train station with the Missus. Get on earliest train to London. Next take the Tube to Brixton and walk to King's College Hospital. Here I had my occupational health assessment. Glenda asked the usual questions. Next, she tested my eyes. I have 6/6 Vision in my right eye, and 4/6 vision in my left. I think those are good results. Next we measured my height, 180 cm! Last time I measured my height I was 175cm. Hooray for puberty. Next my weight, and this is the biggest shocker. I lost 7kg! Last time I weighed myself I was a spritely 105kg, her scales said I was 98kg. And I haven't even been trying to lose weight. By the way I'm not obese, I know my BMI is 30.2, but I have lots of muscle. Honest.
Next my bloods, Glenda tried to get the needle in 3 times before succeeding. "Glenda never misses" my arse. Then a urine test, the less of which is said the better.

Bus back to Brixton, Tube to Tooting Broadway. Quick talk to accommodation lady, get a few forms. I'm a £195 deposit away from my room....
Tube to London Bridge. Jubilee to Canary Wharf:

This Docklands Light Railway station at Canary Wharf to Devon's Road. This is where LAS recruitment/training HQ is, and where I had to give my documents for my Criminal Records Bureau check. Saw this cool LAS control truck:

Then went and found the Missus, who had been shopping with her sister. Walked around a few places, got a nice picture of Trafalger Square:

We then went to eat, and went home. I was knackered. Came home, posted that last post and went to sleep. Did a 6-3 today, same again tomorrow. Sunday's my last shift though, then two weeks of blissful holiday, one of which will be spent in Cornwall with the Missus.

More...Tomorrow...

2006-08-14T21:41:00.000+01:00

Went to London, did lots of things. Been up since 5....so damn tired. More tomorrow. Night..zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....

P.S. 1,006 hits. Cheers guys. I know about half were me before I discovered the "ignore me" button, but it still says 1,006. Thanks. Take care y'all.

I'm so Young (and Naive)

2006-08-13T16:17:00.000+01:00

First off:

Nothing like an embarrassing photo from the past to start things off, (I'm Batman, my brother is Robin).
Now, on to the real content. Today at work (yes I know its getting old, but I do actually meet quite a lot of interesting people where I work), it was very boring. As such, we were talking about all sorts. Of course the first thing we talked about was what we had done the previous night, I explained that I went to the Pub with the Missus and some friends, and had discovered this:

(Non-alcoholic because I was driving)

My colleague explained she had gone out with friends, had a few drinks and popped a couple of "E"s(Sorry about the link, my drug lingo isn't exactly up to scratch). I carried on the conversation until I realised what she had just said. The normality of how she just slipped it into docile conversation without hesitation astounded me. I'm not often left speechless. However, I continued the conversation, asking her what its like to do the drug, why she does etc. When I asked her where she got it from:

Girl: "Oh, just Mum"

Carmelo: "Are you serious?!"

Girl: " Well not really my Mum, she isn't a drug dealer. My uncle is."

Astounded has already been used in this post, but nout else says how I felt. I told her what I knew about the risks; spiked pills, Overdoses, kidney damage, brain damage etc. She shrugged it off, "If I die tomorrow I want to be able to say I've tried everything." to which my response was " What if you don't die until you're 80, and wreck your body by the time your 30?"

I felt so naive, she was the same age as me. Yet I haven't even taken a pull from a cigarette.

I have a home!

2006-08-11T17:05:00.000+01:00

So, finally after much persuasion the accommodation lady has given me somewhere to live! I feel a bit better now, like things are coming together a bit. Apart from the fact that I have gone completely deaf in my left ear for no particular reason (probably infection), and a medical to get to on Monday things are going well.

"Where's your anger, your frustration? Are you really Mr Niceguy all day long?"

2006-08-11T08:35:00.000+01:00

At the moment, I don't have it. People like Tom, to whom the above statement was meant for, apparently don't either. So of course I wanted to emulate him, and still do in a way, but I realised I need to be my own person.

"Just like Tom" is a quote that stuck out for me.

I'm not so sure anymore. I'm here to chart the development of myself, and have already noticed changes. When I started, Tom seemed like a "god", I even e-mailed him for his advice on my blog. Now, I feel like he is missing the point a little. An e-mail from somebody has polarised my opinion on my subject,

"the complex interaction between patient & caregiver that gets beneath the stereotype of paramedics as white knights in ambulances."

Hopefully, as this blog progresses I can monitor my development a little. I'm not saying that every post will turn to one of gloom and doom, moaning about society's misgivings, my enthusiasm remains unchanged. I think its just I need to remember that I'm going out into the world to help people, "arms open" if you will, and I think I forget sometimes that people will take advantage of that attitude.

MEDICAL OR DIE!

2006-08-09T23:30:00.000+01:00

LAS: MEDICAL, MONDAY 14TH. BE THERE.

Carmelo: But I'm afraid I'm working.

LAS: TOUGH. ONLY APPOINTMENT AVAILABLE.

Carmelo: Ok, Ok I'll change it, geez....

LAS: GOOD. LETTER IN POST. SEE YOU MONDAY.

(highly edited)

I have heard rumours that the LAS is a bit of a militaristic organisation, until now I had little reason to believe them...

Here's one I forgot...

2006-08-09T09:07:00.000+01:00

Didn't get this photo in. I can't be bothered to plug the phone into the computer so I'll send it by mobile. See I'm not lying when I said I would do a mobile post!

What a City.

2006-08-08T19:51:00.000+01:00

Great day. We drove through central London yesterday (well Dad did), in order to have a look at some rooms. On the way we stopped off at Wembley to find my driving school for my Lorry test, now I can find my way there on my own. Next we went to room number 1, or magnolia box:

Fridge is good. Cupboard to the left behind the camera. It was neat, clean with laminate flooring and felt like a display in MFI. I didn't like it.
Well, we had a couple of hours to kill, so we went to St. Georges, so Dad could talk to the accommodations people. What a difference. The "manager" was there, a very helpful man. I explained to him that my course starts a full month earlier than the doctors, and that my place on it wasn't dependent on grades. He seemed to sympathise, nudges and winks were exchanged. I'll follow that up today. So after this we went to look at the Halls, or what's left of them. Out of 4 blocks, only 2 are left standing as there is a refurbishment programe going on. When we went inside the Halls we realised why. A lovely man called Mohammed guided us round, the rooms were basic but big, and there was free Internet access and printing facilities, a definite boon. The best bit was the entrance to the bathroom, the door was so tiny! We all had a good giggle about Dad trying to squeeze through the tiny doorway. The place was old, but had a good vibe and free parking. I want to live with students.

Lastly we went to a flat really close to St. Georges. We were guided round by a nice Aussie guy, a builder. The place was, to be honest, a bit of a dump. It smelt, was messy, but people lived there. I like "homes" as opposed to "houses". However the place didn't have the net, and the room was tiny.

After looking at these rooms, it hit me how alone I'm going to be. At least in Halls I would be with others who share a mutual interest in something medical, but more importantly are closer to my age. I'll smuggle myself into the Halls.

Now, back to the title. Driving through London is the best way to see it, as you move so slowly (snigger). The place is so alive, so vibrant and varied. Its bonkers too, people drive like maniacs, but I think I'll fit in just fine when I move.

Bah.

2006-08-07T17:16:00.000+01:00

This isn't usually like me, so please don't expect more "grump" posts.

Blogs are featuring quite a bit in the news lately, Tom Reynolds especially with the release of his book ( no link, he has enough. Look at the side bar.). Not to criticise, but this "super-blogger" seems to have lost the point. Every post now is about something media related, each point his ego is mentioned, yet people continue to stroke it. I started reading it because I wanted a good insight into the personal world of ambulances and the LAS, but now all I get is media attention. Its so boring.

If I wanted that I'd read the papers, I thought blogging was almost anti-media in its nature, as everyone could do it.

Bah. I'm tending to ignore it now, especially when I took a look at myself yesterday. Trying to promote my blog by using various sites, to what purpose? I have no wish to reach the levels of stardom that others have, nor the talent. This blog is here for me, if people enjoy reading it that's really great (thanks for the comment defib), but I'm not going to go head over heels to promote it. I enjoy blogging a great deal, so have no wish to stop, but I have no intention of "pimping" this blog out.
No, I'm not being bitter about another's success, nor jealous. I think its a bit more of a disappointment, seeing one's apparent idol "selling out". I know its what any normal person would do, but you tend to forget sometimes that behind the words is a person with needs in the real world.

Right, groan over. Tomorrow I'm going to view a couple of flats, one's run by an Irish guy and the other by Aussies. Sounds like a party.. hopefully I'll take a couple of photos. Might even do a mobile post (shock horror!)

Stereotypes.

2006-08-06T15:13:00.000+01:00

You don't tend to question these until they turn up in your shop, shouting at the top of their voice.
This morning, a black guy came in with his friends. Did the usual, bought food, sat down. I was in the back of the shop, as was my colleague. We have a monitor in the back hooked up to the CCTV system, which allows us to keep an eye on things, as I happened to look up I saw one of his white friends acting suspiciously. I sent my colleague out to check what was going on, and swiftly followed him out when a shouting match erupted. My colleague had accused the black guy of stealing a packet of crisps while he was closing the shop another night, and trying to do the same thing now. Of course the guy had reacted badly to this. Needless to say both were being rude, but I had no wish to get into something that wasn't my fight, but I did want to end it. I told my colleague to go into the back, while I stay on the front. Here I began talking to the guy, being very careful to make my voice as neutral as possible.

"Why are you getting so worked up over a 40p packet of crisps? Do you really think its worth all this trouble?"

"I don't care bruv, I just don't like being accused."

"Too true. In the end I'm not really bothered whether you did or you didn't steal them, for such a small thing I really don't think its worth all this bother."

To which my colleague interjected:

"It doesn't matter, he shouldn't be stealing"

He replied:

"I can't believe this bruv, you see black skin and curly hair and you think I did it? Why didn't you accuse him or him? (both white friends)"

Now that made me stop and think. While those two argued on about CCTV tapes and the Police, I began to question myself. I can honestly say that I couldn't give a rat's arse what colour the skin is, but, I found myself siding with the black guy for some reason. I mean, he fitted into my "ideal" stereotype of a person who would perpetrate such a crime, loud and cocky, but his race argument really struck a chord with me.
In my town, the vast majority of the populace are white working/middle class. This provides a stark comparison to the nearby towns which have a much more diverse make up, which I think helps to bring various people together, I don't really feel I was raised in an ethically diverse environment.
So, in my head a war going on. On one side we have the common stereotype that makes me feel distinctly uncomfortable, yet on the other is a mad machine of Political Correctness, desperate to promote the minority race's over the majority one's, which makes me equally uncomfortable. I think I'm in the middle somewhere.
I try to treat people exactly the same, regardless of situation/context/ethnicity/disability, sometimes though, I feel my self giving the benefit of the doubt to the minority member, even if the evidence points to someone else. Which isn't treating people equally at all, its more of a "support the apparent underdog" complex, which is just as bad.

Headache. Simple solution. I shall become a hermit, no human interactions at all. Simple.

Must also say well done to Mr Jensen Button, the first British F1 win in ages!

Having recently watched Cars...

2006-08-05T16:45:00.000+01:00

...I was left feeling inspired.
Yes I know its hardly mature, and doesn't come close to talk about Armageddon in the nude that
Lola was dreaming about, but I like it.

On a more serious note, something interesting happened outside of work today. Well, on retrospect it was actually rather boring, but we must amuse ourselves. A middle age lady had fallen for some reason or another and was out cold on the road. Luckily two policemen were driving by and offered assistance, saving me going out and "first-aiding". Soon enough an RRV came to help, the Paramedic assessing her and making her comfortable. He didn't look particularly worried about her, so I didn't really pay too much attention. Then the two policemen took to standing around looking useless, poor guys. It stayed like this for a good half hour, people in my shop were making the usual "its disgusting that she hasn't got an ambulance" comments. When I stated that there was a fully qualified Paramedic and two policemen their for her they hushed a little, but didn't stop.
Now while I obviously felt for the patient, she wasn't an emergency. I'm guessing she was at best a Cat. B call, or the nearest ambulance was helping someone who was more in need. Its nice to see the triage system working so well, its just a shame to the public it looked like the lady was being treated badly.

Time Table

2006-08-04T12:35:00.000+01:00

I know you probably can't see it, but that's my time table for the year. If you click on it and zoom it, you can make out things. Its all coming together!

Talking of Tooting...

2006-08-03T10:39:00.000+01:00

...Much progression. I *think* I have found the perfect room. Cheap (£50 per week), close to St. Georges and easy to get to. Hopefully the guy will give me a ring back sooner rather than later to sort out a viewing. I need a home!

Trotting in Tooting

2006-08-01T22:42:00.000+01:00

Today I spent the day trotting around London with the Missus, trying to sort out my living hole. The accommodation lady at St. Georges provided some help, but buying the local copy of Loot seemed to help a lot more. I explored the local area too, I enjoy walking down a street and being one of the only white people there, I like diversity very much. The choice of cheap food around was fantastic too, being a vege round there is going to be very easy. Needless to say all of this was interspersed by Carmelo pricking his ears up at every hint of a siren near by, very pleased when I saw one of the newest LAS trucks coming into St George's A&E on blues.
I also found this on a wall of a car park in Carnaby Street, or near by:
Modern art I can appreciate?! What is the world coming to?

I'm so Young.

2006-07-30T15:55:00.000+01:00

Why do I appear to be one of the youngest bloggers around?!
I look round at hundreds of blogs of various descriptions from all parts of life, and every author appears to be much older than me, at least 25+. No moaning about 25 being "old", don't tell me when you were 18 being older than 25 seemed a distant dream..
Everybody is an undergraduate, a graduate or have found themselves in life with a job, or something interesting to report on. Me, a little 18 year old floating about... I'm far too young to be pondering such things. Maybe "young" people (define that as you will) aren't as interesting.

I also found this blog. After much browsing, I couldn't really understand why this man is so cynical about everything. I don't know if its a cultural thing or what, or possibly just the ambulance sense of humour. However, on reflection I am beginning to think that the accounts draw from the realm of fiction to a degree, I'm sure the events happened in some fashion, just without the narrative that wouldn't feel out of place in a drama series on Fox. I am by no means making any insult towards him, just trying to relate whether or not I will start to show that kind of attitude to everything.

A Proper Working Boy.

2006-07-28T17:49:00.000+01:00

(Format shamelessly stolen from Merys' blog )

5:00- Wake up. Groan. Stumble out of bed, eat something. Check Blog/forums/e-mail.

5:45- Drive to work.

5:55- Open shop, by my-self while listening to the happy tones of Maximo Park.

7:00- Next opener comes in. We set up the shop, chopping things, washing things and baking things.

8:00- Finish setting up shop. Being shift manager (Pah!), means I have to deal with all the money, great fun indeed.

8:01- Open safe, and grumble again because people were lazy and didn't visit the Bank yesterday.

8:30- £1,876.98 counted correctly, ready to be deposited.

8:45- Prepare order sheet for the first of three that I shall be making today.

9:15- Finish. Coke ring and ask if I'm ready to order from them yet, I tell them no and that I'll ring them later. People who work at Coke sound like they drink it all day.....

9:30-10:30- Serve people, eat food, discover yesterday that the lazy gits didn't do the Veg delivery. Bugger. Make desperate phonecall, the nice lady will send me my delivery tomorrow.

10:45- Make little boy and his sister laugh with silly facialexpressionss. Missus pops in for a quick chat and a kiss.

11:00- Discover that it will be me, opener and two trainees over lunch-more work for me.

12:00- Lunch is slow, but due toincompetencee of aforementioned trainees, feels like I'm doing all the work.

14:00- Coke ring again, I tell them I'm not ready yet. They lady is still high oncaffeinee.

14:30-15:00- Race my way through the largest pile of washing up I've seen in a long time. Consequently drenched.

15:05- I phone Coke, and give them the order.

15:20- Hand-over till to evening staff (£3.43 up, yes!)

15:30-15:55- Clean shop, make it look tidy and neat. 5 minutes to go.

16:00- Boss phones. Asks if I can stay late to wait for someone senior to come and supervise the newbies. He says they'll be 15 minutes, tops.

16:16- GRRRRR! Much aggravated toe tapping later, I phone the boss, and ask where is he. Non-committalal response given, so I leave.

16:30- Give fellower opener lift home.

16:45- Come home, watch recorded Trauma Uncut.

17:15- Check Blogs/forums/e-mail.

17:45- Steal idea for post.

18:05- Publish this.

I'm leaving this stinking job on the 21st of August. Can't wait to leave....

Carmelo the Giant Pansy.

2006-07-26T22:59:00.000+01:00

Watching that programme with Gordon Ramsey on Channel 4 tonight. Not to say I was shocked, just shaken.
I don't often use my vegetarian roots as a soap box to shout down moral judgement on the carnivores in this world, so I won't start now. I will however express just how nasty it was to see the eel die. Thinking about this, the career I will be pursing will involve a fair amount of claret, so I suppose I'll just have to deal with it. When I deal with gore in real life, i.e. dissecting hearts/kidneys/livers etc, I don't get squeamish at all. In fact, truth be told I get a little hungry, despite the nasty smell of offal. I think its my inner-carnivore desperately trying to escape.
I have no problems touching meat, yet I couldn't quite place why I was so ruffled by this particular incident. The chef just beheaded the thing, right there!
Maybe it wasn't the actual act, but the brutality behind it. I'm quite a gentle creature, a trait which gives equally as many problems as it does benefits I'm afraid. I think empathy is the main problem...

Although, Salami looks really tasty, as does sushi. I enjoy discussing with the Missus what would be the first meat I would try, so far I have ruled out anything avian, bovine or porcine. That leaves fish, but as the title states, I'm far too much of a pansy to try it.
On the way back from the airport exercise, I killed a rabbit who ran out in the road. I was so upset, I felt like a murderer!
If it takes an accidental death on my hands for me to feel I have turned around and spat on my values, I worry a little bit what I'm going to be like dealing with it on a daily basis.

Sunset

2006-07-26T16:27:00.000+01:00

I know it might not be as good asLola's sunset from Turkey , but I thought it was pretty good for Blackpool. Sorry about the delay, Blogger was being a stubborn child and refusing to upload photos.
The rest of the Photos are now also refusing to upload, there was a good one of the Pepsi Max Big One and some ducks, but alas you shall never see them.
On the accommodation front, St George's have said if I want Hall's, I have to wait for the Doctors and Nurses to be accommodated first. Since only 2 students on the Paramedic course (including myself) have asked about accommodation, we're pretty low priority.
I am also trying to get my C1 licence sorted out (allows me to drive ambulances), including taking another theory test with hazard perception part...great. Then its a week training in a van, a test, and we're done.
Monday was my last night at my local Red Cross centre, and we actually did something interesting. They set up a scenario, involving a simulated motorbike vs. car accident. We were supposed to be first aiders on scene, I assessed the passenger from the bike with suspected spinal injuries. Don't worry I didn't take the helmet off, or even attempt to. And yes I checked his breathing beforehand.
When I do move to South London, hopefully I'll join up with the local Red Cross there. Carmelo suspects he has found a life-time organization, I did think about moving to St. John, but I decided against it. Couldn't tell you why, but I am not prejudiced against "Johnners".

Talking of Johnners, anybody seen the front-cover of Tom Reynold's book?

My first mobile post!

2006-07-23T14:21:00.000+01:00

Above is the best picture I could take of the Blackpool tower. Big isn't it? More photos tomorrow.

Warning: Immature Post.

2006-07-21T22:54:00.000+01:00

He he he. Its so cool!
24" rims on an ambulance!

Blackpool

2006-07-21T18:49:00.000+01:00

Right, so tomorrow Carmelo is off with the Missus' family to meet her Nan and Aunt in Blackpool. Never been there before, so should be an interesting experience. I'll try and get a nice photo of the tower to show you all.

I've been spammed.

2006-07-20T08:09:00.000+01:00

Well. Didn't see that one coming. Every post on this page had an extra comment stating how great it was, with a link to various mortgage and poker sites. This meant reading through all the posts so far, and looking at comments. I would just like to say thank you to everyone for being so supportive.

Don't worry, I'm still allowing anonymous comments, I don't feel its fair for people to have to sign up to Blogger just to add a comment. I just added word verification. In an odd way, it feels nice to be spammed. Maybe this blog is attracting enough attention to be worthy of spam?
Or, more likely, I'm a plonker who didn't put adequate security measures on his blog..

Desidero Che Potrei Parlare Italiano

2006-07-19T23:53:00.000+01:00

As the name might suggest, I am Italian, to a point. My mother hails from
Sicily, more specifically the capital, Palermo. She trained as a nurse over there, but got sick of the hot temperatures, so decided to up and leave with her sister to England. Here she met my Cornish father, and whom I am the product from.
However, my mother decided it would be best not to bring my brother and I up bi-lingual, as she felt that it would isolate my father while we nattered away in Italian.

Why?!

I sorely wish I could speak it, and have wanted to ever since I was little. My mother and aunt always speak to each other in Italian, I have always wanted to understand what they were saying, but alas I cannot. Since turning 18, I have also discovered that I have dual-citizenship, and as such have been receiving Ballot papers for about 8 months now in a language I cannot understand.
It deeply saddens me, so I intend to make a bold effort to learn the language while at University. I feel I owe it to my Italian roots, Carmelo is my middle name, Carmelo Alongi was my Grandfather, I owe him the effort. He died when I was very young, as did my Italian Grandmother, and I have little in the way of Italian family. I very much feel like if I don't act now, my heritage will slip through my fingers, along with a piece of me. This Blog in a way is a tribute to him. In real life I carry the name of my English Grandfather as a forename, so always carry him with me, I think its time I did the same for Carmelo.

Nice Photo

2006-07-19T10:01:00.000+01:00

Feeling a bit down after that awful photo of myself, so here is a slightly more flattering one of me on my 18th birthday:

Late Night Working and What a Nice Lady!

2006-07-19T01:02:00.000+01:00

Having just finished a close shift at work, I took a photo of myself at about 11:45:

Three things of note here:

1) How awful I look at night
2) I look surprisingly Chav-ish..if such a word exists.
3) Do I have a big nose, or is it just me?

If I look this bad doing a 6 hour night shift, I shudder to think how I shall cope doing 12 hour ones. However, I can't wait to find out.

So today I have been doing some ringing around, to try and get money to fund my endeavors. First I phoned the NHS bursaries agency, and was told in no un-certain terms that they did not help out Paramedic Students. It says on the website that the course has to be NHS approved, I asked myself "since when was LAS not part of the NHS?!"

Next port of call was the Local Education Authority (LEA), who deal out the loans to students in their area. I was told I can apply for a loan, which is what I shall be doing tomorrow. Great a day of huge forms!

Finally I rang St. Georges to sort out somewhere for me to live. What a nice lady. She was very helpful, genuinely knew what she was talking about, and said how it can and has been beneficial to Paramedic students to live with other Health workers. It allows people to see the "other side" of health care a bit. Personally I love the idea of studying in a medical institution, being able to bounce ideas of other people who know what they're talking about seems like a good idea. Anyway, she said she shall get back to me within the week and tell about more specific arrangements. She also said how there aren't many Paramedic students about, so the accommodation office tends not to deal with them too often. This made me feel, well, special. Its nice to know that if you persevere with what you want you get it.

Expansion.

2006-07-15T16:53:00.000+01:00

Sorry about the last post. Carmelo is a bit pleased. Here's the letter:

Dear applicant,

Further to your recent interview, I am pleased to advise you that the Faculty of Health and Social Care Sciences wishes to offer you a conditional place on the above course, commencing on the 4th September 2006 (Eeek! That's a bit close..)

The offer is subject to you meeting the following conditions:

Receiving a satisfactory Occupational Health assessment
Receiving a satisfactory Criminal records Bureau disclosure ( I am not a criminal)

To paraphrase; blah blah blah, contact us on, blah blah,

Many congratulations on you successful application. I look forward to seeing you when the course starts.

( An illustration I did at work about how I felt)

Right. That's good. Now to find accommodation, and money to pay for it.

Ahem...

2006-07-15T10:00:00.000+01:00

....I GOT IN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
London here I come!

Exceptionally Beautiful

2006-07-14T19:04:00.000+01:00

I had to share this with the world. This is my Missus.

Photos

2006-07-14T18:54:00.000+01:00

Sorry I didn't get any photos. I tried four times to take photos and each time a man with more pips on his shoulder than the last told me no photos were allowed. Honestly though, nothing amazing turned up, I think the most interesting that was there was this one (or something reasonably similar):

That was from the local fire brigade. The Essex St. John branch also pulled up in a massive command truck, the biggest thing there.

Triage by Firemen...

2006-07-14T18:20:00.000+01:00

So. Yesterday I went to a "major incident" exercise at an airport in Essex. I got into it being a member of the British Red Cross, big perk.
To begin with, we all met up in a building, and were introduced to everybody. The chief fire officer for the Airport gave us a safety briefing, and off we drove to the "crash site". The simulation was supposed to be a German plane that had crashed coming out of the airport, so of course we expected to see a disused aircraft sitting on the tarmac. So when we drove up to a field with a bus in it, I was a little bit disappointed. The bus was supposed to be the fuselage of the plane, and strewn around it for about 100 meters were various bits of real plane, to add some sort of realism. Add to this two stinking great holes, and the thing was set. I was an uninjured casualty. I, along with others from my centre, were told to get into the woods and hide. We proceeded to do so, and waited for about half an hour. Then the firemen poured quite a lot of paraffin into the holes, and used a blowtorch on the fuel. Big fire. Good I thought, its getting interesting.

Next three toots on an airhorn and we were off. I positioned myself near the fence in the wood, to get a good view. Since this was a real exercise, the fire brigade had to come from the airport fire station, a good two miles away. But, sure enough 5 minutes later two hulking great crash tenders turn up and drive into the field, accompanied by the officer's land rover and some other engines. Things continued in this fashion, with various ambulances, fire and police vehicles attending. Curiously I counted at least 6 St. John Crusaders. At this point there looked to be more officers than staff, so I began to wonder in the wood.......

.........twenty-five thorn bushes later I give up, and sat by a tree. And here I sat for the next half hour, playing with my new phone, until some fireman had the audacity to rescue me! Man-handled back through the bushes, I was thrown out of the woods and another fireman places a "priority 3" plastic wallet onto my wrist. I was slightly curious how he could triage me..

More waiting. Except this time in a field. People were getting bored, so started pretending to faint to annoy the various emergency personalle. At this point I was about ready to eat my own hand with boredom, so was reasonably pleased when the bus came to take us to the "survivor reception centre". This trip was interesting, all the way through the airport, without a passport check. Or a bag check. I dread to think what would have happened if one of us had a bomb.

Next we were hoarded into a terminal, and greeted by staff who seemed genuinely surprised to see us. We then waited there for a good three hours, before going to the car and me struggling to drive home without falling asleep. Turns out the staff didn't know about it, and thought they were there for overtime. The moral? Never work in an airport.

Oopps

2006-07-13T00:20:00.000+01:00

Oopps indeed. Typically me, today I decided I wanted the aforementioned phone. So I walked into a well known phone shop, and walked out with the new phone, a better contract and £100 in my pocket to pay off the rest of my present contract. I think I squeezed them dry..Carmelo is very proud of himself.

Hopefully there shall be an interesting post tomorrow (today! Sorry late night posting), going to an Airport to assist as a "casualty" in a major incident simulation. Should be fun (fingers crossed).

Also got a slightly reasuring e-mail from my only current trust, explaining how the mergers had delayed them knowing the boundries of their service, so couldn't yet tell anyone where they are. They're meeting on the 2nd of August, and I shall know where I am by the 5th. This shall then lead to a frantic month of searching for suitable dwellings. Yes!

Still waiting for that letter. Still.

Gadgets!

2006-07-08T17:34:00.000+01:00

I absolutely love gadgets with much of my heart. My favourite gadget at the moment is my PSP:

I got it the day after it came out last year, and have not stopped loving it since. Ask the Missus.
I love fiddling around with it, putting movies and music on it etc.
However, yesterday we discovered a new contender for favourite gadget:
This is the next object of my adoration. Bascially this phone has a great camera (3.2 megapixels!!), but more importantly you can blog from it! It was designed wih Google blogs like this one in mind, meaning I can take photos and write posts on the move, just like Tom does. Had a nice chat yesterday with a man in India about upgrading my present handset to this one, he said in October I should be able to get it for free. So, I must wait. Like the Guinness advert says, Good things come...

7/7/2005

2006-07-06T22:55:00.000+01:00

Just coming to the anniversary of this horrific incident. I watched the entire thing fold out in front of me in the common room on TV, with the same sense of dread that spilled over me when I watched the Twin Towers collapse in 2001. Except this was far closer to home. All I could and can wish for is that the families and friends of the victims and the victims themselves realise the support we all feel for them. Call it praying or whatever, empathy at its most basic level.
Watching it all, the one thing I did feel was helpless. I did not enjoy that at all, in general I am a control freak (terrible I know), but I enjoy power. When I do start in September, hopefully I will start to gain the confidence and knowledge to help people in awful situations like that, instead of staring like a prune at the TV.

Love Pylon.

2006-07-05T23:59:00.000+01:00

Strange title, even stranger story.
My Missus is fretting a bit about me leaving for University. Honestly she has nothing to worry about, even though I reassure her on a daily basis that we will make it through. I don't tend to buy into the whole "long distance relationships don't work" crap, as I see it lots of people see Uni as a way to escape long-term relationships from sixth form/college. However, since I have no wish to "escape" my relationship, I intend to go through Heaven and Hell to ensure it works out, love is a rarity.

Now today I was trying to explain this to her using a diagram..

I was trying to draw a tree, and to show that while the branches of the tree may separate some times, the tree is always one. However, since my C-grade art skills were barely that, the tree ended up looking like an electricity pylon, wires an' all. Great, a love pylon!
Needless to say we both slipped into fits of giggles, coupled with the various childish noises that we make..
In an attempt to improve upon my pylon, she rubbed it out, and replaced it with what looked like to me a house. I said this, and to illustrate my point added doors and windows, very nice it was too. Our house is still up on my white-board in my room. I prefer my pylon.

Licking Ambulances.

2006-07-02T11:24:00.000+01:00

Ok, hands up, I lied. This post isn't full of exclamation marks and the youthful exuberance I was hoping to fill it with, as that bloody letter still hasn't come. Yet.
On to more interesting things ( context sensitive)
Today at work, I saw somebody I really did not expect to.

I'll give a bit of back detail:
When I was 15, I did my work experience with the local ambulance service. This involved a week trotting about the local area in various smelly, old and dilapidated Patient Transport vans. I loved it though, so it was the icing on the cake to spend the last two days on the High Dependency Unit.
Now, on reflection, this wasn't much else than a normal PTS van with some O2 lines and a stretcher lift, but to me this was high tech kit! The guy who operated it was called Rob, along with his partner made me feel very much at home. He really helped me focus the whole ambulance ambition thing, as he wanted it too. At the time he was merely a humble Ambulance Care Assistant, with a bit of extra training so he could give O2 etc, however he had grand ambitions to start the tech course and move over to A&E. So I left that week with a concrete idea of my direction in life and I thought that was it

So, guess who wonders into work today? The crew did their usual trick of pulling up outside ( see here), and in wonders a double-tech crew I haven't seen before.

First thought: word must be spreading of our glorious discounts.
Second: that guy looks familiar. A few moments pondering later, I realise that he might be the aforementioned Rob.

Cautiously, I ask him "Did you use to work the HDU round here?"
He replied "Yes, why?"

"I did my work experience with you.."

"I knew I recognised you! Carmelo, isn't it? How are you?
"Fine, fine yourself?"
"Good, what are you doing working in here?! I thought you were joining the ambulance service?"
"I am, I'm starting Uni in September to study Paramedic Science"

Que a conversation with Rob and his crewmate about the benefits and negatives of in-house training vs university led. It was great!
He remembered me!!
I could see his chest puff out a tad with pride, he had inspired someone. I was also pleased he had done the tech course and got what he wanted.
The crew left with a chorus of "Good luck", so of course sod's law dictates that my voice breaks when I say "Goodbye". Instead of my usual manly baritone, out pops a squeaky adolescent "GoOdBYe!". Idiot.

Wow. Talk about a spur. Lately the whole letter business has been getting me down, but sure enough, everytime I lose a bit of faith, something or other prods me back on the straight and narrow. I know it was only something small, but it helped put a bit of perspective on my short life. I was only 15 when I first met this guy, and even before that I wanted to join the ambulance service, and yet I still have a huge drive behind me, 3 years later. However, now its even bigger than before, the goal is in sight and I can almost taste it.

No, I haven't been licking ambulances.

There's Nout Much Happening..

2006-06-29T17:15:00.000+01:00

Answer's in the title, there really is nothing interesting going on in the world of Carmelo at the moment, so I don't want to waste posts ambling on about things just for the sake of it, I'm here to report about things of interest, if this gets blog gets boring I wouldn't read it, so why should anyone else?! Quick summary:

I'm still waiting for that answer from that University, the Post-man must be thinking I'm his stalker at the moment...
I'm working overtime at the "restaurant", trying to drum up extra cash for the coming winter of discontent, student life abound.
I JUST IRONED MY OWN SHIRT!

(I know, que insults of: Mummy's boy, lazy fat b*****d, chauvinistic pig etc..Extra insults in comment form please, best one wins the satisfaction of the destruction of Carmelo's ego)

In relation to the ironing, I am going to a Leavers Ball tonight with the Missus, and the shirt. No doubt I will as expected act in a foolish manner, as I really, really cannot handle my drink. Unlike the Missus and her twin who can drink like fish..

Apart from that, the next post will probably be a rant/moan/cry about rejection, or more hopefully a happy and enthusiastic one with lots of "YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS"'s in it. Also, time is starting to move awful quickly towards September. One way or another, I'm doing this.

Damn Ambulances!

2006-06-25T18:46:00.000+01:00

Picture this: The Missus and I, in a large supermarket, and outside what do I spy?
Its only an Ambulance!
So what must I do?
Even though I know the local trucks like the back of my hand, I insist of staring at it like it comes from outer space.

O dear.... I have deep, deep problems regarding staring at the damn things. Wish I could tell you why, I suppose part of it is wishing I was driving it, going out there and helping people, also (really, truly geeky part), I appreciate the design. The beauty, if you can call it that, comes straight from function, which then leads into beauty.
However, what this translates from in Carmelo's world into the real one is a freakish fascination with looking at ambulances both in real life and on the internet, and a damn annoyance to the Missus. Can't blame her for being annoyed though, who wants an ambulance chaser for a boyfriend?!
She does though, and always smiles when my entire face lights up at the slightest sight of an Ambulance.. I love her.
I don't know if you could call it a fetish as such, but if it is any compensation my Dad has the same thing, but for Steam Locomotives. There you go, I can blame it on inheritance. Hooray!

Doesn't help that the local crews always come into work for food (we give them a generous discount), parking straight out the front of the shop. Of course I talk to the guys, nice people, but more often than not I find myself staring at the damn vehicle parked out front.

A colleague put it very well when he caught me staring today: "That's your dream car init?" to which I replied "Yup.".

Internal Worries about University

2006-06-21T14:53:00.000+01:00

Here's that expanded post..
Basically, I have an offer for one University at the minute, which, in all fairness is a bit pathetic.

Now while I am extremely glad that I have this offer, something inside me is deeply unsettled about the Uni I have the offer with. Going there will involve leaving all that I love quite a trek away, including my girlfriend and family. I'm sure that some of it is down to nerves about leaving home etc, but the rest of it I can't quite place yet. Which is worrying.
However; I do have a saving grace. I have also applied to another Uni, outside of the UCAS system. This particular Uni does everything I want, I so desperately want an offer from them that I am quite willing to do nasty things to people in order to get one..
But, I don't have that offer yet. I eagerly await the post each and every morning, and will continue to do so until I get an answer. Being honest, having been rejected from 5 Uni's so far is disheartening to say the least, but we live in hope.

The Joys of Hayfever.

2006-06-18T15:13:00.000+01:00

ATISCHOO!
I hate, hate, hate, hate having this weakness. Suppose in a way its poetic justice. I've been a life-long vegetarian, so now the plants have taken revenge for me munching through their kin. Its also a health hazard, driving and sneezing is not fun in any way, shape or form, but we must soldier on. Much exam revision to be doing, huge, I mean HUGE exams on Tuesday, although I'm sure that if anybody out there is reading this, they are sick of students moaning about exams, so I won't. I signed up for them didn't I?

Also lots of internal worries about accommodation at Uni, but I'll make a bigger post of that later.

Working with Fast Food

2006-06-16T17:23:00.000+01:00

At present, I work in a fast-food restaurant (it shall remain nameless for the sake of privacy), now while I don't really mind the work, lots of people seem to find it degrading. I think it has something to do with the snobbishness of this country that occasionally surfaces, something that annoys me quite a bit. The place I work at is generally quite quiet, the people are pleasant and during the day the CD player is mine.
Yeah sure I do get the occasional member of the public who complains, or is drunk, but being honest I think its just good experience for later in life.
When I do work, I tend to do the actual job with the lower half of my brain, leaving the top half to concentrate on laughing/joking with friends, and to interact with customers. Also working where I am means I don't have to take the tube and risk what happened to edelee today...

Jogging

2006-06-16T09:29:00.000+01:00

In a desperate bid to try and get a bit fitter ready for September, I have been trying (and surprisingly), succeeding to go for a run more often. Having just got back from one of these runs feeling hot, bothered, smelly and refreshed, I have discovered that there is something unusually relaxing about it. Jogging along a pavement isolated in my own little world of headphones, listening to the new Red Hot Chili Pepper's album, or various podcasts (so pleased I worked out how to do that), is a great feeling. I might look like a bit of a pillock jogging along, but I like it.

HOWEVER; The flip side of jogging, especially along the road, is that you are often much closer to death than you would like. The route I take goes along a country lane full of blind bends, the number of close-shaves I have already had is frankly worrying. At least if I do get knocked over I get a ride in an ambulance... I know its sad.

The Infamous First Post

2006-06-15T23:06:00.000+01:00

Hi, welcome to Carmelo's world. As my blurb has said, I want to become a Paramedic. This ambition has been sitting inside since I was very young, my Dad said at a very young age all I wanted to be was an "ambulance doctor".
I still do, and I am finally pursuing my dream. At present I am an A-level student, just finishing things off. I have applied to various Universities to study Paramedic sciences, with varying degrees of success.......
To this end I have and have always had a slightly strange infatuation with ambulances, which serves as a constant spur to my ambition, and a constant annoyance to my girlfriend. While being slightly unhealthy I am very glad that I'm not alone, as Edelee (http://www.edelee.blogspot.com/) shares it with me.
I have become brutally aware of the various prejudices facing students on these courses, something that does concern me deeply, but unfortunately I do suspect I will encounter this during my time, but wish to be proven wrong on more than one occasion. During this process I have no doubt that I will grow up, and will also develop the rather twisted humour that many ambulance staff enjoy so much.

Ok then, that's it for the moment. This blog will probably be a little bit dead until September when things begin to hot up, but no doubt I will find myself commenting on various events in my world and the rest of it. Saddle up kid, its only just beginning....