“”No one holds your hand tighter than someone trying to hold onto their life”

I seem to recall these being the cheesy words of wisdom used somewhere in a trailer/advert for the overtly hysterical, typically gun-ho yet rather unsuccessful USA tv drama series “Trauma“.

What a croc-o’-shite!  As I sat there having my hand slowly crushed into diamond proportions by the superhuman strength of the patient laid beside me, I couldn’t help but think these words being further from the truth. Continue reading →

What is going on with this country!?

I’ve written about attacks on ambulance staff before- namely the night when I was gobbed in the face by a complete twat and then later attacked by a drunken man.

But it seems that attacks are on the increase.  Within the space of less than two months there has been a student paramedic assaulted with a baseball bat and then a technician attacked and knocked unconscious by a drunken man.  And these are just the ones making the news!

Continue reading →

I was on my way heading out West with a shell of a car to swap for a complete one.  That meant it had nothing on it for a medical emergency – other than my paramedic bag.  Technically this means I’m “off the road” due to not having the correct resources to deal with medical emergency.

However, being the geek that I am, I have a modified medical bag that allows me to effectively carry everything that would be in the O2 bag (including the oxygen) as well as my paramedic stuff.  Heavy yes, but once on your back it’s fine . . . it’s just I need a fork lift bloody truck getting it there!  So, I had a full bag, with O2, plus tech drugs and paramedic drugs.  In an empty car.

So then, I did something stupid . . . Continue reading →

I had the pleasure of bumping into Brian Kellett (aka Tom Reynolds) the other week on a job way out east. Continue reading →

I was Green Mobile (ready for a job) in the Red 1 Only period of my night shift.  This means it’s the last fifteen minutes before the end of shift (in the unlikely event you didn’t get a break) and to give you a fighting chance of getting off on time you can only be given the calls that are almost guaranteed “not breathing” or “cardiac arrest”.  We call it the Red 1 Roulette.

Sadly, I didn’t win this time . . . Continue reading →

“I’m gonna do it!  I will!  You ain’t stopping me!”

“I’ve not doubt you will David*.  But can we at least just talk about it first hey?”

I took another step toward my patient but he turned and ran off down the road.  I watched helpless, as David would occasionally attempt to step into the paths of oncoming cars.  Thankfully, his cumbersome actions were so ridiculously obvious to the motorists they simply slowed down and carefully maneuvered around and continued on their way, only a small portion of bemusement added to their night.

My patient quickly disappeared out of view leaving me standing perplexed and alone. Continue reading →