A Day in an Ambulance

On Monday, I was fortunate enough to be able to spend a 12-hour shift with an ambulance crew. A buddy of mine's a paramedic and he arranged for me to be signed off.

What an interesting day! If anyone else gets the chance, I'd reccommend that you take it. (And I'd also like to make it clear that I'm not "speaking out of school" here because I'm not mentioning which borough or county service I was with).

The first call was an old lady, and without a doubt this is the fastest I've been in a moving vehicle when there are other cars in close proximity. And I must admit that it took me a while to get used to it. Charging up to red traffic lights at 70 m.p.h. when there are a number of other cars in front of you is a little unnerving.

But these guys know their stuff. They told me that they always expect other drivers to do the most stupid thing. And a lot of the time they seem to live up to expectations. However, because it's expected the ambulance driver doesn't get mad or stressed out about it. In fact, they'll even go so far as to virtually control other driver's decisions by their own actions. While driving down a country lane (okay, so I wasn't in central London) my mate kept the blues on but held back from switching the siren on because he didn't want to scare the car in front into stopping on a bend. Only with a fairly straight road in front of him did he consider forcing the other driver to pull over.

There's hardly any eye contact with other drivers either. Every road junction is a game of chess. Just finding a way to force the ambulance through without putting anyone at risk.

The second call was a hanging, followed by two more old ladies, an industrial injury on a building site (the guy had to be crane-lifted down from up high), a road traffic accident that we couldn't find (false call with good intent), another old lady, and the final call was what's known as a DNR, which stands for Do Not Resucitate. In other words if the guy started to go, the family didn't want him resucitated. But without a letter to cover his @!#$, my buddy opted to keep the guy alive.

These chaps make a serious difference in people's lives on a daily basis. Once the doors are shut, they go to work on the patient - sticking needles in, checking the ECG levels, administering oxygen etc. They have to know exactly what drugs to give and exactly what amount.

They go through a year's training (three month intensive followed by nine month hands-on) to gain their Apprentice Ambulance Technician qualification. At the end of that they take a lot of exams - well, they're taking exams right the way through, of course. If successful, they become Ambulance Technicians. If they then opt to become Paramedics, then there's more classes, revision and exams. My mate is now airborne three days a month, which required further tests.

They're virtually doctors, although only receive a small percentage of a doctor's salary. A doctor, of course, has to have vast knowledge. They have to diagnose and treat. These guys only handle emergencies. They save lives.

By the time we arrived at the last call, the doctor was there and had tried six times - I repeat SIX TIMES - to insert a needle. She handed it over to my buddy to do, which he did. However, doctors don't generally insert needles. They have nurses for that. Each ambulance crew does this several times a day.

Talking of this. What would you imagine is the most dangerous task these guys perform? Attending pub fight? Drunks? No. The most dangerous operation they perform, and one they perform with absolutely no rush NO MATTER WHAT THE CIRCUMSTANCE is passing a used needle from one to the other. It's a call a sharp. And they always verbally call out where they're placing a sharp if for some reason they can't reach the incineration bin. "Sharp on the floor," for instance.

I got involved in everything, helping out wherever I was required (which doubled the danger of passing sharps), although I know enough to keep out of the way when necessary.

A fascinating day. Many cups of tea went undrunk. Many sandwiches were left on plates to rot.

These guys deserve more money.

Do you know that one ambulance man/woman gets attacked every day throughout the country. Recently a couple have been stabbed.