Reading between the blogs

Since I came back to my blog I've also been reading lots of other ones again too.  Lots of exciting ones from members of the emergency services in general, and in particular EMS ones.  Those of you who know me will know that's my particular area of interest, for several reasons.  Many years ago in another life I worked in an emergency admissions unit, on the receiving end so to speak.  I also spent a number of years as a volunteer with St John, and included some ambulance work as part of this.  This was also a lot of years ago, in my other life. 

Back in the old days St John weren't seen working alongside the regulars as they are today.  If we turned up at a hospital there was lots of tutting and most were looked at as glory hunters making the most of being given a tiny bit of power.  I was lucky enough not to be tarred with this brush for a couple of reasons.  Firstly they knew me from the EAU, I spent enough time there without having to look for more reasons to visit.  Also I crewed with a guy who had a day job with the regulars, so again there was no mileage for him in being there.  They knew if we turned up it was because we had no other option for transport and the patient actually genuinely needed to be there.  We had quite a reputation for not being a drain on the organisation's resources as we rarely turned a wheel other than to the event and back to base.  Part of my standard patient assessment questions were always "How did you get here today?", and if it became apparent they may need a trip to the hospital I'd have already worked out how we were gonna get the patient to the relatives car so they could take them.

I do sometimes miss those days.  I miss not knowing whats coming through the door next.  Seeing different people every hour never mind every day.  The banter with all the different professionals you encounter as you go about your business.  I guess that's why the blogs interest me, seeing how much has changed and how much is still frighteningly the same.  I also have a number of good friends and relatives who do the job, so my interest comes from there too.  I know its not all glamorous and exciting, but it makes me realise how very mundane my job can be!

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