One of the interesting things on my patch is family dynamics...
It's not uncommon to find people married to their first cousin and not just in the asian community.
The really interesting ones come from the white british english population though.
I've been to one family where the child's parents were brother and sister. one where mother and son lived in a two bedroom flat, but only had one bed. And tonight i went to a girl who might be pregnant and lives in a one bedroom flat with her 'official' boyfriend and his brother. The two blokes are quite happy about the fact that they are both sleeping with the same girl!
And many more where siblings act more like a couple than relatives.
One thing all these have in common is that they all seem very happy. I guess families that play together do stay together...
(Except the asian ones who reject the forced marriage to a relative and get beaten for 'dishonoring the family')

Tags: ambulance, social comment

the other day i parked my ambulance in a bus stop as there was nowhere closer to the address that was safe to park.

upon leaving i met a Traffic Warden and the following exchange took place;

TW - you've been here an hour...
Me - so?
TW - so, you can't park here.
Me - err, yes, i can.
TW - no you can't, it's a bus stop.
Me - yes i can, it's an ambulance.
TW - but you can't park in a bus stop.
Me - yes i can, i can park anywhere i like so long as it's not dangerous...
TW - well i was going to give you a ticket cos it's been an hour!
Me - go on then.
TW - what?
Me - go on, give me a ticket for parking my ambulance in a bus stop.
TW - i will next time...
Me - you can this time if you like
TW - next time.
Me - no, really, if you feel that strongly about it....

at this point the traffic warden skulked off.
so angry was he that while i was clearing down from the job i watched him issue two parking parking tickets to other vehicles also parked in the same bus stop... two busses!
that's right, this jobsworth traffic warden actually issued parking tickets to two busses parked in a bus stop!

Tags: ambulance, social comment
Current Mood: amused

Thank you mr pizza hut delivery man, it was most fortunate that you
were delivering to the house next door to one of our jobs tonight and
it was even more fortunate that the order was wrong. You didn't have
to give us the spare pizza, but rest assured that it was most
appreciated and really helped us through this night shift. Thank you!
:)

Tags: ambulance, social comment

Ok, so what's she drunk tonight?
Right, and which of the 5 pints, 6 bottles and at least half a dozen
assorted shots do you think was drugged?
You don't know... Ok, when did she last eat?
Oh, so she had a sandwich for lunch...
No dinner? Ok, back to my original question... Oh, so she's never like
this? Not even when she's drunk at least twice the recommended weekly
intake of alcohol for a woman?
Ok, yes we'll take her to hospital, we have no choice but to allow her
to be a burden to the NHS...

Tags: ambulance, social comment

part of the nice thing about blogging is the feeling of being in a community with fellow bloggers, only from where i'm sitting that community is getting smaller. i know that there are millions of blogs out there some strictly about certain things, others (like mine) are a bit more random, but when you actually know the person behind the blog, it kinda links you in a bit more.
but the 'social networking' scene seems to be killing off the blog (at least in my circle of friends), the ease of which you can update your status or post to a site like Facebook, myspace or Bebo means that people are more inclined to update that than a blog. i know, i do.
when updating this, i feel almost duty bound to write more than just the 1 or 2 words you can stick on a status update and therefore, knowing that most of my readers are also facebook friends it's easier just to update that...

so why am i talking about this? well people i know are letting their blogs slide. i can't blame them, it takes time and effort to update and often go a week or more with no update. what i would like though is suggestions of blogs to read. i already have quite alot,there's a link on the right of this page, but few are personal blogs.

Tags: social comment

it was surprising the other night wasn't a full moon, perhaps some people's lunar cycle was distrupted...

while myself and my crewmate were sat by the motorway waiting for some bloke to decide whether or not to jump off a bridge, another crew were dealing with a remarkably similar job a couple of miles down the road (clicky)... the thing with suicides is that if someone's doing it in public, or threatening to do it, then generally they won't do it. more often than not if someone says they've taken an overdose then they've flushed their pills down the loo. it's the quiet ones you need to worry about.
i've seen a few attempted suicides now and only 1 successful (a hanging). most of these genuine attempts have been really nice, ordinary people and what's tipped them over is something small - the straw that broke the camel's back.

pills is the common one, but the problem with that is that your body will reject them and you'll end up vomiting most of them. the commonest pill is paracetamol and it's possible the worst. an overdose of paracetamol is unlikely to show any effects (except vomiting) in the first 24 hours, then the pain will start as your liver begins to deteriorate, you will become jaundiced, confused and eventually pass out. it'll take a week of agony to die from a paracetamol overdose. this is similar to most over the counter drugs, pretty much all of which have some sort of antidote.
prescription drugs are a bit different and may cause loss of consciousness quickly. on the other hand they may just cause confusion and incontinence (making you really wish you were dead). others may leave you a vegetable for someone else to care for for the rest of your life.

wrist cutting is very painful and it's rare for someone to actually cut through the radial arteries. most people also cut in the wrong direction...

hanging - if done properly is most effective, if you want to spend your last moment clawing at your neck for breath... most people don't set the drop long enough to break the neck so they suffocate. if you do set the drop right, it might not kill you, it may just leave you a quadraplegic.

jumping off something high - people usually change their minds when they get up there, especially if people gather to watch.

drowning is nigh on impossible unless you make yourself some concrete boots or something.

hosepipe from car exhaust - unless it's an old car, don't bother. modern fuels and catalytic converters are designed to reduce the output of carbon monoxide. you may cause some lung damage though.

gun in mouth - don't unless it's a shotgun, then it's pretty damn final.

the thing to remember about suicide is the impact on others. if you're successful, some poor soul has to find your corpse and that person is usually a family member. you'll not only take your life, but a large chunk of theirs too. if you're unsuccessful, you may become dependant on and a burden to others for the rest of your life.
i used to think of suicide as the cowards way out, but this job has shown me that a genuine attempt takes a lot of guts - not that it makes it any less of a cop-out in my book.

wow that got morbid... sorry. i only intended to mention the jumpers and then write about happy stuff...

Tags: ambulance, social comment

In Sweden it is called Alla hjärtans dag ("All Hearts' Day") and was launched in the 1960s by the flower industry's commercial interests, and due to influence of American culture. It is not an official holiday, but its celebration is recognized and sales of cosmetics and flowers for this holiday are only bested by those for Mother's Day.

In recent years, Romania has started celebrating Valentine's Day. This has drawn backlash from many groups, reputable persons and institutions but also nationalist organizations who condemn Valentine's Day for being superficial, commercialist and imported Western kitsch.

In Finland, Valentine's Day is called Ystävänpäivä which translates into "Friend's day". As the name says, this day is more about remembering all your friends, not only your loved ones.

In South Korea, there is an additional day for single people, Black Day, celebrated on April 14.

In Saudi Arabia in 2008, religious police banned the sale of all Valentine's Day items, telling shop workers to remove any red items.

Tags: social comment

this is why you should wear your seatbelt. very low speed crash, but injuries made worse by 2 heads hitting the winscreen... the damage at the top of the A-pillar is where the fire brigade cut the roof.

Tags: ambulance, photography, social comment

it looks like over christmas i was one of the estimated 1-200,000 people a week to be struck down by the stomach bug norovirus and it's not really surprising why when we're seeing people with it on a daily basis...

i've stolen this bit from the bbc...

What causes it?

Winter vomiting disease is caused by infection with the small round structured virus (SRSV), also known as the Norwalk-like virus or norovirus.

SRSV lives in the gut and is passed from person to person by poor hygiene after using the bathroom - not washing hands properly after using the toilet and then touching toilet handles, seats, door handles and so on.

It can also be spread when someone vomits and small aerosols containing the virus enter the air.

What are the symptoms?

Only very small amounts of the virus are needed to cause illness and it's easily spread in closed communities, such as hospitals, schools and cruise ships.

The incubation period is usually between 24 and 48 hours. This is followed by severe and sudden projectile vomiting, diarrhoea and fever symptoms, which last about 48 hours.

How's it treated?

Although the infection's unpleasant, it's rarely dangerous. There's no specific treatment, but rest and drinking plenty of water are recommended.

Practising good hygiene by washing hands regularly reduces the chance of passing on the infection. People with the winter vomiting bug should stay off work while the symptoms persist and for about two days afterwards, when they're still infectious.

so i was one of the few people i know who lost weight over christmas and now i have the battle to keep it off. not easy when i have a new crewmate who's partial to junk food and biscuits...

Tags: ambulance, social comment

dad's operation has been given a new date, 26th November for the 27th. the time i'm to go on holiday.
i've been told to go anyway and as it's not like i'm performing the operation, so i'll do just that. looking at Cuba!

i had my flu jab today. you're not supposed to have it if you're unwell and last time i booked it i was ill. today i was fine until just after i'd had it! i quickly developed a temperature, nausea and stomach pains. been in bed most of the day. mum went to the doctor's today too, so asked about my 'reaction' to the jab. turns out that i've just been unlucky and what i've got isn't a reaction to the jab, more likely a coincidental stomach bug. great.

the flirting attempt i mentioned a couple of posts ago went down like a lead ballon :-(

i'm fast becoming addicted to Facebook (profile's under my real name), yet don't actually seem to do much on it. i just like to know what my 114 friends are up to (and unlike myspace that's 114 people i actually know!) and sharing photos is fun, especially when they're embarrassing to someone else!

it was an old friend's 30th on Saturday and we went for a very nice Chinese (the ribs were fantastic!), then to a bar (in which there were too many men and butch women for my liking), then on to a nightclub which smelled like vomit masked with bleach. i'm willing to bet cigarette smoke would have just about covered the smell...

it was an even older friend's 30th yesterday so that involved my 4th (5th?) consecutive trip to the pub in as many days, just as well i've got a bit of time off. i've also got a list of jobs to do, which weren't helped by a day in bed!
i've done 1 important thing though, i've filled the hole the birds were using to get into my celling. the noisy buggers woke me up once too often, now if they want to get in, the've got a couple of feet of expanding foam filler to get through!
my list also isn't helped by the fact that the pimp has leant me his PS3 for a week (he's just got an Xbox 360) and i have to say that Resistance: Fall of Man is pretty sweet, as are the demos of Gran Turismo and Tekken 5. Transformers the Game on the other hand sucks.
i was going to check out the Bluray movie quality today, but forgot and instead watched Next (clicky), which i enjoyed and Zodiac (clicky) which i found to be rather dull.


it's crew this coming weekend, i think there will only be a few people there, but it's our Christmas do and a guy's leaving do on the Saturday night, which should make for a very drunken night, except i'm doing the parental taxi thing on the Sunday morning... oh well, i'll have to make up for it on Friday night!

Tags: dad, movies, social comment
Current Mood: tired