social media

I don't mind admitting that if 3 years ago someone would have told me I would be using Twitter and Blogging I would have looked at them as if they were speaking a strange language!
Now I use Twitter every day having over 130 followers and Blog once a week and people do look at my blog.
I often wonder why people follow me or read what I have to write? I can only assume they enjoy my wit, charm and excellent pros. No thought not! I think people follow me for the same reason I follow other social media users, as it provides a source of information sharing in almost real time across a huge audience.
Almost any event of note around the world appears on social media platforms as they happen. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Need to get information to people in a hurry? Twitter, Facebook are all used by large organisations and members of the public to warn and inform. The darker side of social media use is cyber bullying and the like.
Do the benefits out weigh the disadvantages? Yes I think they do and whatever happens social media is here to stay in its various formats. This means that going forward all organisations and companies will be likely to have some sort of internet and social media presence.
Social media is increasingly being used to spread safety messages and to inform people what is going on in their local area. The importance of this has not been missed by the health community and more and more health care organisations are using various platforms to keep people up to date with important information.
These social media presences need to be developed to ensure a high level of followers in the day to day posts and  tweets, so that at times when important messages are posted they are seen by a large audience.
So why do I tweet and blog?  I use social media for many of the reasons above, it is a good source of information, it allows me to inform people about my role and what I do, it allows people to understand some of the problems faced by emergency services and voluntary agencies. It is also useful to put across safety messages on a variety of subjects.

Thank you to all of you who follow me and take the time to read my blog.

A thought to leave you with.

Changes

This week I have been on days and dare I say it there seems to have been an improvement to handover delays at our local acute hospitals. The one thing this helps is patients both once they get to hospital and also those out in the community. There can be many reasons for this, whatever the reason hopefully it will continue.
In the news is the latest development over the  junior doctors contract. I hope the positive talks lead to a solution. The final answer to this dispute will have far reaching effects across the whole of the NHS and ultimatley patient care.
This week saw a huge change in the weather from hot sunny days to torrential downpours across parts of the area, these caused hazardous driving conditions and localised flooding. Glad to say locally this did not lead to too many incidents
Locally the events season has started with the  Poole Boat Show this weekend proving popular.Next weekend sees the Bournemouth Rugby 7's festival and the following weekend Wheels in Bournemouth. throw in the bank holiday weekend events around the area and you could say summer has started.
For those of you who are local and read my outpourings one of the things that has been an ongoing issue for several months is the A338 road works. Love them or mostly hate them hopefully by the time you read this the contraflows will have been removed and two lanes in both directions, new smooth road surface, shiny road markings. Yippee!!!! Don't get too excited as the 40mph speed limit will remain in force for the next week. There will continue to be complete overnight closures to allow completion of work which can not be carried out with live traffic running and also some lane restrictions during the day. The road is due to open overnight on Friday 27th May. Those of you who are not local are thinking what is all the excitement about? Imagine the closure of the main route into and out of your largest town or city, think about the increased journey times, the diversions and inconvenience this would cause. That's why the locals will be excited and happy.
Looking forward to next weekend the weather forecasters are predicting good weather and also allegedly the hottest summer for 100 years. I think we have heard that before, hands up if you still have the barbecue you bought last year on the basis of the same promises!! The better weather will see more people out and about and on the roads. Please take time to look for other road users and share our roads safely.
 For those of you planning trips away have a great time and stay safe. For those of you who are working, thank you and stay safe.

Poole Harbour Islands Safety Group

I attended a recent meeting of the Poole Harbour Islands Safety Group (PHISG), I represent the ambulance service on this group. Other members include the island owners, their representatives, local police team, marine police section, representatives from Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue, the Harbour Master, local council emergency planners and county emergency planners.Other specialsts also attend the meetings as needed.
As you may know I am lucky enough to live close to Poole Harbour and in my life before green I was a licensed passenger boat skipper in the harbour, this helps me understand the problems living on an island and the logistical access problems this poses. Poole has five main islands which have a multitude of uses; holiday home for the owner, rental holiday cottages, oil production as part of the Wytch Farm oil field, visitor attraction attracting up to 2000 visitors a day. As you can see each will have its own specialised and unique risks which have to be addressed. Add into the mix, a busy commercial port and lots of leisure and recreational users, the harbour on a sunny Saturday in the summer is a very busy place!
Although physically close to the mainland there are logistical problems accessing any of the islands and all involve a boat crossing, however further difficulties can be encountered due to the shallow waters of the harbour and tides.

Ariel view of Poole Harbour looking north from the harbour entrance

The PHISG was bought about after a serious fire destroyed a house on Green Island, this highlighted the difficulties faced by the emergency services responding to an incident on an island. Since its formation much work has been done between all those involved. All islands now have fire fighting equipment including hoses, pumps and protective clothing to provide a first strike against fires occurring on the islands. This is in addition to what was already in place on Brownsea and Furzey islands. There is also a agreement between the islands that they will provide help and support to the other islands if needed.
All inhabited islands now have a defibrillator and residents / staff have received training in its use and basic first aid, this again allows immediate help to be given to any casualty prior to the arrival of the ambulance service.
Much work has been carried out around communications between all the members of the group so that information can be shared quickly and easily, particularly relating to crime prevention and marine incidents.
Something else the group considers is the red squirrel plan. The harbour islands are one of the last remaining strongholds of the rare red squirrel and to unsure their survival plans are in place to deal with disease , predation or loss of habitat. These are reviewed regularly in light of any identified or potential risks.

Night shifts

After days off it's back in to three weekend nights this week. Nights bring a different type of incident to day shifts. Yes you have the normal medical and social type jobs but added to these are alcohol related incidents.

Alcohol fuelled incidents whether it be assaults or misjudgment of your ability to jump , run or fly all add to the workload of all the emergency services. As many services struggle to cope with normal demand should pubs and clubs have to pay towards providing extra resources for their customers? This is a contentious subject and much debate has and continues to take place around the problems alcohol causes. It must be remembered that any costs incurred by the licensing trade will be passed on to the consumer. Will this lead to a reduction in incidents? I don't think so I think it will lead to more people drinking at home which will lead to incidents being spread over a far wider area.

This idea of drinking at home can already be seen with many people having 'pre drinks' before they go out and also on recent New Years Eves with many people having parties at home rather than attending formal events.

Is there a easy answer, probably not. Many popular night time locations have joint iniatives  to provide 'booze bus', 'safe bus' or similar to reduce Emergency Department admissions and to give revellers a safe environment in which to recover from their excesses.

By far one of the largest and most modern units of it type is the Bristol based alcohol recovery unit funded by the licensing trade and supported by the emergency services and local authority. As well as providing medical and legal support to revellers, street pastors are also available to talk to. This multi agency approach provides support on many levels and is proving very successful.

It is hoped that more of these types of units can be funded and set up in other areas. 

Any projects such as this which reduces demand on the emergency services has to be good idea, but I also feel revellers need to take responsibility for themselves and their friends and know their limits. Is this something that needs more public education? Most people know the 'FAST' adverts but how many remember the 'Know your limits' campaign?

I also attended a Poole Harbour Islands Safety Group meeting on Friday and more about that in my next blog.