Sunny summer

Nights this week, saw lots of multi agency working with the Police and Fire and Rescue Service. Thanks to our partner agencies for their help and support. Joint working = patient focused = better patient outcomes.

The hot weather has already led to several water related incidents both locally and nationally. With school holidays in full swing there are likely to be more. Working in a coastal location these risks seem part of everyday life however tragedies can occur in inland bodies of water. Please remember although it may be hot on land or on shore, water and sea temperatures still remain cold.

The RNLI run their respect the water campaign to high light the risks of water. google RNLI Respect for information and advice.

The school holidays and good weather always lead to an increase in visitor numbers to the local area. This leads to an increase in incidents, so please choose wisely and think do you need an emergency ambulance?

Hopefully the good weather will continue, have a good week and stay safe.

Its good to talk

This week has seen me catching up with some admin tasks as well as covering the operational commanders role.

We have several new starters in our sector and as a team we try to ensure they feel welcomed and help them find their feet in what must be a daunting first few weeks. All new starters will have a trust induction process prior to them coming to us. Locally we also run an induction day specific to our area. We also have a booklet which new staff are given with all sorts of useful information and contacts in. Those of us who have been in the service for sometime take a lot of this for granted but knowing how to complete your time sheet or claim your travelling expenses are important and often mind boggling when you first do it, add this to the normal everyday pressures of a new job and you can see why it is important we support our new starters.

All new starters in our sector will have regular meeting with their Operations Officer to  ensure they are supported and to identify any issues which arise. These  meetings form part of the probation or preceptorship  process.

Looking at support the Trust also have a staying well service which allows any of our staff direct access to a confidential support network. Staff are able to self refer and access counselling, physiotherapy and other services.

Support is a bit of a coverall description and can vary from a quick hello how are you, to formal meetings. As an Operations Officer this is a large part of my role, but all staff have a part to play in the support process. it may be that one of your colleagues notices you are struggling and I would hope they will do something to help.

                            
Those of you of  a certain age will remember Buzby and his slogan "Its good to talk" this is a true now as it has ever been.

Stay safe and have a good week.

Decompression Sickness (The Bends)

Covering days as Operations officer this weekend has seen me juggling incidents with staffing.
Crews have been dealing with a variety of incidents across the patch. It has also been busy with events which also increase our demand.

The local coastguards and lifeboats have also been busy with a variety of incidents including sinking yachts, persons in the water and divers with decompression sickness.

Decompression sickness, also called the bends is caused by Nitrogen bubbles forming in the bloodstream and tissues of the body, these bubbles occur if a diver moves from deep water to the surface to quickly. Symptoms normally occur soon after the dive has finished and can include headache, vertigo, fatigue, rash , joint pain, weakness, paralysis, breathing problems, shock, unconsciousness and even death .Locally most divers who show symptoms of Decompression Sickness are flown by the Coastguard helicopter to the landing site at Whitecliff where they are met by a an ambulance and specialist dive doctor from the decompression chamber. Once assessed and transferred the divers will normally be placed in a decompression chamber.
A decompression chamber is a steel tank that can be pressurised. The pressure in a decompression chamber can be increased by closing the doors and pumping air in.During treatment for decompression sickness,typically the pressure is increased to correspond to the pressure found 18m under water. The diver breathes pure oxygen through a mask, which improves exhalation of nitrogen.  Pressure in the chamber is reduced gradually until the diver reaches surface pressure again.Treatment typically lasts between five and six hours.Throughout treatment a specially trained helper stays with the diver in the chamber. The diver's condition is closely monitored by further examination of coordination and balance, sense of touch, etc.

 What if you or a friend have symptoms?

• Stop the dive and keep calm.
• If the diver is unconscious, give first aid.
• Summon the emergency services immediately.
• Breathe pure oxygen if possible.
• Avoid over-exertion.
• Drink plenty of liquid.
• Any unusual condition after a dive could be decompression sickness.
•  So if in doubt, get medical help.

Emergency services clearing the landing site at Whitecliff ready for the arrival of the Coastguard helicopter with two divers on Saturday.

Have a good week and stay safe.

Choose well

After some leave I am back on nights this weekend and normal service is resumed. The past week or so have been fairly turbulent with the EU referendum, political upheaval, football results as just a few of the headlines.

Locally the summer events season is in full swing with beach volleyball this weekend and sand polo next headlining this month, many smaller events take place around the area aiming to promote local groups and often raise much needed funds for projects. In my normal way please try and support these events.

As we move towards the school holidays our trust area sees a huge increase in population from visitors and this leads to an increase in demand on our service. Plans are in place to deal with these increases and a mainstay of this is public education. There are alternatives to ambulances available to provide care and if we can direct people to these which ensure that we have resources available to respond to the most urgent cases.

Please think is there another source of care you can choose rather than 999?

Stay safe and hopefully you will not meet any of our crews.