Holidays

An early blog this week as I am off on holiday for 2 weeks. By the way if anyone would like a long range weather forecast let me know, as after several weeks of dry sunny weather, first day of my holidays and its raining. This is a normal occurrence when I book leave!

This week saw me as Operational Commander / Bronze officer for 3 days and attending a variety of incidents including a collision between a bus and car. Only 2 minor injuries, 1 dealt with at scene and 1 transported to hospital for further checks.

Another incident saw joint working between ambulance crews and Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue to extract a patient who had fallen whilst working on scaffolding. Great patient focused team work soon saw the patent safely packaged and on the ground, ready for onward transport to the hospital.

When I use the term "packaged" I don't mean cardboard boxes and packing tape. The term packaged means ready for transport and this can be simply that the patient is on a carry chair and blanketed ready to get them out of a property. It can also mean as in this case the patient was secured on to a combi board and immobilised before being placed in a basket stretcher. One of the most difficult tasks that ambulance crews can face is how to get a patient safely from their current location to the ambulance, they  have a variety of equipment directly available to them and also via other agencies.

              Carry chair                  Combi Board

       Stretcher

Above are the basic tools of the trade for moving patients to the ambulance.

This weekend in Bournemouth also see the Bournemouth Air Festival an annual event drawing huge crowds to see some spectacular flying all for free.

Whatever you are doing over the next couple of weeks enjoy the bank holiday weekend and stay safe. Normal service will be resumed in a fortnight.

Summers here

So it seems summer is finally here and a heat wave is predicted for next week. The local area is busy with visitors and locals making the most of our beautiful part of the world.

Our local lifeboats, coastguard and lifeguards have all been busy over the past few weeks with Poole lifeboat being tasked every day for ten days running. The local fire and rescue service have also been busy with several heath fires and persons reported dwelling fires.

The NHS ? we have been busy with our normal level of demand added to by visitors to the area. All of our emergency services and also voluntary agencies work hard to keep you safe and assist you. Many of them going about their tasks in the background, our unsung heroes.

With the increase in demand please ensure that you choose well when deciding if you need to call 999 or is another option more suitable?

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue gaining access to a flat to begin a search for the occupants.

Who you gonna call?

Some ideas to help you decide.

Have a good week and  enjoy the weather. Don't forget the sun tan lotion and a hat.

Weekend days

A lovely day on the south coast today with lots of visitors around.
A incident at the local airport this morning saw a light aircraft land safely.
Also tasked to a local park for a cardiac arrest on arrival patient was conscious and breathing after great bystander CPR and two shocks from a community defibrillator. Patient now in hospital. Well done to all involved.
This incident shows the importance of early CPR and early delivery of shocks. Could your business,school or club house a community defibrillator if so contact your local ambulance service.
Apologies for the lack of blog last week was a bit busy.
Enjoy the sunny weather and stay safe.

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.