Christmas is coming!

As I write this we are in December and another year is fast drawing to a close. Where has the year gone? What have I achieved? What did I miss out on doing?

This year seems to have flown by with lots going on throughout the year with Exercise Velocity a highlight for me. Day to day duties proved challenging in the early part of the year with hospital handover delays, demand carries on increasing and we have had the introduction of the electronic patient records system along with Mobimed monitoring, alongside a new response bag system. All of these have been on top of the everyday issues. Staff have dealt with this admirably.

We have recently had the coldest weather of the year so far and this will increase demand on all services, I wonder if this is a sign to of things to come? Looking forward this month will see party season moving in to full swing in the run up to Christmas. Please consider how your going to get home and as throughout the rest of the year don't drink and drive. As an aside to this road side detection of drug driving is also on the increase with many more roadside tests being carried out.

Just a thought about cold weather , please make sure you check your car before setting off and ensure that your windscreen and lights are clear. Please also adjust your driving to suit the conditions and drive to arrive.

I have only just seen this on the TV and thought I would share it with you

straight talking and to the point!!

As always stay safe

Multi agency working

Yesterday saw me at a meeting of the Poole Harbour Islands Safety Group. We meet twice a year to discuss issues and problems facing the inhabitants of the islands. There are around twenty full time inhabitants this number can swell to over two thousand when the visitors decend on Brownsea Island.
Just because you live on a island doesn't mean you don't get ill, suffer accidents or other emergencies. You can still.be a victim of crime or have a fire. The inhabitants still dial 999 , 111, 101 or contact their GP in the same way that you and I do. They also expect the same level.of service although all realise the logistics of living on an island will impact on this. So this is where the PHISG comes in to ensure as responding agencies have robust plans in place to respond to the island communities.
The group is made of of the emergencies services , island owners and staff, the harbour commsioners  and other interested parties. Good progress is being made with all the inhabited Islands now having defibrillators and training , fire fighting equipment and training. The plans produced by both the islands and the responders are reviewed and in the new year we will be holding a table top exercise to validate these plans and seek improvements. 
Planning is well underway for this and it should prove to be an interesting  day for all involved.

Stay safe and remember Xmas is coming.

Training and rain

This week saw CBRN refresher training and this weekend as operational officer for East Dorset.
It's already been a busy day across the patch with hospital handover delays and heavy rain adding to the mix.
As I write this it is throwing it down outside and according to the forecast it is set to get worse overnight please make sure you drive to the conditions.
As much as our crews are a friendly bunch they would rather not meet you.
As you know I have a couple of pet hates drink driving and mobile phone use while driving, this week has seen a concerted national campaign to highlight the dangers of mobile phone use while driving with multiple prosecutions across the country.
You take the keys off someone you think is drunk but not a mobile phone? Both can lead to fatal events and the sooner people realise this the sooner our roads may become safer.
As always stay safe

Remembering

My thoughts this week are for all those involved in several tragic incidents across the country, those who have lost their lives, those that are left behind and those who attend as part of their job to protect and save us.
As part of a service which provides this care I feel incredibly proud of those who I work with, across all of the responding agencies and not to be forgotten the voluntary groups who provide hours of support both during an incident and after it.
The time after an incident can be the most difficult to deal with both for the victims , their families and the bereaved. It can be months years , if ever that people begin to come to terms with the tragic events they have been exposed to.
You may have noticed that I didn't include the responders in that group; "Its our job" , "I'm OK" and similar are often heard. This is not the case and we are just as likely to affected by an incident as anyone else Our green superman or whatever colour uniform you wear does not make us invincible!
All agencies have in place a support network to enable staff to speak to someone if they have been affected by a incident or things that may have built up over a period of time.
It is not weak, it is not failure, it is not brave to bottle things up. In fact it is the complete opposite to recognise that you need to talk to someone and ask for help.
Using the old British Telecom line again "It's good to talk"
Today is also Remembrance Sunday and will see those who have fallen in conflicts across the ages and the world remembered for their sacrifice. Included in this will be all those from the emergency services who lost their lives while doing their job and protecting us.

Please take a moment to remember all those who have given their lives to protect us whether during conflict or on home soil.

For The Fallen

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill: Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted,
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain,
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

Laurence Robert Binyon, 1869-1943

Thank you have a good week and stay safe.

A bit of a rant

Another week nearer to Christmas!!!
This week has been a contrast in days frosty starts and sunny days. One day hardly a phone call the next the phone practically red hot.
Wednesday was a chilled day with the normal things to deal with  staff welfare deployment issues, liaising with hospitals and attending incidents. Thursday right from early doors the phone did not stop ringing, not content with using our dedicated duty officer number, my normal work phone was busy to.
The clocks going back means darker evenings, and despite it actually being dark I still cyclists without lights. Please if you are a cyclists or know a cyclist please , please make sure you have lights, bright clothing and a helmet.
As those of you who know my real pet hate is drivers using mobile phones. I'm sorry but nothing is that important that you need to use your phone while driving. Drink driving is considered socially unacceptable so why do people consider the use of a phone to be OK?
My personal view is; caught using your phone while driving equals a automatic 28 day driving ban and a retest. Would that be enough of a deterrent? I think so.
We all need to remember that driving is a privilege not a right and we all need to do our bit to contribute to safer roads.

Rant over! Stay safe

Joint working

Good morning all I hope you have had a good week. This weekend sees me covering lates 1100 until 2100. This shift normally brings a variety incidents and taskings.

Hospitals always seem to be busier over the weekend ( not a proven fact it just seems like it). As operations officers we liaise with our local hospitals to avoid and manage handover delays. East Dorset has two acute hospitals in our patch and this can often prove challenging. Our operations officers meet with both hospitals on a weekly basis to discuss any problems which arise and to work out solutions or changes to practice. These meetings are in addition to our daily contacts to deal with issues and potential problems as they occur.

The past few weeks has seen a large number of serious incident in East Dorset, which has seen joint working between all responding agencies. As more JESIP (Joint Emergency Services Interoperasbility Program) sessions take place over the coming months this will give the opportunity to train more commanders and refresh others in key skills.
JESIP ensures all commanders from the responding agencies use a common and systematic approach to command of an incident. All agencies will have their own roles and responsibilities at an incident but JESIP aims to ensure our initial multi agency response is more organised, structured and practised. Regular use of the JESIP principles at incidents and training exercises means that the principles are embedded into our every day practice and become second nature.

More information about the JESIP program can be found here www.jesip.org.uk/home

Regular meetings with organisations outside of our immediate teams also enables networking to take place and relationships to be built up which can only be beneficial to joint working.

The overarching aim of all our meetings, exercises and joint working at incident is to benefit patients and improve their outcomes by working together.

As always stay safe and don't forget it will be darker earlier due to the clocks going back.

Normal service is resumed

Sorry for the lack of blogs over the last couple of weeks, things have been a bit hectic at home and very little to report work wise.
Back on nights this weekend which will bring it's normal variety of incidents.
Movements and secondments within our team has opened up the opertunity for Lead Paramedic secondments. I had the pleasure of interviewing this week along with a college.The standard of applicants was high and all aquitted themselves well. Congratulations to the two who will be starting immediately and those in the pool for the new year. It is good to see staff develop and stretch themselves by taking on new roles or responsibilities.

Following  several incidents in our patch over the last few weeks please take care when on the road and remember driving is a privilege not a right. Several high profile road traffic cases have come to court  this week all of which resulted in lengthy bans and  upto dial sentences. However this does not undo the effect one action has on a family and neighbourhood.

Whatever you are up to stay safe.