health and safety, eat your heart out

[llywela]

Isn't the weather foul at the moment?

We had rather a dramatic day in work yesterday, when one of our fellas slipped in the car park in a heavy hailstorm and couldn't get back up. An ambulance was called and we were advised not to try to move him...but then the ambulance failed to turn up, and time was dragging on and on and this chap was still lying out in the open on the freezing cold, wet, concrete ground in the middle of a hailstorm! We piled coats on him to try and keep him warm, someone found a foil blanket, and we unearthed a couple of tarpaulins to create an impromptu shelter. The hail was torrential at one point, lying thick like snow; there was thunder and lightning, too. It was awful.

The ambulance depot is a 5 minute drive from the office, if that. The hospital is 10 minutes away. We waited an hour and forty minutes before a paramedic arrived in a so-called 'rapid response' vehicle. It was two hours before an actual ambulance finally turned up to take the injured man to hospital, after he'd been lying on the ground in the hail all that time. Appalling! Luckily, he seems to be okay, although they kept him in hospital overnight; he's popped his knee, but nothing more serious than that. It could have been worse - he could have ended up with hypothermia!

Not good. Not good at all.

Comments

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

Oh my gosh that's .... ACK! It's scandalous and depressing that's what it is ... that your colleague's injury wasn't compounded by lying in the cold and wet is totally thanks to the rest of you.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Scandalous and depressing just about sums it up, really.

[bagpuss1966.livejournal.com]

That is seriously shocking. :/

I'm glad he's okay.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Aye, indeed. Popped ligaments in the knee is bad enough. If he'd developed hypothermia on top of that it could have been quite nasty.

Boss and I decided to invest in a few foil blankets to keep in stock just in case of future emergencies, if response times like that are what we can expect!

[(Anonymous)]

And that is just how bad things are in the NHS these days. Not the fault of the guys on the ground, but the so-called management. I'm glad it was no worse, but it does just make you wonder how quick they'd be in a real emergency.

Carol

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

The ambulance depot is literally two streets away. Through city centre traffic that's about 5 minutes. There were four phone calls altogether and they kept assuring us that we were the top priority. Well, if two hours is top priority, I'd hate to be at the bottom of the heap! Madness.

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

Living where I do way out in the country, we kind of expect to wait a while for ambulances and we have First Responders in the town who are usually there quickly and can take charge. But where you are that is just appalling! Thank goodness he had someone there to look after him and he wasn't more badly hurt. As you say, not good at all.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

We had a First Responder show up in his rapid response vehicle. It took him an hour and forty minutes! And then he had to radio in to say 'are you actually sending an ambulance because they really do need one?' And once he'd had that conversation with despatch, the ambulance arrived within 15 minutes. From the depot two streets away.

[kelzies.livejournal.com]

That's bloody shocking. Terrible that the poor guy had to wait so long - freaking disgrace. I'm glad that he's okay.