Seven calls; one assisted-only, one running call and the others needed an ambulance.
A chunk of concrete (it looks like a missing tooth) came away from the roof of the Selfridge building in Oxford Street. It fell over a hundred feet before exploding on the pavement, inches from a 17 year-old girl who was walking underneath at the time. This happened in daylight, when shoppers were out and about and it was only by sheer luck that she didn’t get seriously hurt. In fact, she escaped without a scratch.
This has happened before; last year a man was killed outright when one of these blocks came away and landed on him. Fate seems to have saved the lives of this girl (and many others if this had happened on a busy Saturday).
I got this call as a ‘please investigate’ after someone dialled 999 and said that a friend had called from Oxford Street to say that someone had been hit by a car. Control thought it might be a hoax, so sent me to check it out. I sped down there to find the police around the area, cordoning the pavement off and tending to this emotional wreck of a girl. Her friends were with her when it happened and they all looked a little shocked.
The police told me that they had received a call saying a bomb had gone off. Now it all made sense – the sound of that large brick shattering after its long and very fast journey to Earth must have been so loud that people in the distance had mistaken it for an explosion or the sound of a car hitting someone at speed – thus the calls.
I handed her over to the crew when they arrived and took this picture because I think something needs to be done about this urgently. Apparently work was carried out to check the integrity of these slabs after the man was killed but this has obviously failed to make things safe for people walking below, so maybe they should consider the design of this area of the roof. Maybe they should all be removed and replaced with something less hazardous or secured in some other, more permanent way.
I had started my shift with a call to a 50 year-old man who collided with a van whilst riding his motorcycle. The force of the impact ripped the number plate from the van and his ride was totalled. He was lucky enough to escape with a fairly minor leg injury and the only real hazard was the lake of petrol that was on the pavement. The LFB soon arrived to clear that up, however.
Then a 52 year-old woman with DIB but there was already a MRU and ambulance crew on scene, so I was not required and bowed out gracefully.
I witnesses an ugly little scene on my way back to the station. Again, in Oxford Street. A woman (a tourist in her 60’s I think) was crossing the street and didn’t notice a cyclist coming towards her as she walked into the road. I heard the cyclist shout something at her and then plough into her, knocking her down. She fell quite hard and the cyclist (and bike) tumbled after, entangling them in the road. I was going to see if I could help but they both struggled up. The cyclist had been underneath the woman, so he pushed her, quite aggressively, so that she rolled away from him. It was a very undignified thing to see. The poor woman stood up, dusted herself off and then was treated to a volley of verbal abuse from Mr Cycle man. Totally unnecessary in my book. I thought cyclists were calmer people because they got out more. Obviously I’m wrong.
A call to a 37 year-old with palpitations was a non-starter because, once again, the crew were ahead of me and I would have been a spare part.
Childbirth is a natural thing, we all know that but a first time mother with no family support needs reassurance. A 27 year-old, pregnant with her first child, single and without a family network, called the ambulance service because she felt faint and dizzy. She told me she had tried to get in touch with her midwife but couldn’t get an answer. In desperation she dialled 999. She was genuinely apologetic about it but didn’t know what else to do because she didn’t understand that the way she was feeling is part of the normal process of pregnancy for mothers. I helped her understand that everything was normal (all her vital signs were good) and the crew arrived to reinforce that. She went home much happier.
If you vomit once, it’s probably nothing. If you vomit twice then it’s probably worth resting and getting over what might be a stomach bug or food poisoning. If you vomit almost continuously for three hours, I suggest you have waited far too long to get it checked out.
A 40 year-old man was claiming this when he called us to a train station after slumping in a corner and telling staff he had been throwing up all over the place. I couldn’t understand why, if he was already out and about, he would wait so long and not take himself off to A&E. He waited three hours before doing anything about it, then decided an ambulance would be the right choice. Oh and he admitted eating lobster earlier in the day.
While I was at the station, doing my paperwork after the vomiting man, I was asked to take a look at a PCSO’s hand. He had been bitten by a drunkard as he tried to move him on.
He came out and showed me the injury; it was small and nasty and would certainly need to be cleaned but it also represented a potentially serious health risk to him. If the guy who had done this had HepB, Hiv or any other nasties, the cop could contract an infection through the wound. I arranged to take him to hospital myself while cops arrived by the van load to take care of the culprit.
I went into the station and spoke to the vagrant who was now lying, pinned down by the police, on the station concourse.
‘Do you have any medical issues. Any infections or diseases?’ I asked.
‘Yes’, he spat.
‘What?’
‘F**K off, I’m not telling you!’
Then he started kicking the police officers who were restraining him. I know one of these officers well – she is a friend of mine from Waterloo Train Station, where she is based. She is a big, strong woman and kicking her in the stomach, which is what our violent vagrant did, is a bad idea. She launched herself on top of him and he was flattened to the floor. He could breathe but he wasn’t going anywhere or kicking anyone again.
I took the PCSO to hospital and he waited to get checked out. He’ll probably need to give a sample of blood and the vagrant may have his taken so that any risk can be assessed and dealt with. Strangely, they call those who bite or inject us with their bodily fluids 'donors'.
After all that excitement, I got to go home...on time.
A chunk of concrete (it looks like a missing tooth) came away from the roof of the Selfridge building in Oxford Street. It fell over a hundred feet before exploding on the pavement, inches from a 17 year-old girl who was walking underneath at the time. This happened in daylight, when shoppers were out and about and it was only by sheer luck that she didn’t get seriously hurt. In fact, she escaped without a scratch.
This has happened before; last year a man was killed outright when one of these blocks came away and landed on him. Fate seems to have saved the lives of this girl (and many others if this had happened on a busy Saturday).
I got this call as a ‘please investigate’ after someone dialled 999 and said that a friend had called from Oxford Street to say that someone had been hit by a car. Control thought it might be a hoax, so sent me to check it out. I sped down there to find the police around the area, cordoning the pavement off and tending to this emotional wreck of a girl. Her friends were with her when it happened and they all looked a little shocked.
The police told me that they had received a call saying a bomb had gone off. Now it all made sense – the sound of that large brick shattering after its long and very fast journey to Earth must have been so loud that people in the distance had mistaken it for an explosion or the sound of a car hitting someone at speed – thus the calls.
I handed her over to the crew when they arrived and took this picture because I think something needs to be done about this urgently. Apparently work was carried out to check the integrity of these slabs after the man was killed but this has obviously failed to make things safe for people walking below, so maybe they should consider the design of this area of the roof. Maybe they should all be removed and replaced with something less hazardous or secured in some other, more permanent way.
I had started my shift with a call to a 50 year-old man who collided with a van whilst riding his motorcycle. The force of the impact ripped the number plate from the van and his ride was totalled. He was lucky enough to escape with a fairly minor leg injury and the only real hazard was the lake of petrol that was on the pavement. The LFB soon arrived to clear that up, however.
Then a 52 year-old woman with DIB but there was already a MRU and ambulance crew on scene, so I was not required and bowed out gracefully.
I witnesses an ugly little scene on my way back to the station. Again, in Oxford Street. A woman (a tourist in her 60’s I think) was crossing the street and didn’t notice a cyclist coming towards her as she walked into the road. I heard the cyclist shout something at her and then plough into her, knocking her down. She fell quite hard and the cyclist (and bike) tumbled after, entangling them in the road. I was going to see if I could help but they both struggled up. The cyclist had been underneath the woman, so he pushed her, quite aggressively, so that she rolled away from him. It was a very undignified thing to see. The poor woman stood up, dusted herself off and then was treated to a volley of verbal abuse from Mr Cycle man. Totally unnecessary in my book. I thought cyclists were calmer people because they got out more. Obviously I’m wrong.
A call to a 37 year-old with palpitations was a non-starter because, once again, the crew were ahead of me and I would have been a spare part.
Childbirth is a natural thing, we all know that but a first time mother with no family support needs reassurance. A 27 year-old, pregnant with her first child, single and without a family network, called the ambulance service because she felt faint and dizzy. She told me she had tried to get in touch with her midwife but couldn’t get an answer. In desperation she dialled 999. She was genuinely apologetic about it but didn’t know what else to do because she didn’t understand that the way she was feeling is part of the normal process of pregnancy for mothers. I helped her understand that everything was normal (all her vital signs were good) and the crew arrived to reinforce that. She went home much happier.
If you vomit once, it’s probably nothing. If you vomit twice then it’s probably worth resting and getting over what might be a stomach bug or food poisoning. If you vomit almost continuously for three hours, I suggest you have waited far too long to get it checked out.
A 40 year-old man was claiming this when he called us to a train station after slumping in a corner and telling staff he had been throwing up all over the place. I couldn’t understand why, if he was already out and about, he would wait so long and not take himself off to A&E. He waited three hours before doing anything about it, then decided an ambulance would be the right choice. Oh and he admitted eating lobster earlier in the day.
While I was at the station, doing my paperwork after the vomiting man, I was asked to take a look at a PCSO’s hand. He had been bitten by a drunkard as he tried to move him on.
He came out and showed me the injury; it was small and nasty and would certainly need to be cleaned but it also represented a potentially serious health risk to him. If the guy who had done this had HepB, Hiv or any other nasties, the cop could contract an infection through the wound. I arranged to take him to hospital myself while cops arrived by the van load to take care of the culprit.
I went into the station and spoke to the vagrant who was now lying, pinned down by the police, on the station concourse.
‘Do you have any medical issues. Any infections or diseases?’ I asked.
‘Yes’, he spat.
‘What?’
‘F**K off, I’m not telling you!’
Then he started kicking the police officers who were restraining him. I know one of these officers well – she is a friend of mine from Waterloo Train Station, where she is based. She is a big, strong woman and kicking her in the stomach, which is what our violent vagrant did, is a bad idea. She launched herself on top of him and he was flattened to the floor. He could breathe but he wasn’t going anywhere or kicking anyone again.
I took the PCSO to hospital and he waited to get checked out. He’ll probably need to give a sample of blood and the vagrant may have his taken so that any risk can be assessed and dealt with. Strangely, they call those who bite or inject us with their bodily fluids 'donors'.
After all that excitement, I got to go home...on time.
Be safe.
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8 comments:
Many thanks for your help that night and taking me off to Tommys' Got the all clear after a booster of Hep B and Tetanus and a weeks supply of anti viral tabs to keep me going. He's been charged with 1 common assault on security guard, 1 abh on me, 1 3 counts of theft, and 1 assault police and breach of asbo.
PCSO Waterloo . ( Ro is our Coordinator ).
Headset
Glad to hear you're well. Good to know he got what he deserved. I had no idea you guys were reading this blog, so you caught me out there!
I've know Ro for a year or so now. Give her my best and tell her I'll pop in for a coffee soon...honest!
Something similar to what happened at the Selfridge building happened here at the United States Supreme Court within the last couple of years. A large portion of marble facade came crashing down on the steps of the courts, just in front of the main entrance. Frightening to say the least. Marble is not supposed to just fall apart. Anyhow, they did some cleaning, and then affixed some type of special netting that isn't too distracting and I think this helps....You can see the story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10238765/
Don't knock all cyclists - we're not all aggressive loudmouths. I was knocked off my trike yesterday by a hit-run driver, sorted myself out, got myself to the local minor injuries unit, then was collected by the Other Half and taken the hour's drive to the big A&E.
I was lucky - fractured clavicle, ankle strain, lots of bruises and superficial abrasions.
But, I was definitely not aggressive or abusive, although I suspect the driver of the van that hit me probably is.
stonehead
Why do cyclists take what I say personally? I don't get annoyed when someone knocks drivers because I know there are some real bad people out there.
I know that some cyclists are considerate and careful, I just don't get to see many of them, I'm afraid. You really must go into London and watch them, then tell me how unreasonable I am being.
Are you telling me that what that man did to that poor woman was fair or in any way nice? If a car had knocked her off her bike would you have thought nothing of the guy getting out and shouting at her for being in his way?
I cycle too but I am not rude and I obey the traffic laws. Hopefully you do too but don't get offended when I highlight the bad behaviour of a complete stranger who just happens to be on two wheels.
As or your accident - there you go...drivers are just as bad. I deal with a lot of injured cyclists and not all of them brought it upon themselves. If you had been knocked down by a cyclist who then left the scene, would you be any less angry?
anon
Thanks for the link. I was thinking about some kind of netting too but I don't know how the people who own Selfridges would feel about the aesthetics. Safety is more important though and very few pedestrians look up at the roof anyway. It would also discourage the pigeones, I guess.
It's my first comment, and good job with the blog (I'm reading from the very first post on this site ;]) BUT...
"If the guy who had done this had HepB, Hiv or any other nasties, the cop could contract an infection through the wound."
I'm sorry to contradict you, but HIV and AIDS cannot be contracted through saliva.
Elf
Thanks for your comment - I don't mind contradiction but HIV can be contracted from bites...if there are sores or cuts on the inside of the 'donor's' mouth (and with alcoholics that is very likely) the risk is almost as high as direct blood to blood contact. So, even with saliva, there is a risk, however small.
I should be clear when I write some of this stuff but I don't always have the time and I'm hoping that the text is read as reflective and not necessarily a teaching manual. :-)
AIDS is a syndrome, not a disease, and cannot be caught.
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