theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: February 2013
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html
Tuesday, 19 February 2013. Getting back on the horse. I'm going to ease myself back into writing this blog; it's been a long time since I recorded patient-related events in detail, so forgive me if things start off a little slow. My first patient, an 80 year-old lady with a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), asked me when I was going back to Scotland. She didn't ask me in a 'I am interested in whether you will be returning to your roots at some time in the future' kind of way, but more in a 'why don't yo...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Four nights shifts and an egg and spoon race
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2014/07/four-nights-shifts-and-egg-and-spoon.html
Wednesday, 9 July 2014. Four nights shifts and an egg and spoon race. I'm very tired after this latest run of four. These nights seem to be getting longer and longer as we are continually hammered from the moment we sign on duty until we make our weak attempts to get home on time. Maybe so. Maybe they're right to be so unimpressed. Is an example of simplicity in brotherhood. It applies to doctors but doesn't apply to us. I love my job; I don't particularly love the way it runs. I want us to be strict...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: April 2014
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2014_04_01_archive.html
Tuesday, 22 April 2014. It has been more than a year since my last post and there have been many changes. I have changed, my job has changed and the profession has changed. Its simply not what it used to be. A change in my posting methodology is required; I need to write only that which is relevant and neutral while I am professionally bound to one or the other. This is the way of things these days. I still care deeply about my patients and I still love what I do (when I'm doing it properly) but I'm less...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: November 2012
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2012_11_01_archive.html
Saturday, 3 November 2012. During the years I have been writing this blog, I have been asked to add links so that others can advertise their services and products. I have also been sent hundreds of comments that look as if they are genuine but often contain links to commercial websites or products. This post was written as a heart-felt farewell to my dead son, so I find it a little insensitive that those of you with no more than a commercial interest in posting on my blog would choose. Links to this post.
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Human pigeons
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2014/06/treating-humans-like-pigeons.html
Monday, 9 June 2014. Sort of thing says an awful lot about humanity. I'm all for protecting the privacy and security of people's homes. I'm sure nobody wants to have a 'rough sleeper' bedding down on their doorstep every night, and I'm almost certain that most of the outraged people petitioning about this would rather not have a homeless person migrating towards their. End up where they are. It just takes a chain of unfortunate events. If you own a business or residence in the city and you don't like the...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Abandonment
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2014/05/abandonment.html
Monday, 26 May 2014. It's not a word used very often, and when it is, the relevance is rarely on point. But, when you are in a group of mates, out for the night and getting loaded on alcohol (because that's the way its done nowadays), and you dump one of your friends because he or she is too drunk - that's abandonment. As it happened a young man called 999 when he saw her lying there. He didn't touch her, and he didn't try to wake her - he didn't want to frighten her. If you prefer to complete your night...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Vulnerable
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2013/03/vulnerable.html
Friday, 29 March 2013. Before all that, I'd gone through nights and days where aggression and trauma mixed into the scheme of my world so fluently that they became one and the same. The driver had apparently been unconscious prior to crashing, according to witnesses. An off-duty doctor and paramedic both helped and they informed us that the driver had still been unconscious when they went to his aid immediately after the incident had occurred This was a worrying bit of information, so I asked for an ...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: July 2014
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2014_07_01_archive.html
Wednesday, 9 July 2014. Four nights shifts and an egg and spoon race. I'm very tired after this latest run of four. These nights seem to be getting longer and longer as we are continually hammered from the moment we sign on duty until we make our weak attempts to get home on time. Maybe so. Maybe they're right to be so unimpressed. Is an example of simplicity in brotherhood. It applies to doctors but doesn't apply to us. I love my job; I don't particularly love the way it runs. I want us to be strict...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Devolution
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2015/04/devolution.html
Thursday, 16 April 2015. What's to be done. I'm actually starting to feel some despair about the situation. I was sitting in my response car at the scene of a call. There was an ambulance behind me - the crew was in the back treating the patient, who'd felt faint but hadn't actually passed out. I was on the phone to a fellow paramedic when a man approached me and asked me to wind down my window, which I duly did (although these days I'm a little bit more cautious about doing so). I was waiting, as I norm...
theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com
The Paramedic's Diary: Elephants
http://theparamedicsdiary.blogspot.com/2015/01/elephants.html
Friday, 23 January 2015. It has been a long time since my last post but my family and career must come first and if anything I write threatens them, I need to temper my emotions; thus less to say of pertinence. The programme, called 'NHS in crisis - the live debate', which you can see here. I was given a very short time to make a single point - I had many points to make and a lot to debate but I got nowhere near the time I needed to do so. The NHS 'front-line' was heavily represented by doctors and n...
