This article, from today's BBC News, offers the view of the Fire Brigade on a problem which Ambulance Services are facing on a daily basis, with ever increasing frequency. Locally, the general rule is that the Brigade will only come to help us out if the patient is in a life-threatening condition.
The fact that we sometimes need to call on their assistance is a necessary evil. They have more equipment than we can carry, and generally have 6 personnel on their vehicle to our 2. It's a simple question of maths. Either we need 4 ambulances for one patient, or 1 ambulance and 1 fire appliance. I fully understand their frustration at the situation, but surely even the Brigade can see the logic of not taking 4 ambulances away from public service.
1 comment:
I read this nodding my head, I had a chronically-ill child who needed emergency care occassionally when he was small. In the end, I realised that it was my duty to be as informed about his conditions and related matters as the people whose expertise I was calling on. I was an expert on him and, matched with their experience, it was a winning team for him.
Thank you for such a sensitive and human post.
Mel
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