999 where are you?
Today we hung out at the central ambulance control (CAC) or dispatch and listened in on 999 calls. Some pretty cool stuff, a cardiac arrest, a lightning strike, lots of little trauma, and various medical calls, all not requiring real care. They're dispatch system is very similar to ours. We met a doctor who runs with the physician response unit. This is a very clever idea where a doc responds to lower priority calls and diagnoses and treats people without the need for ambulance. My Briticism of the day is the phrase 'went wobbly' which means fainted.
We also hung out the HEMS or helicopter EMS desk and figured out how they decide which calls they go on. That consists of a paramedic and doc who respond to trauma only, land in places like Piccadilly Circus, and render care like thoracostomy tubes and chest cracking (apparently with good outcomes). That would be cool to witness. The helicopter says Virgin on it, but that is mostly for advertising purposes. They pay £450,000 per year to get their name on it. It is actually run by donations.
We later went to 'The Royal Borough of Kensington' where we saw some posh cars. I joked that if my friend Ewing had been here he might have needed a moment to himself. We saw Porsche, Ferrari, Mazarati and a really hot TVR Tuscan with chameleon paint!
Then we went for dinner to a pub around here, I got a half pint of Carlsberg (we have to get that in the states) and a really good breakfast sandwich with a big slice of ham and bangers on it, yum!
Afterwards, I went to the Tate Britain where I'll have to go back soon as it closed just as I arrived.
Tomorrow we'll be visiting the motorbike, cycle, and helicopter units.
We also hung out the HEMS or helicopter EMS desk and figured out how they decide which calls they go on. That consists of a paramedic and doc who respond to trauma only, land in places like Piccadilly Circus, and render care like thoracostomy tubes and chest cracking (apparently with good outcomes). That would be cool to witness. The helicopter says Virgin on it, but that is mostly for advertising purposes. They pay £450,000 per year to get their name on it. It is actually run by donations.
We later went to 'The Royal Borough of Kensington' where we saw some posh cars. I joked that if my friend Ewing had been here he might have needed a moment to himself. We saw Porsche, Ferrari, Mazarati and a really hot TVR Tuscan with chameleon paint!
Then we went for dinner to a pub around here, I got a half pint of Carlsberg (we have to get that in the states) and a really good breakfast sandwich with a big slice of ham and bangers on it, yum!
Afterwards, I went to the Tate Britain where I'll have to go back soon as it closed just as I arrived.
Tomorrow we'll be visiting the motorbike, cycle, and helicopter units.
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