Full English Breakfast

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We started today visiting the LAS press office. Got a feel for what they do pretty quickly: deal with the press, make up ad campaigns. These campaigns are extremely clever and deal with issues that the providers see out in the field. The national health system started this a few years ago with posters concerning house numbers and the difficulty in finding houses. The catch phrases were "999 where are you" and "Is your number up?" a hilarious play on words. The LAS has done a few since then. One concerns abuse toward ambulance personnel. This "No excuse" poster features and actual LAS paramedic who was assaulted while on the job. Another features a London taxi cab and a London ambulance. It reads "Only one of these is a taxi service." Hilarious! These posters mostly improved employee moral rather than discouraged Londoners from calling 999 needlessly. Their current one is advertising their free bystander CPR training. It has an actual cardiac arrest survivor on it and has been endorsed by local celebrities. This aspect of LAS is really cool. They recognize problems and actually try to do something about them, (unlike many US services).
We then went to a cafe where I got a 'full English breakfast.' This involves bacon, bangers, eggs over easy, baked beans, and toast....hmm....oh! sorry, I got distracted by thinking about my breakfast, so good!
After this we visited their emergency planning unit. Their disaster management is almost identical to ours. One exception is that they put little cards on each unit to remind you what to do in a mass casualty incident. This is very nice; especially when you have a CRAFT moment (can't remember a flipping thing).
We just experienced a bizarre, random London rain storm, and now that's over, it's dinner time!

Comments

Anonymous said…
What is the going salary there? How does it compare to the U.S.? Just how ARE beans and toast? Jean and Lionel are always having them for a light supper!
03 June, 2005
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