In May 2020 I published a book OUR REBEKAHA LOVE STORY FROM OUR NHS. I am now 63,369 words into writing a sequel I LOVE OUR NHS – DAVID’S STORY. I am aiming to publish this love story in three weeks time and am going to try out sharing some of the draft chapters as a way to try and spread the love. Here is one of those chapters – have a read and tell me what you think.
PLEASE SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON
FACENOOK – Help spread the love and help encourage me with the
writing.
Ambulance please.
When 999 was introduced in London on Wednesday 30th June 1937 it was the first emergency telephone system on the world. Way back eight and a half decades ago few homes had their own telephones, today’s smart phone was a nightmare of science fiction. Public call boxes were everywhere, on most streets so summonsing help was not difficult. Those phones used rotary dials which I guess most people are familiar with but have probably never actually seen. It was the index finger the caller inserted into the dial to make the call. By placing the middle finger of the hand against the dial stop the index finger rested on the space for number 9. This enabled a caller to use the emergency number in the dark. I think it is legend, perhaps an urban myth that the call connected on the second dialling of number nine with the third as a backup. I wonder, I doubt if anyone knows if that is true or not.
Emergency which service do you require ?
Have you ever had to dial 999 ? Have you benefitted from our ambulance service ?
Allow me to invite you to set up your own call. What time do you go to bed ? Set your alarm for the middle of the night, wake up and sit up in bed. In those small hours ambulance crews will be on duty, call handling staff will be awake and ready to despatch help. This is a 24/7/365 service. Yes, you can stop, pause and think during your day but that is too easy so set your personal 999 alarm clock to send love to these special people.
Have you ever had to dial 999 ? Have you benefitted from our ambulance service ?
Sunday 14th September 1980. Milton Keynes where I live did not have its own hospital. Ambulances blues and twos their way dozens of times every day to Stoke Manderville Hospital in Aylesbury. We did, however, have Bletchley Maternity Unit where my wife was admitted during the morning to give birth to our first child. That child was reluctant to enter the world. During the day our GP, Doctor Labrumm popped by to see how things were progressing. Progressing slowly. Eventually it was decided to transfer Mum and her reluctant baby to Aylesbury where expert help was waiting. That help was to be given at The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital which was a specialist maternity unit.
Transfer was by ambulance. A blue light transfer but minus the siren – blues but not twos !. I think the journey took around thirty minutes during which time the crew administered love and care to my wife.
“Is this your first child ?” One crew member said to me as he and his team also wrapped a blanket of love around this nervous father.
“Yes,” I replied. “And the last !”
Not the last, we had three wonderful children who were all born at The Royal Buckinghamshire Hospital. Peter was number one, Matthew number two and Rebekah number three. For Matt and Beck we booked ahead for The Royal Bucks to avoid another blue light ambulance ride, instead transport was by way of my Austin Maxi. What a great car that was but another story.
Fast forward to 2015. I was up a ladder with a power saw cutting through some wood. When the saw separated the beam into two I lost my balance. My instinct was to clench my right fist to hold on tightly but that grip was on the electric circular saw. It sliced through the aluminium step ladder at which point I released my grip. Thank goodness I did as its next aim would have been my right leg.
Falling to the floor must have taken but a single second yet I remember is clearly. I landed on my back but the sensation was of my being hit in the chest, it was hard to breath. I thought if I could sit up I would be able to catch my breath and all would be OK. Not it wasn’t, Maureen called an ambulance.
I felt an idiot, that idiocy overwhelming my physical pain. When the paramedics, two kind young ladies, arrived I apologised for being an idiot and said if they could help me sit up I would be OK. They tried but I was not. The pain was beyond words that even I as a prolific writer can compose. These lovely ladies explained I needed to go to hospital.
Embarrassment number two. Yes, I was embarrassed that my stupidity had caused the fall and now humiliation number two ! Having got me onto a stretcher I was too heavy for these ladies to negotiate through the mess of my DIY debris on the floor. They had to call for a second crew, a male crew, to help. Honestly they did !
I do not remember much about my ride to the hospital, I was in far too much pain, but what I know without any doubt at all that love was wrapped around me in a blanket of care.
111 ? Have you ever called the 111 NHS non-emergency help line ?
This service was gradually introduced in 2013 with full coverage across the country being in place by February 2014. Calling 111 is something you can do when you feel you need medical advice or treatment but it is not an emergency. The caller is connected to a trained operator supported by nurses and paramedics.
Have you ever called 111 ? I have. I was with a vulnerable adult I was supporting, it was a matter of course visit to his home. I was worried about his medical condition so I called 111 for advice. I talked with a very helpful man who took the decision to despatch an emergency ambulance. Staffed by two ladies it arrived within minutes.
The paramedics diagnosed the situation was down to a lack of nourishment. He and his wife were Food Bank users. One lady spoon fed my friend with sugar.
Speaking with them, thanking them for their kind, prompt assistance I said could never do their job. Getting up in the morning, or getting up in the evening to go to work not knowing what crisis awaited them. It may be spoon feeding sugar to an under nourished man or it could be a situation where death was waiting.
Next time, indeed every time you see an ambulance blue lighting its way along the road in response to an emergency call not only physically pull over in order to allow it to pass but mentally pull over and think of the person it is racing to help, think of the crew on board, think of the person who dialled 999 and think of the handler who managed that call and despatched the ambulance. But more…
In the area where I live I often see an ambulance driving away from Milton Keynes heading towards Oxford. No blue lights, no sirens. On board will be a patient who needs specialist treatment the like of which will be waiting within Oxford’s Hospitals. One such journey involved my daughter.
Rebekah was in the renal clinic at University Hospital Milton Keynes but needed to be moved to the specialist department at Oxford’s Churchill Hospital. This was not a blues and twos emergency, if it had been then such an ambulance would have been immediately assigned. She had to wait until an ambulance and its crew became available to move her. That wait was several hours long. Her husband became worried that transport was not available. I did what I could to assure him all was well, if this was an emergency then an emergency team would have been instantly assigned.
When I see an ambulance gently making its way West from Milton Keynes to Oxford I remember Rebekah and think of the patient onboard.
It was a Northampton 999 emergency ambulance that was despatched on 17th May 2017. Rebekah had stopped breathing. She died. It was the saddest day of my life but a day which has become special changing the sadness of her death to love for our NHS. Rebekah was moved from her home by ambulance to Northampton General Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. I did not make a big thing of it, it just came natural as I thanked the crew of that ambulance for trying to save my daughter’s life. Wonderful, beautiful people who showed love and care at every stage.
Next time, every time you see an ambulance blue lighting its way along the road in response to an emergency call not only physically pull over in order to allow it to pass but mentally pull over and think of the person it is racing to help, think of the crew on board, think of the person who dialled 999 and think of the handler who managed that call and despatched the ambulance.
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