your loved one is alone, bleeding to death......

[kronas]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

None of our emergency services are expected to risk their lives to save others. All of them have procedures in place to help protect their staff.

I am a qualified First Aider, and one of the foundations of our training is risk assessment. You assess the situation and if you feel you are likely to be in danger, you can call for help, but you don't risk your own life.

whilst it is a danger when your in a situation where your job is to save lives lets look at from another perspective, firefighters are there to help people escape from fires, now are they expected to down tools everytime a fire breaks out ? no they try and control the blaze and help people, yes risk assessment is used too, but in all fairness in all likelyhood a knife attacker would be scared off by sirens and lights, unless he was on americas dumbest criminals!

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by kronas

in all likelyhood a knife attacker would be scared off by sirens and lights, unless he was on americas dumbest criminals!

Scared off by lights and sirens I'll need to remember that one. Try that out in some of the less desirable schemes of Scotland and see how far you get.

Sadly the types of people living in some areas are stupid enough to think bottling/stabbing paramedics and firemen is a good laugh. They think nothing of putting large kitchen knifes down their trousers (yet never seem to cut themselves They must be like cockroaches, after a decent nuclear war I'd imagine the world will be overrun with insects and cheap nylon clothing) and consuming quantities of drink and drugs that would kill most normal people.

Trust me, sometimes all the sirens and light do is attract the zoomers like moths to a lightbulb.

[kronas]

Originally Posted by Derek S

Trust me, sometimes all the sirens and light do is attract the zoomers like moths to a lightbulb.

oh aye, moths = chavs

[Stuart C]

Originally Posted by kronas

whilst it is a danger when your in a situation where your job is to save lives lets look at from another perspective, firefighters are there to help people escape from fires, now are they expected to down tools everytime a fire breaks out ? no they try and control the blaze and help people, yes risk assessment is used too, but in all fairness in all likelyhood a knife attacker would be scared off by sirens and lights, unless he was on americas dumbest criminals!

In fairness, we do not know the specifics of the situation. The emergency services *do* frequently deal with people who would attempt to kill and/or injure somebody and then hang around and attack the people who turn up to save the injured party (if possible).

Scared of the lights and Sirens? No. They almost seem excited by them.

Now you are right, it *is* the job of the emergency services to save lives, but *not* to put their own lives at risk.

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by Stuart C

The emergency services *do* frequently deal with people who would attempt to kill and/or injure somebody and then hang around and attack the people who turn up to save the injured party

Very correct. Not too long ago I know of a case where two paramedics were going into a house to deal with someone who had allegedly slashed his wrists, the cops went in first and had to fend off a serious attack with an axe *
Now if the two paramedics had gone in without police assistance I'm in no doubt he'd have gone for them.

* Incidentally the mad axeman went to trial for that. After being found guilty he got 9 months

[tweetypie/8]

Originally Posted by Osem

True but even when they get there they don't always do much.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...ixnewstop.html

sad but true os.

[Osem]

Originally Posted by Derek S

* Incidentally the mad axeman went to trial for that. After being found guilty he got 9 months

Mind if I add that case to the ever growing list in my 'Tough on Crime, Tough on the Causes of Crime' thread?



I might be digressing slightly but it's not just about their safety though is it ? I mean there have been too many cases where ambulance staff have failed to act with tragic results because they haven't got the equipment or supposedly the right training to do the necessary.

I can recall a case when a teenage epileptic girl sadly died because the ambulance sent to assist her didn't carry the required drugs. IIRC two 'amubulance technicians' arrived and were told by her mother that she needed diazepam. They said they didn't have the required training to administer it so the mother said she would do it. She was told that wouldn't be possible because they didn't carry the drug as they weren't qualified to use it. The girl died.

In another case technicians were sent to assist a man choking in a restaurant. They didn't have the training required to use the instrument necessary to remove the blockage in his throat and he also died. Apparently in that case a paramedic on standby a few minutes further away wasn't called because he'd have arrived after shortly the target response time. He'd probably have been able to save the poor man's life.

I'm not being critical of emergency service staff but do think that red tape, targets, H&S rules etc. sometimes have a negative effect on the service which can be provided.

[trevortt]

pigs can fly

[Derek S]

Originally Posted by trevortt

pigs can fly

Eh?

[Rob]

I'm not going to keep chasing people around this forum reminding them to keep on topic. Any more digs will see formal warnings.