duties

i started first aiding voluntarily about 1 and a half years ago. Since i started i have covered lots of different duties... i will try and list all those that i remember in this post. 

I try to cover what ever duties are going when ever i can, some of them can be really boring with no one to treat, and nothing to do apart from wait for the duty to end!!! some of them can be so busy and that again I'm just waiting for the duty to end!!!

here are some of the duties I have covered:

• my first duty was a school fair, we didn't treat anyone... but the suspense was killing me. (lasting 5hrs approx.) 
• my second duty was at a 5-aside football tournament... this is one of those boring duties where the guys playing footballs are in their 20s and all try and walk off their injuries, but you get the occasional one coming through asking for an ice pack for their groin strain. (last 6hrs approx.)
• third duty was at a james bond themed concert performed by the london symphony orchestra  at the crystal palace bowl. (lasting 8hrs approx inc. travel time)
  
• my fourth was at another 5- aside football tournament... again very boring. (lasting 6hr approx.)
• fifth was at the prince of whales theatre covering the mumma mia performance, treating nobody all night until on my way home on the train finding a drunk person and giving him a bottle of water. (the duty lasted about 3hrs... but i remember the travel home took about 4hrs)
• my sixth was at the Police (sting and co) concert at twickenham RFU. (lasting 10hrs approx.)
• after this i covered approx 8 Rugby duties at Twickenham RFU. (they each normally lasted approx 8-10hrs)

a dodgy pic of the stadium roof taken from my phone

• next was the Iron maiden concert at Twickenham RFU. (lasting approx 8hrs)
• then a high profile rugby match new castle falcons vs london wasps (lawrence delalios last game) so it was very busy! there was also a youths rugby tournament held there in the morning. (lasted 12 approx)
  
• more recently there was a middlesex 7's rugby tournament held at Twickenham RFU again... quite busy. and lots of fancy dress too!!! (lasted 10hrs approx.)
• last week i was at the REM concert again at Twickenham RFU. (lasted 10hrs approx.)

REM on stage... from the back of the stadium zooming in on my 2.0 mega pixel phone camera 

(unbelievably good quality pics!!! SARCASM??)

• and most recently i was at the phoenix theatre in leicester square providing cover for the blood brothers performance this was very quiet for first aid... although i gave out a plaster!!! (lasting 5hrs 30mins approx including travel time)

as you can probably see i cover lots of different types of duty, these are just the duties that i can remember off the top of my head and they might not be in the totally correct order... but i did try!!!

at the duties such as the ones at Twickenham RFU where alcohol is consumed, sometimes at high volumes... they tend to be busier, than say at a theatre duty where the nearest i have been to treating someone was giving a plaster to the lady sat next to me for the blister on her foot.

waiting round

Whilst I'm at work my primary job there is a sales assistant... but im also the store first aider. some days (most infact) i will be bored at work and just bumbling around doing not much apart from trying to look busy whenever someone important is about!!! i carry a mobile store phone with me so if a first aider is requested anywhere in the store then security can get in touch with me anywhere (and i mean anywhere, a couple of times i have been caught with my pants down!!! literally!!!). 

The majority of the calls i get in store are to people (generally female) feeling "unwell" (hung over). out of all the people i have treated that have been "unwell" feeling sick, i think i have only ever seen 2 or possibly 3 of them vomit. I have had a few people try forcing them selves to vomit by either sticking their fingers down their throats, or just trying to make them selves gag.

being just a first aider, there is not too much i can do for someone who is feeling unwell. on FAW courses they don't teach you how to look after someone who feels sick, so its more of a common sense kinda thing! the way i often rule out someone being unwell is by calling their bluff (taking a full set of obs (excluding BP and O2 levels))... first off take their temp (if its high/low then i'll stop there and send them home and advise they goto see their GP, if their temp is normal then i will move onto my next step of full on bullsh*t... take their pulse, check pupils, comment on their respiratory rate, just act as though what you are doing can actually tell if they are really feeling sick they always believe me (the first aider knows best)... my results from my "calling their bluff" obs have always shown up normal. i will then follow this up with "so if you want, you can pop out to the pharmacist and what they advise for you to take to settle that very upset tummy of yours. occasionally i get someone who says "oh... cant i just go home". If someone argues after this point then usually i would have to let them go, as the results i have taken from my "obs" don't really tell me that much, so i have to let them go advising them to go and see a healthcare professional i.e. their GP or goto hospital.

i occasionally get a decent call though... falls up/down escalators, seizure's, asthmatics, chest pains, faints etc...

i also occasionally get the strange a disgusting calls... coughing up a lump a thick green flem (aka a bogie), someone with severe diarrhea "SHARTING".

there will no doubt be other posts in the future about my different calls!

size 8 steel toe capped boots to the rescue!

My first proper post im going to dedicate to my magnums!

My duty "safety" boots deserve some recognition for the things they have been through with me!!! 

They have protected my toes from being crushed by crowds of people, things being dropped on them, and getting run over by wheelchairs whilst trying to hold doors open for them. They've many different fluids spilt/vomited over them.

They have kept my feet warm, dry and comfortable! I can't ever remember having any blisters caused by them! 

They are a one of a kind companion, and will never leave my side!

Recently they went above and beyond their call of duty...they protected me from a little hood rat!

I was walking home from a the train station in uniform just after finishing a duty, when a little spotty twat asked me for the time, then he asked me if i had a phone, then he told me to give him my phone or i was going to "get shanked". i hadn't seen any knifes or tools, so without even thinking i just kicked him in the shin.

He screamed, I ran!

i probably caused another job for the LAS coming through as an "assault" (but really it was self defense). i don't think i have ever broken someone else's bone... I'm not even sure if i broke his, i kind of hope i did!!! 

so... in recognition of your service with me, Thank you!!!

my first blog

hi there, my name's Steve. 

welcome to my blog "don't suppose you've gotta plaster". first off i'll start by explaining the name i chose for my blog... if you have read the "about me" part then you would have seen that i am a voluntary first aider. whilst on duty, one of the main questions i get asked is for a plaster... now we have a small rule that slightly bends the rest of the rules... for every patient we see there is supposed to be a PRF (patient report form) filled out which is 2 pages long!!! well if we filled out a PRF for everyone who requested a plaster we would be pilled under white, yellow, and green papers!!! so we go by the rule of "do you have or have you ever had any allergies to plasters?" "NO" "okay then... well if i give you a plaster and get you to apply it yourself then you wont have to wait around for ages whilst i fill out 2 pages worth or paper work" "thats fine... thank you". 

i got the idea to blog from reading "random acts of reality" and "life and death on the street - a paramedics diary" they are both very good books based on the blogs written by "Tom Reynolds" and "Stuart Gray" (they are both their blogging identities i think) since reading their books i have started reading their blogs, both of which are very well written and very addictive!!!

i love my role as a first aider... people have said to me in the past that there must be something "sadistic" about being a "voluntary first aider"... but there's not!!! i like to treat the inevitable!!! would you prefer me to be there when your at a concert and you drink slightly more alcohol than you first thought and you accidently lose your footing on the stairs and twist your ankle only for me and my crew member to have to get you into a carry chair and then take you the next 30 steps down then wheel you through the crowd's of fellow drunken IRON MAIDEN fans (i was lucky enough to get to first aid at IRON MAIDEN'S only UK stop of their current tour) then get you into the first aid post and treat you in there for that poorly ankle then oops... what's that??? you need to puke, well there's a lovely vomit bowl, some tissue, and a bottle of water. OR... would you rather get treated by a security guard who done his FAW but is a little rusty, then gets you to hobble down those 30 steps, sits down with some ice from the bar wrapped in breaking tissue around your swelling a bruised foot, letting you vomit all down yourself and not knowing what to do next??? do you still think what i do is sadistic, or do you think my gosh these people deserve a good pat on the back for their hard work they put into the community???