After last weekend this weekend was going to be a peaceful one with the family and new puppy- so naturally I jumped at the chance to get away from them to help out with the RX youth team camp and volunteered to be a patient in a mock car crash for sunday.
Except in the end Sunday never happened but instead they needed a hand setting up an abseil for the YEPPs on Sat. Off the Dunedin Central City firetower. All 30m of it. In the wind (and occasional rain)
I decided to be nice to Bill and take brat daughter with me and leave him with just the puppy to cope with.
Access to the top of the tower is through the pitch black smoke hole at the bottom followed by five or is it six vertical ladders. Of course the fireguys probably do it carrying a 17 stone dummy so not being daft I let Aaron carry the ropes and I took the hardware (actually 6 steel crabs and a couple of fig 8s are probably nearly the same weight!). And aron- aren't you glad I pursuaded you that we didn't need the 100m ropes and the 40s would do eh mate!
It was pretty windy up there (brr!) but at least the wind was only coming from one direction- cos at the bottom it was coming from all angles, we walked all around a four sided tower and there was no shelter anywhere.
Anchors were easy enough but the take off was more of a problem with windows and bloody great searchlights in the way and the railing was so high I decided I would set up so the kids could squeeze through it rather than make them climb over cos I reckoned that would be less scary for them. And they didn't look that tall (hint to self no one looks tall when viewed from 100feet above!) Oh yeh and why is it that something which doesn't look too bad when viewed from below grows another 300feet higher when you're standing on it?
And of course the first one up was enormously tall and the poor lad had to bend himself in half to get through the gap. But it was all good- if cold.
After I'd put 8 or so over (sloowwly they weren't real quick but for a second ab for most of them they did really well on a very exposed site) I zoomed down and collected her ladyship. She was more than happy to climb the two ladders to the first window and the started howling that she wa scared and didn't want to ab. Lucky for her she had an admiring crowd of followers by now or her evil mother would have chucked her over anyway given that she's climbed higher on climbing walls, but with a bit of assistance from Juliet she did eventually get lowered through the hatch of the lower ladder and loved it.
Sunday, October 11, 2009
you want me to do what???
so last weekend I went on the SAR swiftwater rescue course. There was a basic course a few weeks previous that I missed cos I was still in Aussie so the course I was going on was the advanced one. Won't say I wasn't nervous- cos I WAS, especially after hearing the tales from the basic course and being told about what was promised for the next one.
We met up at Outram Glen at 8 for a drive up thru the forestry and a walk in under the Viaduct to the put in on the Taieri Gorge. After a safety brief we set off. It was pretty chilly weather but not nearly as bad as forecast (snow etc etc). The aim was apparently to stay dry for as long as possible- which was unfortunate for the guys in the second raft thru the pipeline rapid when their boat flipped in a hole. By now I was getting even more nervous- with good reason cos one guy took a REALLY long swim- several 100 metres at least and that water was COLD!!!.
Next up was a paddle to the Rock Garden where after a short snack stop we had a play with lining a raft and yup- SWIMMING. I knew i was going to struggle on that but found it much worse than I was expecting- lets just say that knowing there is a bloody great drop and water funnel on the river below you is a real incentive to stay on the bank so far as I'm concerned.
After missing the throw bag on my second swim I thought I was not getting into that eddy but luckily saw the rope end and was able to grab it.
Much to my relief we lined the rafts down the nasty bit with the guides on board, a near miss for Nick but he hung on in there.
Then for a long paddle against a strong head wind- the river mostly appeared to be blowing back upstream to meet us at times!
After ten minutes in a hot bath I STILL couldn't feel all my toes at the end of the day.
Day two and sleet showers to start us off.
After the same comments about staying dry within 30 minutes of starting off we were doing full on quick fire challenges with people swimming to rescue trapped victims, or at least get a line to the other side of the river to tie a boat onto.
I bottled the pipeline this time round !
At the Rock Garden a new delight awaited- an obstacle course. We had to make our way around a set course and weren't allowed to paddle the rafts! And the first thing was to swim across the river. Can't say I was too enthusiatic about this but managed it better than I thought I would but didn't like the curent the other side. Then came using the raft as a bridge across various rocks before going across on a zip line. I was actually getting a bit of adrelaline going by now and almost looking forward to the zipline- which paid me back by dunking me under water and nearly ripping the sling out of my hand before abandonning me in the middle of the river so I had to haul myslef across to the other side. Then we lined the raft away down the nasty bit- it's known as S*** yourself rock for good reason.
Lunch was a stunning BBQ at Steve's secret BBQ spot before heading out on the flat stuff- at least there was no head wind today but my hands were even colder than the day before.
All in all a couple of bloody good (if scary) days with some useful learning points.
Many thanks to Steve and his team of rafters, Southey for coming down to run the course, Brian for setting it all up and Scotty for getting the funding.
We met up at Outram Glen at 8 for a drive up thru the forestry and a walk in under the Viaduct to the put in on the Taieri Gorge. After a safety brief we set off. It was pretty chilly weather but not nearly as bad as forecast (snow etc etc). The aim was apparently to stay dry for as long as possible- which was unfortunate for the guys in the second raft thru the pipeline rapid when their boat flipped in a hole. By now I was getting even more nervous- with good reason cos one guy took a REALLY long swim- several 100 metres at least and that water was COLD!!!.
Next up was a paddle to the Rock Garden where after a short snack stop we had a play with lining a raft and yup- SWIMMING. I knew i was going to struggle on that but found it much worse than I was expecting- lets just say that knowing there is a bloody great drop and water funnel on the river below you is a real incentive to stay on the bank so far as I'm concerned.
After missing the throw bag on my second swim I thought I was not getting into that eddy but luckily saw the rope end and was able to grab it.
Much to my relief we lined the rafts down the nasty bit with the guides on board, a near miss for Nick but he hung on in there.
Then for a long paddle against a strong head wind- the river mostly appeared to be blowing back upstream to meet us at times!
After ten minutes in a hot bath I STILL couldn't feel all my toes at the end of the day.
Day two and sleet showers to start us off.
After the same comments about staying dry within 30 minutes of starting off we were doing full on quick fire challenges with people swimming to rescue trapped victims, or at least get a line to the other side of the river to tie a boat onto.
I bottled the pipeline this time round !
At the Rock Garden a new delight awaited- an obstacle course. We had to make our way around a set course and weren't allowed to paddle the rafts! And the first thing was to swim across the river. Can't say I was too enthusiatic about this but managed it better than I thought I would but didn't like the curent the other side. Then came using the raft as a bridge across various rocks before going across on a zip line. I was actually getting a bit of adrelaline going by now and almost looking forward to the zipline- which paid me back by dunking me under water and nearly ripping the sling out of my hand before abandonning me in the middle of the river so I had to haul myslef across to the other side. Then we lined the raft away down the nasty bit- it's known as S*** yourself rock for good reason.
Lunch was a stunning BBQ at Steve's secret BBQ spot before heading out on the flat stuff- at least there was no head wind today but my hands were even colder than the day before.
All in all a couple of bloody good (if scary) days with some useful learning points.
Many thanks to Steve and his team of rafters, Southey for coming down to run the course, Brian for setting it all up and Scotty for getting the funding.
home again
well I've been back home for three weeks now.
Had a great time in Aussie and found it really interesting and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone eligable. In fact that's my next job- to recommend it to the vollies over here so have a presentation all set and ready to go for those that are interested, I've done a couple so far and hope to do a few more in the future.
Anyway to wrap up the last bit of the tour. The Prospect shift ended up as 7 jobs for me and 8 for the crew- I had to stay back for one job as they were going to the prison which meant an escort and no room for me. Still felt strange finishing a shift at 5 instead of 7. Since getting back my home town shifts have been quite busy- the other day we did one job before lunch and finished the day with 8 call outs on the mileage log- one got diverted when we were nearly there and another one turned into two patients from one on arrival but still a busy day!
Had a great time in Aussie and found it really interesting and would thoroughly recommend it to anyone eligable. In fact that's my next job- to recommend it to the vollies over here so have a presentation all set and ready to go for those that are interested, I've done a couple so far and hope to do a few more in the future.
Anyway to wrap up the last bit of the tour. The Prospect shift ended up as 7 jobs for me and 8 for the crew- I had to stay back for one job as they were going to the prison which meant an escort and no room for me. Still felt strange finishing a shift at 5 instead of 7. Since getting back my home town shifts have been quite busy- the other day we did one job before lunch and finished the day with 8 call outs on the mileage log- one got diverted when we were nearly there and another one turned into two patients from one on arrival but still a busy day!
Saturday, September 12, 2009
nearly finished
Well last day in Aus- flying out tomorrow arriving home Monday after an over night in Auckland. I'm going to have to wear all the heavy items of clothing- i.e. my uniform! to travel in to keep the weight down a bit.
I'm on an obs shift back in Prospect again with Emily and Christian. It's 10.25 am and since 7.00 we have been dispatched to 4 jobs and not transported any of them- could be another one of those days, and here's me hoping for some good ECG strips for my logbook.
Not much else to say for now, sun's shining outside, yesterday temp was 29, trouble with being on shift - you're shut in a darkened stuffy room or a darkened ambulance never mind stops me catching too much sun.
See ya soon
I'm on an obs shift back in Prospect again with Emily and Christian. It's 10.25 am and since 7.00 we have been dispatched to 4 jobs and not transported any of them- could be another one of those days, and here's me hoping for some good ECG strips for my logbook.
Not much else to say for now, sun's shining outside, yesterday temp was 29, trouble with being on shift - you're shut in a darkened stuffy room or a darkened ambulance never mind stops me catching too much sun.
See ya soon
Friday, September 11, 2009
Some reccommendations for anyone thinking of spending the night in a Toyota Yaris
1) Don't
2) DON'T
3) If you really really have no other option- really really DON'T
After a night at Swan reach station- much of it spent trying to shut up the noisy items around the place I headed out to look for the cave. A stop off at the local Post Office- 'to tell someone what I was doing' -much to their surprise. I'd been given directions to find the cave- out to the golf course, go through the double gates opposite and head left and climb down the cliffs- there's a track you'll see it. Uh Huh. Well the double gates were easy enough but no sign of any tracks to the left - just a nasty rusty fence to get through. I headed downstream along the cliff top but it was getting steeper so I started looking for somewhere to get down. I got a good looking spot and started heading down, it turned into a bit of a bum slide but was OK but furtehr down whe I was scrambling thorugh dead leaves I did start thinking about snakes and lizards and things that like to live in the undergrowth. I reckoned it'd be ok tho cos they'd have to bite right through my shoes right? Then I got to a 15ft overhang at the bottom which was impassable so had to climb back up- now I'm having to bury my unprotected HANDS into those leaves to get a grip- hmm lizards, SNAKES, spiders! At the top the limestone turned into about two to three feet of oyster shells which was quite impressive- I'd have liked a picture but it was a bit difficult to hang on and balance so I didn't and just had a rest to wheeze for a bit- who forgot her inhaler then?
Once at the top I headed upstream and after a couple of attempts found an easy spot to get down. next problem - which way to go. There were vehicle tracks following the bottom of the cliff in both ways. So I headed downstream until I can to where there were some pumps taking green smelly water out of the scummy pond which was once a river before it dried up- urgh and I had tea last night with water from the tap. The tracks ran out here and I had a look around but couldn't see a way on. So i turned around and looked the other way. There was a horrible squirmy crawl partly blocked by a couple of trees brought in on flood water from the days when there was water in the Murray but no one else had been in there (?ever?) so I came out again. By now I was getting pretty p-d off with the directions I had been given- no one had mentioned the pump station or whether the cave was up or down stream. the cliffs just disappeared upstream so back down I went. This time while following the end of the vehicle track to where it stopped (boggy horrible stuff- wet feet ) I saw a grassy patch off to the left, in that I saw the footpath immediately- bingo!
The actual cave entrance was a big walk in thing with bats and swallows and of course graffitti. Not the most interesting cave I've ever been in- but it was the hottest, driest, easiest, QUIETEST cave ever. I've never been in a cave before where the only sounds of dripping water was my sweat! Anyway after following a passage which got smaller and smaller to the point where I couldn't be bothered any more I cam to some bottles which some jerk had left there to mark their furthest point- if I hadn't have been on my own I would have gone on but couldn't be bothered as it would have meant crawling out backwards and it didn't look that fascinating.
I went some way down another passage which had a nicely pocketed chamber before coming out. How these caves formed is a bit of a mystery- there's NO water, nor any signs of water erosion, no features nothing.
After signing back in at the Post Office I set off for the Adelaide Hills via Angaston. I had decided to sleep in the car to save money (tight wad) so bought a cheap tarpaulin to block up the windows. the next problem was finding some where to stop. The map showed a whole load of camping places in the Crawford Forest- but at each one the gate was locked and there were signs up everywhere saying no camping! I was getting slightly miffed when I finally found an open gate (Chalk Road for future reference1) but it said a permit was needed (no hints as to how to get one!) and the gate would be locked at night. A fellow traveller in a camper van said he had asked at a local attraction and they reckoned he would get away without a permit. A few more vehicles arrived later so the gate couldn't have been locked ( I have a phobia about getting locked into Forests for reasons to do with a job interview many years ago!). So I blanked out the car windows with the tarp, several T shirts and a towel and found 101 uses for a St John road coat. Then it was just a question of finding something warm to wrap up in- thermals (NEVER wear thermals in an Assie cave- I never thought I would be at risk of getting heat stroke underground until today!), lots of fleeces and 101 uses for a St John jacket. then it got cold, and then it got colder so out came the silver blanket from the first aid kit- aren't those things CRAP! You can't get them to stay on. Oh and if you are ever seriously considering sleeping in a Toyota Yaris take my advise and reconsider but if you have to then don't bother putting the seats down cos that leaves a six inch gap between the boot and the seat and the cover thingy sits proud so there's a lump and even a serious shorty like me couldn't lie down full length on it anyway. So don't waste your time trying, I ended up just on the back seats which wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been so bloody cold!
So after not very much sleep I got up to find that you DO get frosts in Australia- I have the photos to prove it.
Next stage was to head off for a nice hot cup of tea and after that find the Morialta waterfalls which had been reccommended- and rightly so. you drive through what looks like wilderness bush country and then suddenly you're in Adelaide. The waterfalls are just off the edge of the city. A friendly local told me not to bother with the five dollar fee for the top carpark but to park for free and walk up - good advice. Being a good Kiwi tramper I took my pack and a fleece and water etc etc and got lots of funny looks from the locals (average age 60) who were carrying nothing. But I did the 10km walk and they were all doing the shorter walks- so there!
The scenery is spectacular and worth the climb as not only do you get the waterfalls but also a look back out across the city. I went up to the third waterfall and had the track to myself but back towards the second and first waterfalls it got busier and busier- it's a popular spot with the locals.
Today (Friday) I'm with Clinton of the SOT for another look at what they get up to- except he's had to go to a meeting so I'm at the Emergency and Major Store - with PC access- whoo hoo!
So far today I've been to SOT and the Police Academy where the major event staff were doing some training- they have quite a bit of kit at their disposal- so much so that the Manual handling trainer was there to supervise them, he got me to take some pictures of the things he's not happy with so I need to remember to send them to him when I get back.
The Sprint Team leader (i.e. Rapid Response) is based here and he's just in the process of trying to track Clinton down to pick me up cos he has to leave so I'd better finish up.
2) DON'T
3) If you really really have no other option- really really DON'T
After a night at Swan reach station- much of it spent trying to shut up the noisy items around the place I headed out to look for the cave. A stop off at the local Post Office- 'to tell someone what I was doing' -much to their surprise. I'd been given directions to find the cave- out to the golf course, go through the double gates opposite and head left and climb down the cliffs- there's a track you'll see it. Uh Huh. Well the double gates were easy enough but no sign of any tracks to the left - just a nasty rusty fence to get through. I headed downstream along the cliff top but it was getting steeper so I started looking for somewhere to get down. I got a good looking spot and started heading down, it turned into a bit of a bum slide but was OK but furtehr down whe I was scrambling thorugh dead leaves I did start thinking about snakes and lizards and things that like to live in the undergrowth. I reckoned it'd be ok tho cos they'd have to bite right through my shoes right? Then I got to a 15ft overhang at the bottom which was impassable so had to climb back up- now I'm having to bury my unprotected HANDS into those leaves to get a grip- hmm lizards, SNAKES, spiders! At the top the limestone turned into about two to three feet of oyster shells which was quite impressive- I'd have liked a picture but it was a bit difficult to hang on and balance so I didn't and just had a rest to wheeze for a bit- who forgot her inhaler then?
Once at the top I headed upstream and after a couple of attempts found an easy spot to get down. next problem - which way to go. There were vehicle tracks following the bottom of the cliff in both ways. So I headed downstream until I can to where there were some pumps taking green smelly water out of the scummy pond which was once a river before it dried up- urgh and I had tea last night with water from the tap. The tracks ran out here and I had a look around but couldn't see a way on. So i turned around and looked the other way. There was a horrible squirmy crawl partly blocked by a couple of trees brought in on flood water from the days when there was water in the Murray but no one else had been in there (?ever?) so I came out again. By now I was getting pretty p-d off with the directions I had been given- no one had mentioned the pump station or whether the cave was up or down stream. the cliffs just disappeared upstream so back down I went. This time while following the end of the vehicle track to where it stopped (boggy horrible stuff- wet feet ) I saw a grassy patch off to the left, in that I saw the footpath immediately- bingo!
The actual cave entrance was a big walk in thing with bats and swallows and of course graffitti. Not the most interesting cave I've ever been in- but it was the hottest, driest, easiest, QUIETEST cave ever. I've never been in a cave before where the only sounds of dripping water was my sweat! Anyway after following a passage which got smaller and smaller to the point where I couldn't be bothered any more I cam to some bottles which some jerk had left there to mark their furthest point- if I hadn't have been on my own I would have gone on but couldn't be bothered as it would have meant crawling out backwards and it didn't look that fascinating.
I went some way down another passage which had a nicely pocketed chamber before coming out. How these caves formed is a bit of a mystery- there's NO water, nor any signs of water erosion, no features nothing.
After signing back in at the Post Office I set off for the Adelaide Hills via Angaston. I had decided to sleep in the car to save money (tight wad) so bought a cheap tarpaulin to block up the windows. the next problem was finding some where to stop. The map showed a whole load of camping places in the Crawford Forest- but at each one the gate was locked and there were signs up everywhere saying no camping! I was getting slightly miffed when I finally found an open gate (Chalk Road for future reference1) but it said a permit was needed (no hints as to how to get one!) and the gate would be locked at night. A fellow traveller in a camper van said he had asked at a local attraction and they reckoned he would get away without a permit. A few more vehicles arrived later so the gate couldn't have been locked ( I have a phobia about getting locked into Forests for reasons to do with a job interview many years ago!). So I blanked out the car windows with the tarp, several T shirts and a towel and found 101 uses for a St John road coat. Then it was just a question of finding something warm to wrap up in- thermals (NEVER wear thermals in an Assie cave- I never thought I would be at risk of getting heat stroke underground until today!), lots of fleeces and 101 uses for a St John jacket. then it got cold, and then it got colder so out came the silver blanket from the first aid kit- aren't those things CRAP! You can't get them to stay on. Oh and if you are ever seriously considering sleeping in a Toyota Yaris take my advise and reconsider but if you have to then don't bother putting the seats down cos that leaves a six inch gap between the boot and the seat and the cover thingy sits proud so there's a lump and even a serious shorty like me couldn't lie down full length on it anyway. So don't waste your time trying, I ended up just on the back seats which wouldn't have been too bad if it hadn't been so bloody cold!
So after not very much sleep I got up to find that you DO get frosts in Australia- I have the photos to prove it.
Next stage was to head off for a nice hot cup of tea and after that find the Morialta waterfalls which had been reccommended- and rightly so. you drive through what looks like wilderness bush country and then suddenly you're in Adelaide. The waterfalls are just off the edge of the city. A friendly local told me not to bother with the five dollar fee for the top carpark but to park for free and walk up - good advice. Being a good Kiwi tramper I took my pack and a fleece and water etc etc and got lots of funny looks from the locals (average age 60) who were carrying nothing. But I did the 10km walk and they were all doing the shorter walks- so there!
The scenery is spectacular and worth the climb as not only do you get the waterfalls but also a look back out across the city. I went up to the third waterfall and had the track to myself but back towards the second and first waterfalls it got busier and busier- it's a popular spot with the locals.
Today (Friday) I'm with Clinton of the SOT for another look at what they get up to- except he's had to go to a meeting so I'm at the Emergency and Major Store - with PC access- whoo hoo!
So far today I've been to SOT and the Police Academy where the major event staff were doing some training- they have quite a bit of kit at their disposal- so much so that the Manual handling trainer was there to supervise them, he got me to take some pictures of the things he's not happy with so I need to remember to send them to him when I get back.
The Sprint Team leader (i.e. Rapid Response) is based here and he's just in the process of trying to track Clinton down to pick me up cos he has to leave so I'd better finish up.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
all over
Well the exchange has finished. After a last meal at the Woolshed ("don't take the Kiwis in there mate, we'll never find them again") we all parted company on Sunday morning.
I got a bit caught out by it being Sunday but managed to hire a car at the airport (not quite sure how I'm going to pay the credit card when I get back- no reasonable job offers refused.)
So now I can't even remember what I've been up to since- senile dementia setting in fast!
Oh yeh- that's right- we finished Sunday night with the meal so Monday I had a look at the Royal Adelaide show, had a quick trip to the EOC to catch up with some more info I wanted and headed east with the intention of going out to Swan Reach. But then the guy from the State Emergency Service who I've been trying to catch up with all week rung and fixed up a site meeting for Tues 12.30.
After a stay at a rather underwhelming "chalet" I headed back into Adelaide and hung around until 11.45 when after texting my contact he rang back to say some idiot has got lost out on the west coast so he's busy and the visit is off- insert swear word of your choice here as this was a place I really wanted to get to.
Hey ho, off to Swan Reach where I met the team out here on their training night and have manged to look suitably lost and lonely so am sleeping on the put me up bed for the night- out by 9 when the room is hired out. So finishing off to get the bed made up.
Not sure if I will be able to get internet again before I leave but keep watching this space.
TTFN
I got a bit caught out by it being Sunday but managed to hire a car at the airport (not quite sure how I'm going to pay the credit card when I get back- no reasonable job offers refused.)
So now I can't even remember what I've been up to since- senile dementia setting in fast!
Oh yeh- that's right- we finished Sunday night with the meal so Monday I had a look at the Royal Adelaide show, had a quick trip to the EOC to catch up with some more info I wanted and headed east with the intention of going out to Swan Reach. But then the guy from the State Emergency Service who I've been trying to catch up with all week rung and fixed up a site meeting for Tues 12.30.
After a stay at a rather underwhelming "chalet" I headed back into Adelaide and hung around until 11.45 when after texting my contact he rang back to say some idiot has got lost out on the west coast so he's busy and the visit is off- insert swear word of your choice here as this was a place I really wanted to get to.
Hey ho, off to Swan Reach where I met the team out here on their training night and have manged to look suitably lost and lonely so am sleeping on the put me up bed for the night- out by 9 when the room is hired out. So finishing off to get the bed made up.
Not sure if I will be able to get internet again before I leave but keep watching this space.
TTFN
Saturday, September 5, 2009
a day off- now what do I do?
Friday
Trish picked me from Dave's about midday and we headed out to Morgan for me to get a few day's R and R. A walk around the township and a natter on station and bed.
Saturday
Nice long lie in this morning followed by a paddle down the river for a wee way in a hired canoe and a look around the museum.
Morgan has a pop of about 400- in the winter and about 2500 in the summer! It's on the river so gets a lot of holiday traffic. there are houseboats all along the river and shacks on the banks. Historically it was a thriving town as it used to take a lot of river traffic and had 6 trains a day to meet tham and take the farm prouce to Adelaide. Now it doesn't even have a railway line any more!
I've come over the station for the night just in case we get a job- unlikely as that may be. Morgan usually does about 88 jobs a year- most in the summer- but have already done five this week- including two on one day so they have been busy. So sod's law states that tonight will not be my lucky night!
Tomorrow Trish will be picking me up again and taking me back to Adelaide for a last chance to catch up with my fellow exchangees and SAAS staff for dinner then the exchange is over and we go our separate ways.
I've got another week over here and have a road shift in Adelaide organised, and will head out to SOT again and am hoping to get to the SES HQ which I didn't get to see at the conference. I had a phone call yesterday morning inviting me out there to see some USAR training but couldn't take it up due to coming out to Morgan so fingers crossed for next week. Oh and I'm having some time out for myself as well.
TTFN
Trish picked me from Dave's about midday and we headed out to Morgan for me to get a few day's R and R. A walk around the township and a natter on station and bed.
Saturday
Nice long lie in this morning followed by a paddle down the river for a wee way in a hired canoe and a look around the museum.
Morgan has a pop of about 400- in the winter and about 2500 in the summer! It's on the river so gets a lot of holiday traffic. there are houseboats all along the river and shacks on the banks. Historically it was a thriving town as it used to take a lot of river traffic and had 6 trains a day to meet tham and take the farm prouce to Adelaide. Now it doesn't even have a railway line any more!
I've come over the station for the night just in case we get a job- unlikely as that may be. Morgan usually does about 88 jobs a year- most in the summer- but have already done five this week- including two on one day so they have been busy. So sod's law states that tonight will not be my lucky night!
Tomorrow Trish will be picking me up again and taking me back to Adelaide for a last chance to catch up with my fellow exchangees and SAAS staff for dinner then the exchange is over and we go our separate ways.
I've got another week over here and have a road shift in Adelaide organised, and will head out to SOT again and am hoping to get to the SES HQ which I didn't get to see at the conference. I had a phone call yesterday morning inviting me out there to see some USAR training but couldn't take it up due to coming out to Morgan so fingers crossed for next week. Oh and I'm having some time out for myself as well.
TTFN
Friday, September 4, 2009
dimensionally challenged
Day- thingy
Yesterday was a biggy. Dave took me on a tour of the Murray Mallee. Headed south through Murray Bridge and down to Lake Albert and a look at the not so mighty River Murray. It used to be mighty- until NSW and Vicotria took all the water out for irrigation wrecking the economy of South Australia and messing up the ecology for good measure.
One feature of the area is the numerous ferries across the river- tho there is a bridge at Murray Bridge- surprise surprise. The ferries are run by the State and are free.
We drove back up to Pinaroo and went to their training session which followed the same format as the others- good pot luck meal and PAV! with debrief of conference and my increasingly slick talk on NZ.
During the day Dave spent a lot of time on the phone dealing with the Morgan team. They had gone out in the night to a chest pain that turned nasty. The crew did really well and the hospital reckons the patient will be walking out in a few days time. Dave rang them up to congratulate them, and the Paid crew that backed them up, and rang up various other people to make sure that everyone was aware of it and to start the ball rolling to get their efforts rewarded. it was interesting to be sitting in on all this.
After the end of the Pinaroo training we headed back to Dave's- getting in at gone midnight- 698 km today!
Day after thingy (thursday)
Back south again with the intention of ending up opposite Kangaroo island but it was not to be. A late start (I diddn't even wake up until 10) and as we approached Strath Albyn there was a call for pain relief from the Goolwa crew who were with a patient who had fallen off a ladder. Some confusion as to whether we were needed or whether the Doctor was going meant we spent some time driving in circles on the road but eventually it got sorted out.
After dealing to the patient Dave hopped in the truck and the spare volly drove his car up behind the ambulance.
Patient dealt to we kept going but didnt have time to go down to Kangaroo Island as Dave had to get up to Flinders Uni to train and assess his students there. These guys are either FARTs (Flinders Ambulance Response Team ) or more correctly VRRTs (Volunteer Regional Response Team). Degree students on the paramedic course who are being trained up to go on the ambulance as volunteers to cover crews who can't fill their roster.
Not quite such a long day- actually got back not too tired to write this! 2000km in 3 days!
Dave's been a great host and has made sure I have got to see the area and meet the teams, tomorrow I'm off to Morgan while Dave has a well deserved weekend off.
Yesterday was a biggy. Dave took me on a tour of the Murray Mallee. Headed south through Murray Bridge and down to Lake Albert and a look at the not so mighty River Murray. It used to be mighty- until NSW and Vicotria took all the water out for irrigation wrecking the economy of South Australia and messing up the ecology for good measure.
One feature of the area is the numerous ferries across the river- tho there is a bridge at Murray Bridge- surprise surprise. The ferries are run by the State and are free.
We drove back up to Pinaroo and went to their training session which followed the same format as the others- good pot luck meal and PAV! with debrief of conference and my increasingly slick talk on NZ.
During the day Dave spent a lot of time on the phone dealing with the Morgan team. They had gone out in the night to a chest pain that turned nasty. The crew did really well and the hospital reckons the patient will be walking out in a few days time. Dave rang them up to congratulate them, and the Paid crew that backed them up, and rang up various other people to make sure that everyone was aware of it and to start the ball rolling to get their efforts rewarded. it was interesting to be sitting in on all this.
After the end of the Pinaroo training we headed back to Dave's- getting in at gone midnight- 698 km today!
Day after thingy (thursday)
Back south again with the intention of ending up opposite Kangaroo island but it was not to be. A late start (I diddn't even wake up until 10) and as we approached Strath Albyn there was a call for pain relief from the Goolwa crew who were with a patient who had fallen off a ladder. Some confusion as to whether we were needed or whether the Doctor was going meant we spent some time driving in circles on the road but eventually it got sorted out.
After dealing to the patient Dave hopped in the truck and the spare volly drove his car up behind the ambulance.
Patient dealt to we kept going but didnt have time to go down to Kangaroo Island as Dave had to get up to Flinders Uni to train and assess his students there. These guys are either FARTs (Flinders Ambulance Response Team ) or more correctly VRRTs (Volunteer Regional Response Team). Degree students on the paramedic course who are being trained up to go on the ambulance as volunteers to cover crews who can't fill their roster.
Not quite such a long day- actually got back not too tired to write this! 2000km in 3 days!
Dave's been a great host and has made sure I have got to see the area and meet the teams, tomorrow I'm off to Morgan while Dave has a well deserved weekend off.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
be afraid- very afraid
Day- um forgotten!
So with all the running around I am totally confused as to what day of the week I am up to . Yesterday (tuesday ) I spent on Berri station. Pretty quiet, we did 3 jobs and they were just off to a 4th when I had to leave to get down to Swan Reach. Berri mostly ends up doing transfers, there are three small hospitals in fairly close towns but only the one at Berri can do Xrays, so I leave the workload to your imagination! We did one job out to the airstrip to meet the RFDS and hand over a patient. It's set up really well as they all have the SAME stretcher (Chch take note! also Life flight and all the other NZ flight providers) so we just wheeled the patient out and they loaded her on and we took their stretcher. The stretchers they use are a self loading Ferno which also adjusts itself to the correct height- anyone who's deciding on our NEXT stretcher configuration take note!
While waiting for a job Garry showed me how to cannulate and I spent a bit of time practising with their training kit. You are all advised to wear long sleeves and gloves when in my presence in the future!
(a picture for Caity of her mum- happy now?)The evening training session was at Mannum and they were all surprised at us having two stretchers and at our manual handling techniques. We would appear to be about ten years behind them in terms of how we look after our backs! But we do win out on the dispatch system- they are looking to get AVL in maybe the next 18months and MDTs are a LONG way off on the horizon.
A long and late drive back to Tanunda with Dave not getting back until 11 ish.
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
If it's Tuesday I must be in .... Berri
Day 7
Today was a tour of the Riverlands area and a look around the Barossa where Dave lives.
Dave doesn't live in his patch which is the river valley of the Murray. The Barossa is really GREEN at the moment but will dry out by November while the Riverlands gets less rainfall and is dry scrub and bush. Huge expanses of sky and outback- very impressive.
We headed through several places (it's starting to get a bit blurred by now) and visited a volunteer out at Swan Reach who runs a native wildlife rescue centre from his home- he was feeding a joey when we arrived and we had a quick tour and a look at some wombats with sarcoptic mange and some kangaroos awaiting release.
Then we headed in Swan Reach (don't blink) to Dave's office- this is 67.5 km from his home! off to Waikerie to get salad for tonight then out to Morgan to the volunteer training night ( roast chicken and salad all round). We did a debiref of the conference for the benfit of those that didn't go and Dave got me to give them a run down on St John in NZ. They were all really interested and their were lots of questions. After a few (!) technical hitches I was able to show them pictures of the old 780 truck and my video of the "earthquake".
Trish took over from Dave as host for the night to get me up to Berri.
Right now I'm on Berri station ("take a good book") waiting for a call out.
Today was a tour of the Riverlands area and a look around the Barossa where Dave lives.
Dave doesn't live in his patch which is the river valley of the Murray. The Barossa is really GREEN at the moment but will dry out by November while the Riverlands gets less rainfall and is dry scrub and bush. Huge expanses of sky and outback- very impressive.
We headed through several places (it's starting to get a bit blurred by now) and visited a volunteer out at Swan Reach who runs a native wildlife rescue centre from his home- he was feeding a joey when we arrived and we had a quick tour and a look at some wombats with sarcoptic mange and some kangaroos awaiting release.
Then we headed in Swan Reach (don't blink) to Dave's office- this is 67.5 km from his home! off to Waikerie to get salad for tonight then out to Morgan to the volunteer training night ( roast chicken and salad all round). We did a debiref of the conference for the benfit of those that didn't go and Dave got me to give them a run down on St John in NZ. They were all really interested and their were lots of questions. After a few (!) technical hitches I was able to show them pictures of the old 780 truck and my video of the "earthquake".
Trish took over from Dave as host for the night to get me up to Berri.
Right now I'm on Berri station ("take a good book") waiting for a call out.
Conference call
Day 6 (day 2 of conference)
First up apologies for the spelling mistakes- things have been really hectic and getting online has been a bit erratic so stuff gets typed in at high speed in short breaks and the err0r$ creep in.
Anyway day 2 consisted of the final two vists, first off to the MFS (Metro Fire Station) where we were given a power point showing fire service capabilities, taken through the decontamination units that are used - the "pod" is very cool, and shown the command centre- tho I would question having it in the third floor if an earthquake happens. Apparently Adelaide sits on a fault line so it is possible.
After that it was out to Fulham to look at the set up there- which we had seen during the week so nothing to really add about that.
Back at the Conference Hall after lunch the key speaker (name not to hand) was from the State Government and she was a very energetic speaker (luckily by this stage!) who gave us a run down on the recovery processes post disaster. The conference was wrapped up by the Minister for Volunteers.
I then hooked up with Dave Schilling, my host for the week and the Regional Training Leader for the Riverlands area and after saying goodbye to the other exchangees we headed off to Dave's home in Tanunda. A quick stop to do a first response on the way (an"unconcious" teenager) broke up the trip.
First up apologies for the spelling mistakes- things have been really hectic and getting online has been a bit erratic so stuff gets typed in at high speed in short breaks and the err0r$ creep in.
Anyway day 2 consisted of the final two vists, first off to the MFS (Metro Fire Station) where we were given a power point showing fire service capabilities, taken through the decontamination units that are used - the "pod" is very cool, and shown the command centre- tho I would question having it in the third floor if an earthquake happens. Apparently Adelaide sits on a fault line so it is possible.
After that it was out to Fulham to look at the set up there- which we had seen during the week so nothing to really add about that.
Back at the Conference Hall after lunch the key speaker (name not to hand) was from the State Government and she was a very energetic speaker (luckily by this stage!) who gave us a run down on the recovery processes post disaster. The conference was wrapped up by the Minister for Volunteers.
I then hooked up with Dave Schilling, my host for the week and the Regional Training Leader for the Riverlands area and after saying goodbye to the other exchangees we headed off to Dave's home in Tanunda. A quick stop to do a first response on the way (an"unconcious" teenager) broke up the trip.
Monday, August 31, 2009
photos...
Left to right- Neale tries to pursuade Pete that it's not poisonous really
Lee demonstrates the approved SAAS headgear for incidents involving bees and alien attack.
Rescusi Annie begs Bridget to stop breaking her ribs.
(or if you want to be boring and serious (or even seriously boring)
1) Fit testing of masks
2) Bucket for containing saccarine spray
3) trying out the CPR assessment device
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Conference kicks off to a bang (and shake rattle and roll)
Day 5- or day one of the conference.
An early start to the day- we had to be at the (huge) conference centre for 7.45 a.m. Before the main event started there was a chance to look around the stands in the conference hall, these were manned by the various sections we had visited over the last few days.
There were also several ambulances on display includng the new volunteer recruitment truck (they call them cars over here) which is very flash and is the new initiative to try and get more volunteers on board.
After some time looking over these we were called into the main conference room.
Ray Creen the CEO kicked off with a speech in which he attempted to say the word "carrot"more than 22 times- he suceeded but this was to bite him in the rear end later on in the day!
After calling his boss a vegetable (carrot!)- Neale Sutton did a short welcome for the next speaker and in the course of this mentioned Marla Station where 3 people cover all the shifts- (about 30 patients a year)- of course none of them were present as they were doing cover back home- more about this station later.
Next up was Mr Joske from the WA Red Cross, who had flown in specially to give his speech on Emergency Response in Disasters.
Then our guide of the first few days Lee got up and announced the next speaker who was the most dynamic he had ever seen and the subject was Cost Recovery. The speaker Aaron Chia is the director of finances and deputy CEO and he delivered the worst speech I have ever seen, complete with over text heavy power point slides which he read in a montone - right up to the point where he was interupted by an "earthquake". This was done really well with rumbling and crashing noises at extreme volume, smoke, fake flames, sirens and the works. At this point Neale Sutton (volunteer director) took over and used his army background to boss us all into our groups for the day.
Pete and I were in the dark blue group with our other guide of the week Chris as our "den mother"- yup he really did have a specially made up patch for his jacket saying that.
After getting all 30 on the bus and working out we were there we set off around the one way system for ten minutes- before ending up 100m back down the road from where we had started! At the railway yards we were tasked to move two of our number as patients from out of the carriages. Not so easy when the doors are four feet above the ground! The SAAS uses some complex manual handling techniques to avoid lifting and I wasn't familiar with all the straps and buckles and the ways they tied them up so stood back and watched- though I got some blank looks when I mentioned scoop stretchers as they don't used them. Having shifted our patients we swapped places with the other half of the groups and went to see the organisational process the railways use. Unfortunately this was really the last practical exercise we got to do although some other groups did some more exercises.
From the Railway we went out to the airport and visited SOT again where they had set up some displays of the SOT gear and the retrieval gear, off to the heli shed where the helicopter was coming in. It's a monster of a thing- think civilian Iroqoui. They can configure it to take 4 stretchers if they have to - but try not to as there's not room to work. Helicopters don't have the range for the outlying areas so the Royal Flying Doctors Service has airstrips on the main road for the West Coast- where road transport times are 6 hours or more (one way).
From the airport we went to the RAH where we had been programmedto do a tour of the emergency dept, burns unit and ICU which are all in the same block. But as the hospital was running at 110% full this had to be cancelled and we got a virtual power point tour instead in a lecture theatre which had flooded earlier in the day- who says it doesn't rain in Aussie- it threw it down in the morning.
We got dropped off back at the conference centre to go and get ready for the evenings entertainment.
The Conference dinner was pretty spectacular, the Police band played during the meal. i'm not personally really into the big band sound but they were very good- although maybe a bit too loud for conversation. I was on the same table as Ray Creen the director who came in for a good bit of stick during the evening when the Comedian (a drag Queen Elizabeth) arrived and started presenting the "Awards for Outstanding Performance"- which consisted of a medal- and a carrot!
A number of awards were given- one to a vollie who responded to a chest pain directly from the swimming pool- in her bikini (according to Her Maj the patient then had a heart attack at the sight), and one to two ladies on my table for vehicular starting methods- but what happens on cenference had better stay on conference.
Neale Sutton then got up to say that news was in that the Marla crew (remember them?) had had fourteen hour job- yup that's right 14 hours. Apparently two blokes had turned up at the local pub, unable to remember exactly where their car had gone off the road and saying their two mates were dead. The crew and Police headed off in search and found one dead patient and one nearly dead. Two hours along the road on the way to Coober Pedy they got a puncture so
they had to change the wheel by the road side before carrying on. They started at some time before 9 in the morning and finished up after 9 at night! Far OUT!
An early start to the day- we had to be at the (huge) conference centre for 7.45 a.m. Before the main event started there was a chance to look around the stands in the conference hall, these were manned by the various sections we had visited over the last few days.
There were also several ambulances on display includng the new volunteer recruitment truck (they call them cars over here) which is very flash and is the new initiative to try and get more volunteers on board.
After some time looking over these we were called into the main conference room.
Ray Creen the CEO kicked off with a speech in which he attempted to say the word "carrot"more than 22 times- he suceeded but this was to bite him in the rear end later on in the day!
After calling his boss a vegetable (carrot!)- Neale Sutton did a short welcome for the next speaker and in the course of this mentioned Marla Station where 3 people cover all the shifts- (about 30 patients a year)- of course none of them were present as they were doing cover back home- more about this station later.
Next up was Mr Joske from the WA Red Cross, who had flown in specially to give his speech on Emergency Response in Disasters.
Then our guide of the first few days Lee got up and announced the next speaker who was the most dynamic he had ever seen and the subject was Cost Recovery. The speaker Aaron Chia is the director of finances and deputy CEO and he delivered the worst speech I have ever seen, complete with over text heavy power point slides which he read in a montone - right up to the point where he was interupted by an "earthquake". This was done really well with rumbling and crashing noises at extreme volume, smoke, fake flames, sirens and the works. At this point Neale Sutton (volunteer director) took over and used his army background to boss us all into our groups for the day.
Pete and I were in the dark blue group with our other guide of the week Chris as our "den mother"- yup he really did have a specially made up patch for his jacket saying that.
After getting all 30 on the bus and working out we were there we set off around the one way system for ten minutes- before ending up 100m back down the road from where we had started! At the railway yards we were tasked to move two of our number as patients from out of the carriages. Not so easy when the doors are four feet above the ground! The SAAS uses some complex manual handling techniques to avoid lifting and I wasn't familiar with all the straps and buckles and the ways they tied them up so stood back and watched- though I got some blank looks when I mentioned scoop stretchers as they don't used them. Having shifted our patients we swapped places with the other half of the groups and went to see the organisational process the railways use. Unfortunately this was really the last practical exercise we got to do although some other groups did some more exercises.
From the Railway we went out to the airport and visited SOT again where they had set up some displays of the SOT gear and the retrieval gear, off to the heli shed where the helicopter was coming in. It's a monster of a thing- think civilian Iroqoui. They can configure it to take 4 stretchers if they have to - but try not to as there's not room to work. Helicopters don't have the range for the outlying areas so the Royal Flying Doctors Service has airstrips on the main road for the West Coast- where road transport times are 6 hours or more (one way).
From the airport we went to the RAH where we had been programmedto do a tour of the emergency dept, burns unit and ICU which are all in the same block. But as the hospital was running at 110% full this had to be cancelled and we got a virtual power point tour instead in a lecture theatre which had flooded earlier in the day- who says it doesn't rain in Aussie- it threw it down in the morning.
We got dropped off back at the conference centre to go and get ready for the evenings entertainment.
The Conference dinner was pretty spectacular, the Police band played during the meal. i'm not personally really into the big band sound but they were very good- although maybe a bit too loud for conversation. I was on the same table as Ray Creen the director who came in for a good bit of stick during the evening when the Comedian (a drag Queen Elizabeth) arrived and started presenting the "Awards for Outstanding Performance"- which consisted of a medal- and a carrot!
A number of awards were given- one to a vollie who responded to a chest pain directly from the swimming pool- in her bikini (according to Her Maj the patient then had a heart attack at the sight), and one to two ladies on my table for vehicular starting methods- but what happens on cenference had better stay on conference.
Neale Sutton then got up to say that news was in that the Marla crew (remember them?) had had fourteen hour job- yup that's right 14 hours. Apparently two blokes had turned up at the local pub, unable to remember exactly where their car had gone off the road and saying their two mates were dead. The crew and Police headed off in search and found one dead patient and one nearly dead. Two hours along the road on the way to Coober Pedy they got a puncture so
they had to change the wheel by the road side before carrying on. They started at some time before 9 in the morning and finished up after 9 at night! Far OUT!
one large room, 400 volunteers, five out of ten sessions- two days of great fun!
Well it's been a busy few days.
On friday (day 4) we had a lie in then headed out to Fulham again where Dan and Mike gave us a run down on the bariatrics unit and how they go about moving the overweight. They no longer load a hospital bed into a furniture lorry! Now they have a special ambulance loaded with special gear and a trained team who go out and spend several hours moving a patient. The stretcher goes into the regular ambulance and the bariatrics crew go to the hospital to unload again. They have an inflatable matress and a hover matress which looks REALLY cool but we didn't get a chance to see it in action as the crew were called out on a job.
Then we met John who is a BIG ex New Yorker who is on the PS (psych) unit. he raqn us down on how they use de-escalation techniques, chemical and physical restraints on mental health patients. They will use Midazolam to sedate patients for as long as it takes to get them to hospital- as John said you really don't want some of these people coming round halfway through a 3 hour plane transport! He also showed us how to restrain a pateint on a stretcher with a net by strapping Pete down- all at no extra charge. They will also use wrist and ankle restraints.
Once we had finished at Fulham we had a free afternoon so after a very good seafood lunch we got dropped off at Glenelg on the coast for a wander and then took the tram back into town for a look at the shops.
In the evening we went down to the hall where conference registration was held and got more presents and a conference badge as well as a chance to meet the locals.
On friday (day 4) we had a lie in then headed out to Fulham again where Dan and Mike gave us a run down on the bariatrics unit and how they go about moving the overweight. They no longer load a hospital bed into a furniture lorry! Now they have a special ambulance loaded with special gear and a trained team who go out and spend several hours moving a patient. The stretcher goes into the regular ambulance and the bariatrics crew go to the hospital to unload again. They have an inflatable matress and a hover matress which looks REALLY cool but we didn't get a chance to see it in action as the crew were called out on a job.
Then we met John who is a BIG ex New Yorker who is on the PS (psych) unit. he raqn us down on how they use de-escalation techniques, chemical and physical restraints on mental health patients. They will use Midazolam to sedate patients for as long as it takes to get them to hospital- as John said you really don't want some of these people coming round halfway through a 3 hour plane transport! He also showed us how to restrain a pateint on a stretcher with a net by strapping Pete down- all at no extra charge. They will also use wrist and ankle restraints.
Once we had finished at Fulham we had a free afternoon so after a very good seafood lunch we got dropped off at Glenelg on the coast for a wander and then took the tram back into town for a look at the shops.
In the evening we went down to the hall where conference registration was held and got more presents and a conference badge as well as a chance to meet the locals.
Friday, August 28, 2009
ne nah ne nah ne nah whoo whoo
Day 3
Road shift day at Prospect station
A bit of a hiccup over transport this morning meant I had to chase “my”crew down at a nursing home to join up with them. After leaving the patient at a smaller hospital they showed me over the vehicle- and later got “pinged” for taking more than 20 minutes to clear! The shift supervisor was happy with the explanation, but the service is trying to speed up clearance times, when you see ten ambulances lined up in the bay at the hospital you can see why but you do have to wonder why they don’t just page the crews to move on.
We then went quiet- yup the Q word, which gave me a bit of time to catch up on emails etc. Emily and Ian were most apologetic as Prospect is normally busy, but hey we all know how it goes when there's a third on shift. We took the opportunity to dash out and grab something to eat and then got put on break. The (union) rules state the crews get a 20 minute break every four hours- so true to ambulance form we nearly managed to finish eating before we got called out for the rest of the day. Once we got going we were on the road until virtually the end of the guys' shift at 5.00.
Every trip to the hospital I would be accosted by a different crew member off one of the other stations who would ask me where I was from and about the exchange and everyone was very friendly. The hospital system was a bit different to what we’re all used to in Dunedin. Triage is handled by one of the reception staff who will tell the crew where their patient is going (section A, B, waiting room etc), there is an orderly waiting by the door who will get a bed, make it up if needed and bring it over and several hospital staff will appear as if by magic to help with the patient transfer. Orderlys also bring patients down from the wards to the main door for transfer to PTS! Hidden out of sight from the main door is a nursing station for further handover of the less serious cases and then the patient is left with no hanging around- serious cases get handed over to a doctor at resus- also staffed by lots of people at time of transfer.
The most notable job of the day was a call as we left the RAH (Royal Adelaide Hospital) to go to Prospect station where a man had turned up saying that the aliens had told him to kill an ambulance officer- oh yes SAPOL (Police) were on the way! As you can imagine we were full of enthusiasm for this job and rushed there as quickly as we could, commenting how lucky it was that the other crew were fifteen minutes into their break (inside the station) and so would not have to walk out of the building and deal with this…..gentleman! So we were MOST upset when a higher priority call came in and we had to dash past the station (and attending Police) with the lights and sirens going off to the other job- what a shame and we had SO hoped to meet him.
Wayne (the eastern area shift leader) came back to pick me up and kindly gave me a Claire a quick tour of the city which has some impressive architecture and that was it for another day- apart from tea of course (I can assure you no indigenous species died to feed me)
Road shift day at Prospect station
A bit of a hiccup over transport this morning meant I had to chase “my”crew down at a nursing home to join up with them. After leaving the patient at a smaller hospital they showed me over the vehicle- and later got “pinged” for taking more than 20 minutes to clear! The shift supervisor was happy with the explanation, but the service is trying to speed up clearance times, when you see ten ambulances lined up in the bay at the hospital you can see why but you do have to wonder why they don’t just page the crews to move on.
We then went quiet- yup the Q word, which gave me a bit of time to catch up on emails etc. Emily and Ian were most apologetic as Prospect is normally busy, but hey we all know how it goes when there's a third on shift. We took the opportunity to dash out and grab something to eat and then got put on break. The (union) rules state the crews get a 20 minute break every four hours- so true to ambulance form we nearly managed to finish eating before we got called out for the rest of the day. Once we got going we were on the road until virtually the end of the guys' shift at 5.00.
Every trip to the hospital I would be accosted by a different crew member off one of the other stations who would ask me where I was from and about the exchange and everyone was very friendly. The hospital system was a bit different to what we’re all used to in Dunedin. Triage is handled by one of the reception staff who will tell the crew where their patient is going (section A, B, waiting room etc), there is an orderly waiting by the door who will get a bed, make it up if needed and bring it over and several hospital staff will appear as if by magic to help with the patient transfer. Orderlys also bring patients down from the wards to the main door for transfer to PTS! Hidden out of sight from the main door is a nursing station for further handover of the less serious cases and then the patient is left with no hanging around- serious cases get handed over to a doctor at resus- also staffed by lots of people at time of transfer.
The most notable job of the day was a call as we left the RAH (Royal Adelaide Hospital) to go to Prospect station where a man had turned up saying that the aliens had told him to kill an ambulance officer- oh yes SAPOL (Police) were on the way! As you can imagine we were full of enthusiasm for this job and rushed there as quickly as we could, commenting how lucky it was that the other crew were fifteen minutes into their break (inside the station) and so would not have to walk out of the building and deal with this…..gentleman! So we were MOST upset when a higher priority call came in and we had to dash past the station (and attending Police) with the lights and sirens going off to the other job- what a shame and we had SO hoped to meet him.
Wayne (the eastern area shift leader) came back to pick me up and kindly gave me a Claire a quick tour of the city which has some impressive architecture and that was it for another day- apart from tea of course (I can assure you no indigenous species died to feed me)
catching up with the last few days action
Day two- busy busy.
A stunning meal at the heartily recommended Woolshed last night (it has one of those bucking bulls- not in action- boo shame). We met the Director for the Rural areas Neale S- who is highly entertaining- I didn’t quite catch the whole of his story about running over a kangaroo but the one about the dangling buffalo gave us all a laugh. I had kangaroo steak- ok I’m not normally into eating unique indigenous fauna - but hey it just had to be done sometime.
Day two kicked off at the more reasonable time of 8.30- except that of course we’re all still working to good old NZ time and all woke up anywhere between 4.00 am and 6.30 am.
First up we went to the E.O.C at HQ. After squirting our hands with the obligatory alcohol disinfectant we were introduced to the day’s Duty Manager Steve and Comms room manager Lee and given a tour of the room (which is not small!). The E.O.C. runs comms for the whole State and there were about 6 call takers in with spaces for another four to come in for busy times! Calls go through to North and South dispatchers for the city as well as to a rural dispatchers. Also in the comms room are an ECP (Extended Care paramedic) who gives advice over the phone to callers and a trouble shooter who takes care of notifying Police etc when needed.
The SAAS system is all done by radio call ins- no MDT’s and not even any buttons to push on the radio so you had better believe the dispatchers are BUSY. One thing we all noticed was the radio “chatter” as crews are given all their job details over the air (pager only gives them the address or initial area to head to, a map reference and category), crews call in on response, location, arrival at hospital, clearance and on station. As they're on a Government digitall radio channel which is meant to be secure they give out names, addresses and key locations on air which we all found very strange.
I sat in with Natalie on dispatch for Northern city for a while and couldn’t even try to keep up with her lightening fingers! As crews come in she logs their times in as well as passing on the messages from the call takers- she also has to keep in her head the location of ambulances in her area at all times so she can work out who to dispatch where- no AVL for these guys as yet! All the dispatchers have a printed city map with stations marked on but they also have access to Google maps on one of their three computer screens. Natalie didn’t seem to bother too much with Google but John one of the rural dispatchers was using his to decide which station would get to a rural job more quickly.
After ten minutes of being blown away by how Natalie coped with it all (she had ten ambulances on one screen and six on jobs on the other) I was moved on to see what the call takers were up to. Call takers for SAAS do not have any road experience and work on the PROQA codes we all know and love. As Luke worked his way through the questions the computer would throw up the next set for him to ask. Calls come in from all over the State and are allocated to whoever has been sitting around the longest. I got to sit in on a simple abdo pain and a more difficult call- unfortunately we ran out of time and I had to leave while caller CPR (as taught by Luke) was in progress, the ambulance had just pulled up outside the door- the outcome is unknown.
From the E.O.C. we headed out to Fulham which houses stores, the tech guys and fleet management. The “comms engineering” section was quite something. The team lead by Paul do all the in house electronics for the State. This includes unpacking all the training maniquins and making sure they are working properly before they go out to stations, repairing any that get broken, fixing pagers, and sorting out cellphones, sat phones and radios. To welcome us to the section they had set up a partially put together maniquin on the table which was breathing - veeerry sloowwly.
From there we went and had a look at stores- which was a storeroom- but bigger. All the stores for the State are dispatched from here- either by bus to the rural areas or by the storesmen for the city.
Then we popped into the workshop for the fleet which has six or so hoists (mostly occupied). Not only the vehicles get serviced but the stretchers are also checked out every six months.
A quick stop for a good café lunch and then we headed down to Flinders Uni to see the education unit. Pete and I were travelling with Chris who had been taking a lot of stick from Lee all day about being late at each venue (we‘re mostly talking a few minutes only but Lee is a bit particular), so of course on the way to Flinders Chris got directionally challenged (he’s not from around here you know) after Lee shot ahead of us. But we all rallied round and I think we managed to nearly convince Lee we had taken a tiki tour to the beach on the way out.
We met the whole education team in the tea room and toured the Department. The SAAS career path is quite different to St John. Volunteers go through Cert 2 (PHEC plus a bit) in 3 to 6 (ish) months and then follow it up with Cert 4 (another 3- 6 ish months) which is roughly equivalent to Nat Cert but gives them more drugs to use BUT they have to call up and consult before they use them.
The education team are currently reviewing their training programme to be extended over a six year period to help retain volunteers for longer.
Crocodile and kangaroo for tea tonight!
A stunning meal at the heartily recommended Woolshed last night (it has one of those bucking bulls- not in action- boo shame). We met the Director for the Rural areas Neale S- who is highly entertaining- I didn’t quite catch the whole of his story about running over a kangaroo but the one about the dangling buffalo gave us all a laugh. I had kangaroo steak- ok I’m not normally into eating unique indigenous fauna - but hey it just had to be done sometime.
Day two kicked off at the more reasonable time of 8.30- except that of course we’re all still working to good old NZ time and all woke up anywhere between 4.00 am and 6.30 am.
First up we went to the E.O.C at HQ. After squirting our hands with the obligatory alcohol disinfectant we were introduced to the day’s Duty Manager Steve and Comms room manager Lee and given a tour of the room (which is not small!). The E.O.C. runs comms for the whole State and there were about 6 call takers in with spaces for another four to come in for busy times! Calls go through to North and South dispatchers for the city as well as to a rural dispatchers. Also in the comms room are an ECP (Extended Care paramedic) who gives advice over the phone to callers and a trouble shooter who takes care of notifying Police etc when needed.
The SAAS system is all done by radio call ins- no MDT’s and not even any buttons to push on the radio so you had better believe the dispatchers are BUSY. One thing we all noticed was the radio “chatter” as crews are given all their job details over the air (pager only gives them the address or initial area to head to, a map reference and category), crews call in on response, location, arrival at hospital, clearance and on station. As they're on a Government digitall radio channel which is meant to be secure they give out names, addresses and key locations on air which we all found very strange.
I sat in with Natalie on dispatch for Northern city for a while and couldn’t even try to keep up with her lightening fingers! As crews come in she logs their times in as well as passing on the messages from the call takers- she also has to keep in her head the location of ambulances in her area at all times so she can work out who to dispatch where- no AVL for these guys as yet! All the dispatchers have a printed city map with stations marked on but they also have access to Google maps on one of their three computer screens. Natalie didn’t seem to bother too much with Google but John one of the rural dispatchers was using his to decide which station would get to a rural job more quickly.
After ten minutes of being blown away by how Natalie coped with it all (she had ten ambulances on one screen and six on jobs on the other) I was moved on to see what the call takers were up to. Call takers for SAAS do not have any road experience and work on the PROQA codes we all know and love. As Luke worked his way through the questions the computer would throw up the next set for him to ask. Calls come in from all over the State and are allocated to whoever has been sitting around the longest. I got to sit in on a simple abdo pain and a more difficult call- unfortunately we ran out of time and I had to leave while caller CPR (as taught by Luke) was in progress, the ambulance had just pulled up outside the door- the outcome is unknown.
From the E.O.C. we headed out to Fulham which houses stores, the tech guys and fleet management. The “comms engineering” section was quite something. The team lead by Paul do all the in house electronics for the State. This includes unpacking all the training maniquins and making sure they are working properly before they go out to stations, repairing any that get broken, fixing pagers, and sorting out cellphones, sat phones and radios. To welcome us to the section they had set up a partially put together maniquin on the table which was breathing - veeerry sloowwly.
From there we went and had a look at stores- which was a storeroom- but bigger. All the stores for the State are dispatched from here- either by bus to the rural areas or by the storesmen for the city.
Then we popped into the workshop for the fleet which has six or so hoists (mostly occupied). Not only the vehicles get serviced but the stretchers are also checked out every six months.
A quick stop for a good café lunch and then we headed down to Flinders Uni to see the education unit. Pete and I were travelling with Chris who had been taking a lot of stick from Lee all day about being late at each venue (we‘re mostly talking a few minutes only but Lee is a bit particular), so of course on the way to Flinders Chris got directionally challenged (he’s not from around here you know) after Lee shot ahead of us. But we all rallied round and I think we managed to nearly convince Lee we had taken a tiki tour to the beach on the way out.
We met the whole education team in the tea room and toured the Department. The SAAS career path is quite different to St John. Volunteers go through Cert 2 (PHEC plus a bit) in 3 to 6 (ish) months and then follow it up with Cert 4 (another 3- 6 ish months) which is roughly equivalent to Nat Cert but gives them more drugs to use BUT they have to call up and consult before they use them.
The education team are currently reviewing their training programme to be extended over a six year period to help retain volunteers for longer.
Crocodile and kangaroo for tea tonight!
I'll try and post some photos but I've been having a few issues getting them to upload so keep watching this space.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
on shift in Adelaide
Well after a hectic day yesterday- more on this later- I'm now on shift in Adelaide at Prospect Station. As is traditional when there is a third on there's been only one job since seven o' clock - I was meant to start at eight but hiccups in getting us all to our stations meant that we passed "my" ambulance at 8.15 on their way to a job- but we caught up so here I am on statiopn- we''ll be off out in a sec to get some luch so will log in later with all the not so gruesome details TTFN
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
here we are!!
Well day one is drawing towards meal time- phew! It’s been pretty hectic.
Yesterdays’ flight was uneventful but I wished I’d had the camera available for some photos while we were flying up Dunedin harbour in glorious sunlight (just to prove we have some of course), an hour in Wellington then off to overnight in Auckland meeting up with Pete one of the other exchangees on the way.
Five o’clock is DEFINITELY too early to be civilised but the taxi was at 5.45 so it haqd to be done (urgh!). At the airport we picked up first Bridget and then Claire- easy to pick toting her St John bag. Despite the other’s claims to excessive packing my bag is easily the heaviest so now I will have to justify that by doing some outdoor activities in my last week!
After last night’s 1 hour flight from Wellington to Auckland (which took 45 minutes) the 4.55 minute Auckland to Adelaide taking over 5 hours was a disappointment. The weather on arrival wet and windy but warm enough.
We were met by Lee and Chris- well Claire was then they had to wait for me and Bridget to pursuade the Maf brigade that we were not importing noxious species into the country- but we got there in the end.
Lee is in charge of the Western Rural region from Whyalla out to the Nullabor while Chris has the Southern Rural region. After dropping our bags at our accomodation they took us on a drive through the city for lunch then on to HQ for SAAS. He service runs out of a three storey building with the EACC on the top floor (that’s tomorrow’s visit), admin on the lower and various management folks in the middle. We were introduced to lots of people but by now being in a stupefied state (5.00am translates to 3.00am Adelaide time!) I can’t remember who everyone was. But Cindy (clinical quality management) introduced us to the Qcpr maniquin and let us have a play- the others had seen this beast before but for those that haven’t you can link a rescusi annie up to a defib and it will tell what you are doing wrong in your CPR- apparently it works on real people too- probably best to kick the family out of the room while it picks holes in your technique at a CA tho!
Neale then gave us our fitness test (no not climbing three flights of stairs- how to correctly fit a P2 mask), after sitting with our heads in a see thru bucket and having sweet stuff squirted on us we then had to fit a mask and make sure we couldn’t smell the saccharine with the mask on. Health staff in SA are tested on their ability once a year and have to pass.
Lee and Chris gave us an overview of the areas we’ll be heading out to- Pete gets the Nullabor and they burst out laughing when they found out who my host is going to be- hmmm! We also got a run down on how the service runs with their volunteer and career stations. All really interesting.
Tomorrow- is another day but there’s quite a few places to go to!
Yesterdays’ flight was uneventful but I wished I’d had the camera available for some photos while we were flying up Dunedin harbour in glorious sunlight (just to prove we have some of course), an hour in Wellington then off to overnight in Auckland meeting up with Pete one of the other exchangees on the way.
Five o’clock is DEFINITELY too early to be civilised but the taxi was at 5.45 so it haqd to be done (urgh!). At the airport we picked up first Bridget and then Claire- easy to pick toting her St John bag. Despite the other’s claims to excessive packing my bag is easily the heaviest so now I will have to justify that by doing some outdoor activities in my last week!
After last night’s 1 hour flight from Wellington to Auckland (which took 45 minutes) the 4.55 minute Auckland to Adelaide taking over 5 hours was a disappointment. The weather on arrival wet and windy but warm enough.
We were met by Lee and Chris- well Claire was then they had to wait for me and Bridget to pursuade the Maf brigade that we were not importing noxious species into the country- but we got there in the end.
Lee is in charge of the Western Rural region from Whyalla out to the Nullabor while Chris has the Southern Rural region. After dropping our bags at our accomodation they took us on a drive through the city for lunch then on to HQ for SAAS. He service runs out of a three storey building with the EACC on the top floor (that’s tomorrow’s visit), admin on the lower and various management folks in the middle. We were introduced to lots of people but by now being in a stupefied state (5.00am translates to 3.00am Adelaide time!) I can’t remember who everyone was. But Cindy (clinical quality management) introduced us to the Qcpr maniquin and let us have a play- the others had seen this beast before but for those that haven’t you can link a rescusi annie up to a defib and it will tell what you are doing wrong in your CPR- apparently it works on real people too- probably best to kick the family out of the room while it picks holes in your technique at a CA tho!
Neale then gave us our fitness test (no not climbing three flights of stairs- how to correctly fit a P2 mask), after sitting with our heads in a see thru bucket and having sweet stuff squirted on us we then had to fit a mask and make sure we couldn’t smell the saccharine with the mask on. Health staff in SA are tested on their ability once a year and have to pass.
Lee and Chris gave us an overview of the areas we’ll be heading out to- Pete gets the Nullabor and they burst out laughing when they found out who my host is going to be- hmmm! We also got a run down on how the service runs with their volunteer and career stations. All really interesting.
Tomorrow- is another day but there’s quite a few places to go to!
Monday, August 24, 2009
only an hour and a half to go!
Just enjoying the spring sunshine before heading off to the airport. One huge heavy bag sitting in the living room and another extremely heavy one for hand luggage- how did we used to manage in the days before electronic equipment? And how do we now cope with the fact each item has it's own blasted charger! I had to find another wee bag just to put all the cables in- and I still have some tucked away goodness knows where- it's going to be a nightmare charging stuff up!
Apparently you can take two bags to Aussie from NZ now- but not if you have to make a local flight first. Maybe that's just as well as it stops me overloading myself anymore.
My first reccommendation to the uniform committee (next time they're asking) is MAKE IT ALL LESS BULKY AND LIGHTER!
Back off to the sunshine again- the solar heating sensor says it's 65oc on the roof!
Apparently you can take two bags to Aussie from NZ now- but not if you have to make a local flight first. Maybe that's just as well as it stops me overloading myself anymore.
My first reccommendation to the uniform committee (next time they're asking) is MAKE IT ALL LESS BULKY AND LIGHTER!
Back off to the sunshine again- the solar heating sensor says it's 65oc on the roof!
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Not nearly ready to go yet
Well I head out of sunny Dunedin for a) windy Wellington followed by b) Awful Auckland tomorrow- so I really need to be packing not sitting at the computer doing this! Stuff all over the living room and trying to work out how to fit 3 uniform shirts, 2 uniform trousers, 1 uniform jacket (and it's detachable sleeves), 1 road coat (and the horrible stiff reflective strip that says AMBULANCE), 1 fluoro vest (and the horrible stiff reflective strip that says AMBULANCE) plus a pair of boots PLUS the stuff I want to take for my week going solo. Looks like the climbing helmet may have to stay behind, along with the caving overalls and bouyancy aid! Mustn't forget the camera, laptop etc etc - or passport and REALLY mustn't forget to get some Aussie dollars out tomorrow- which was this week's job but everything got too hectic!
Still have to download the old pics off the camera so I have some space on it and make sure all the batteries are charged- phew!
No panic!
Still have to download the old pics off the camera so I have some space on it and make sure all the batteries are charged- phew!
No panic!
Monday, August 17, 2009
So why is anyone at all surprised by this?
Driver hits parked ambulance with sirens blaring
Posted Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:14pm AEST
Map: Adelaide 5000
An alleged drink driver has collided with a parked ambulance that had its emergency lights flashing and sirens sounding in suburban Adelaide.
Police say the 22-year-old man's car hit the ambulance on Marion Road at Plympton Park just after 2:00 am ACST.
They say the car crossed the median strip and struck the front fence of a home.
The Ascot Park man allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.187.
He has lost his probationary licence and faces charges including drink driving.
I'm more surprised we don't get it happening more often given the way somedrivers seem unable to see the lights in the rear view mirror or hear the sirens coming from somewhere close to their rear end.
Posted Sun Aug 16, 2009 1:14pm AEST
Map: Adelaide 5000
An alleged drink driver has collided with a parked ambulance that had its emergency lights flashing and sirens sounding in suburban Adelaide.
Police say the 22-year-old man's car hit the ambulance on Marion Road at Plympton Park just after 2:00 am ACST.
They say the car crossed the median strip and struck the front fence of a home.
The Ascot Park man allegedly recorded a blood alcohol reading of 0.187.
He has lost his probationary licence and faces charges including drink driving.
I'm more surprised we don't get it happening more often given the way somedrivers seem unable to see the lights in the rear view mirror or hear the sirens coming from somewhere close to their rear end.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Getting ready to go across the ditch
Hi all, well I now have my timetable for the Aussie trip and it's pretty full on. So for those that have been asking here's a run down:-
Head up to Auckland on the 24th and meet up with the other participants. Fly over to Adelaide on the 25th arrive 10.30ish, get fitted for masks, check in and afternoon free followed by evening dinner with SAAS Managers.
26th- Tour of... EOC, Support services, Special Operations at Adelaide airport, Education Services Unit ... phew.
27th Day on shift at Prospect Station.
28th Visit ATS complex (that's what it says- dunno what ATS stands for- Ambulance Transport Services maybe?). Free afternoon followed by State Volunteer Conference.
29th SVC
30th SVC to 3.00pm followed by travel to Barossa valley (1 and a half hours).http://maps.google.com/
31st Tour of Barossa, Blanchetown, Waikerie and off to Morgan. Morgan team training.
1st Road shift in Berri. Swan Reach team training.
2nd Tour of Murray Mallee. Pinnaroo team training.
3rd Travel to Flinders Uni.
4th Free day
5th Free day at Morgan.
6th Adelaide, farewell meal.
7th End of exchange followed by a week doing my own thing.
Head up to Auckland on the 24th and meet up with the other participants. Fly over to Adelaide on the 25th arrive 10.30ish, get fitted for masks, check in and afternoon free followed by evening dinner with SAAS Managers.
26th- Tour of... EOC, Support services, Special Operations at Adelaide airport, Education Services Unit ... phew.
27th Day on shift at Prospect Station.
28th Visit ATS complex (that's what it says- dunno what ATS stands for- Ambulance Transport Services maybe?). Free afternoon followed by State Volunteer Conference.
29th SVC
30th SVC to 3.00pm followed by travel to Barossa valley (1 and a half hours).http://maps.google.com/
31st Tour of Barossa, Blanchetown, Waikerie and off to Morgan. Morgan team training.
1st Road shift in Berri. Swan Reach team training.
2nd Tour of Murray Mallee. Pinnaroo team training.
3rd Travel to Flinders Uni.
4th Free day
5th Free day at Morgan.
6th Adelaide, farewell meal.
7th End of exchange followed by a week doing my own thing.
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