Directly opposite my hotel in London was a base for the London Ambulance Service. In the entranceway were three ambulances a recent model and two from years past. I had to make photo’s.
I took a moment at this point. My father worked for the railway back in the 60’s but always wanted to work for the ambulance service, he passed the entry exam, and finally joined the service, I think in 1969. In those days, the job was an ambulance driver. One drove, one had a little more first aid knowledge and sat in the back with the patient.
Can you imagine – he passed the exam, got into the dream job, and the first person he picked up was his own mother! He stayed with the ambulance service for the rest of his working life, until retirement. He continued to study and gain various further medical qualifications. He won an award for driving, delivered several babies, before the ambulance got to the hospital, and attended some incidents that must have been nasty. It seemed funny to me as a kid that every now and again dad needed some “quiet time” in the garden shed and I was asked not to disturb him. He made ships in bottles in there, now as an adult I can understand why. I recall one night when a neighbours son was killed on his motorbike, dad had primed my mother, we were sent to bed, but I can remember the wail and the sobs heard through the wall to this day. I remember an accident at a fairground when dad had to come home to wash and change. I remember the blood. There were also funny moments, like an unexploded world war 2 bomb and an escaped Kangaroo. All these things are in my memory. By the time he retired dad had qualified as a paramedic and wore his “Pizza Delivery Outfit” as he called it – a bright green jumpsuit! Dad died about a decade ago now, he was a wonderful man and I wish I had appreciated him more than I did while he was alive. Some of that appreciation comes with age, and I guess I’m “that age”!! I certainly respect anyone who is a paramedic.
S.H.O.U.T. 