This job followed on directly from the previous posting. We were sent to 'Female, head injury, police on scene'.
The patient ticked both the 'crack user' and 'prostitute' boxes on the “Is your patient a crack whore?” form.
She was in the garden of the house shouting and swearing at the lone police officer and the ambulance duty station officer who had been sent out as a first responder. Between near incoherent offensive language we discovered that the woman had a bit of a bruise to her head.
The mother had got into an argument with her fourteen year old daughter, after years of this behaviour the daughter had finally snapped and hit her mother around the head.
I spoke with the police officer, he told me that the child had only recently been returned to the mothers custody. The social workers involved in the case had said that, “The mother needs to take some responsibility for caring for her daughter”. The police officer was the same one who had driven the daughter home from the foster home.
The mother was well known to the police for the reasons given above.
He was feeling guilty as apparently the child was a 'good kid'.
Our patient was complaining of all over body pain, my crewmate took her into the back of the ambulance and did a sterling job of calming her down. The drive to hospital was uneventful.
The daughter had to be arrested, we are all crossing our fingers that the mother won't press charges.
We meet such lovely people in our line of work.
Only a short post as I need to get up in five hours for a long drive to… well… I'll tell you in a bit. That and Hallam Foe, why getting a 'job' when I'm not wearing my uniform is a pain in the bum and a general post about why it is nice to be a blogger, but also a bit worrying.
I am *such* a tease.
That's incredibly humbling and sad. It will stay with me all day.
yup… and then the people you might describe as the license-issuers think that because someone managed to have sex, get pregnant, and give birth, they are the optimum person for that defenceless baby to be with.
Need a wakeup call? ;-)I think your five hours are up….
Isn't it bizarre how you have to have a licence for a large dog to show you are fit and suitable to raise it correctly but any old fruitloop can have a child with no questions asked?
Yep, yet the press is up in arms about 'toddler asbo's'. Trouble is…learned behavious is very hard to unlearn, despite knowing all the right answers re childcare/ and being, so I'm told, brilliant with other people's, my own too often get the short straw.Just to stress that am not abusive, just not natural earth mother, and always want to do better.
That is a heartbreaking story. You must find this job incredibly depressing at times. Sending virtual hugs your way.
Bit like the last post really. Feckless adults who shouldn't be allowed to have children, look after them, or have any contact with them at all.
The liberal (small l) in me is telling me not to be so judgemental but F*** YES! this kind of thing twists my knickers. I would give my right arm if I could have children, I had a disastrous pregnancy that ended 14 weeks early with a tiny poorly baby and gave me kidney failure. My son died aged 3 months. I can't have any more kids and I can't adopt – the powers that be have deemed me literally unfit to have children apparently in case I snuff it and can no longer provide for the child. How ironic that there are children being born to people like this crackhead who can't provide for them and there are people like me who can but aren't allowed.
Reminds me of a job I went to involving drugs. Called to a house on a rather less than desirable estate for a “…bleed not stopped” (but in the lovely terms of the AMPDS coding system). The patient, who was a I.V. drug abuser, had shot up through his groin directly through an abcess inadvertenly into the femoral artery. The abcess was as a result of infection from numerous previous visits with the needle to this area. Anyway, as we walked into the living room we could see the progress of his continuing blood loss as it had spurted up the wall gradually climbing lower as he lost his blood pressure and the old red stuff itself.The sad thing was that in the corner of the room was his 7 or 8 year old son laying on a mucky old mattress watching the telly with out a care in the world as if this was the norm in his house. What chance did he have been raised in that kind of enviroment?
Not since 1987, when the dog licence was abolished in the UK. The problem with big dogs (Rottweilers anyone?) is generally with the owner, not the dog.
Too bad the girl was busted. One of our cops would probably bought her a good meal and set her loose.
Yes you are a tease, but as the post was so good I'll forgive you.It made me want to shout “Oi! You! Get off my planet!”
I've done it, I've finally got my life back together, nolonger am I the grumpy so and so in the corner, sulking 'cause I can't do what I want or turning up up for work bleary eyed through reading that book till all hours!!!! I finished it last night and now have a huge hole in my life where blood sweat and tea was before.Seriously though, what a great book, I've read loads of ambulance memoirs but this is by far and away the best. I'm addicted to the blog now though!!!
As an ambulance service responder I get to see a fraction of what you do, I can turn up when I want and go home when I want, how the guys and girls do it day in day out is just incredible. Keep up the good work.
Pardon my ignorance, what is an ambulance service responder?
And then there are people like me, contemplating having an abortion because (among other reaons) I don't think that I'd be a good enough mum.
In my case a volunteer that works for a charity that supports the ambulance service. We wear ambulance service uniform, drive a marked FRU and are trained by the ambulance service. We do a lot of standby sat in the cars where control think their might be a job and if we do get get given a job try to stick to the 3 principles of first aid, Preserve Life, Prevent the condition worsening and promote recovery.www.first-response.org.uk is my charity but there are many other responder organisations round the country.
Oh right. That sounds great. I'll do some reading, I'm fascinated by all things ambulance and health service at the moment. Good luck with your work!And thanx for taking the time to explain.
That's up to you, but I assure you lots of people don't think they'll be good enough mums. And usually, they do just fine, because they're the ones who are bothered enough about making the effort to be a good mum.Whatever you do, best of luck.
What we're talking about here are people who think having a baby is all about having a tiny baby to dress up and show off, and then get confused when it turns out that unlike their other toys, a baby needs 24/7 care and can't be turned off or put in the cupboard or given to the nearest charity shop.
I hope I haven't overstepped the mark here, if I have I'm really sorry.