Not only do we have young lads being stabbed in broad daylight (as blogged about earlier), but we are now having police targeted in drive-by shootings with automatic weapons. It's gotten so bad that the government is thinking about making the wearing of body armour compulsory outside the few places in London where this is already the case. This thought is also helped by the fact that the police officer shot was saved from more serious injury by her body armour.
The L.A.S has given us all body armour – which I have worn perhaps three times “in anger” but have worn on a couple of nightshifts just because it makes a nice body warmer. I can see our management making us wear our armour all the time, in one of those knee-jerk reactions that we all know and love from working for the N.H.S. It'd be a shame not only because they are heavy, uncomfortable and restrict your movement; but also because by trying to squeeze into it, I can see how much weight I've put on in the last few months.
When I went to work in Station 1 Zone Full-time the first question I was asked was if I had been fitted for a vest yet. Yes, it was that bad, and really still is…Yet, we no longer have Vests. Management says that its because its not needed since we stage until PD clears a scene, but I think its because of costs. They deployed the vests until they started expiring. Then they bought a handful of lesser grade stabd-proof vests. AS everything expired they never replaced it.
We are also supposed to wait until the police have cleared the scene; but to be honest a lot of us don't bother – England is fairly safe and the police can take 45 minutes to attend to us (they are hopelessly overstretched as well).We got body armour after one of our fellas was stabbed, luckily not too badly, and I will say one thing for “da firm” they do try to help out the guys on the road with safety – they recently gave us all mobile phones because the hand radios we were issued years ago don't work as they should. The armour they gave us is worth 2000 each – I think they could only afford that because the government has paid out for some new vehicles for us this year.
Hey I just saw Global Paramedics on DHC. They covered 24hours with the LAS. Kind of cool to see what Paramedics go through in different parts of the world. It was interesting to note most of us all deal with the same issues..If you get Discovery Health Channel, be sure to catch the replay. Looks like it miht become a series.
They showed it over here a while ago – very good, it had my family in stitches as I commented that during one drive I'd cross the central berm, and lo and behold that's what the crew do.I've also got a lot of love for the South African fellas – they do a good job with really crap resources, and a lot of very sick/trauma patients.
That I can remember it means it must have been good.
Oh and one of the LAS crew is the wife of my old training supervisor.
Afternoon…great blog! :)There can't be shootings over there…guns are illegal, right?
Well…guns are illegal, no handguns _at_all_ and rifles/shotguns are heavily licensed. Even air pistols are heavily frowned upon.Which means it's only the criminals who have guns.
Still we don't have _that_ much gun crime, normally criminal on criminal action.
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Interesting theme…
What do you mean?
Shooting in Romford 29th October 2008 – “local officers and an ambulance were called over a domestic assault on the man's wife at a council estate in Harold Hill, Romford, at 1:40pm.They then requested back-up from armed response officers, who shot the man dead in the street following a confrontation.”
And still I ask myself why, they're clumsy, big, sweaty, but could one day save our lives. Why do crewstaff mock the use (dependant on individuals choice) of stab vests? We respond to calls daily, do we ever really know what's on the other side of that door? And can we keep taking the chance that we 'know' it's going to be alright and a 'safe' call.
Mr Bradley, is he going to follow the route of the Met and make the wearing of vest compulsory? Our job can be a dangerous one at times, often more so when we attend jobs when there aren't enough police resources to attend………….
Mockery of staff wanting to protect themselves is foolish and petty.
Compulsory stab vest would put everyone in the same 'uniform'