Showing posts with label Snow Days. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Snow Days. Show all posts
Friday, January 08, 2010
Thursday, January 07, 2010
Zombie Apocalypse
More evidence, if any were needed, that Great Britain can't cope with snow. And, latterly, that every time I agree to swap shifts with someone, it goes tits up...
Tuesday, two days ago, I should have been on a day off, but had agreed to cover a shift for a colleague. It was the swing shift, 4pm until 1am.
By just after 6 it was snowing pretty heavily, but didn't seem to be settling. By about 8 it was lying thick on the ground, and the flail had begun. Cars were getting jammed on the roads, big and small, and even the Ambos were getting trapped. It rapidly became apparent that no-one who couldn't walk home was getting home.
This clearly included me.
The only upside being that if we couldn't get out, no-one could get in. Ambulances couldn't even back into the Bay, a distance of some 10 feet, up a risible slope, and for a while we either unloaded patients in the road, or relied on 4x4s pulling the Ambos into place.
Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, we ran out of food. Management did their bit and pitched in with a plate of sandwiches. Fortunately, saner minds prevailed and we ordered in pizza...
And then... the power went out. We were, I'm told, struck by lightening. Twice. All the lights went out on majors, and it was all very M*A*S*H - medicine by torchlight. It was at about this moment I was expecting the zombie apocalypse, but the only pallid figures wandering the corridors were the staff.
A few rooms were cleared, and we all bedded down. This was not the sexy night-time hospital orgy it might have been if my life were a film, or if I were not blessed with LBF.
The next day wasn't much better, although numbers were still down, and at least after a double shift the roads had been cleared enough to get me home.
It's still pretty icy out there, and we, as a country still don't really know what to do about it, so the upcoming weekend nights should be a giggle.
Tuesday, two days ago, I should have been on a day off, but had agreed to cover a shift for a colleague. It was the swing shift, 4pm until 1am.
By just after 6 it was snowing pretty heavily, but didn't seem to be settling. By about 8 it was lying thick on the ground, and the flail had begun. Cars were getting jammed on the roads, big and small, and even the Ambos were getting trapped. It rapidly became apparent that no-one who couldn't walk home was getting home.
This clearly included me.
The only upside being that if we couldn't get out, no-one could get in. Ambulances couldn't even back into the Bay, a distance of some 10 feet, up a risible slope, and for a while we either unloaded patients in the road, or relied on 4x4s pulling the Ambos into place.
Just when I thought it couldn't get worse, we ran out of food. Management did their bit and pitched in with a plate of sandwiches. Fortunately, saner minds prevailed and we ordered in pizza...
And then... the power went out. We were, I'm told, struck by lightening. Twice. All the lights went out on majors, and it was all very M*A*S*H - medicine by torchlight. It was at about this moment I was expecting the zombie apocalypse, but the only pallid figures wandering the corridors were the staff.
A few rooms were cleared, and we all bedded down. This was not the sexy night-time hospital orgy it might have been if my life were a film, or if I were not blessed with LBF.
The next day wasn't much better, although numbers were still down, and at least after a double shift the roads had been cleared enough to get me home.
It's still pretty icy out there, and we, as a country still don't really know what to do about it, so the upcoming weekend nights should be a giggle.
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