Friday, March 17, 2006

Commonwealth games

Well the great Commonwealth games show is in town. It opened last night with all the pomp and ceremony that one would expect. The papers were saying it was "going to be a uniquely Australian spectacular". Our Prime minister looked as awkward as ever and She (the Queen of Australia) was there looking suitably well-preserved. I thought the most "uniquely Australian" part of the whole event was when Lord Mayor John So got a bigger welcoming cheer from the crowd than the Queen. I thought that was brilliant. One speaks the Queens English perfectly and the other has had to be subtitled on a few occasions. Pure aussie irreverence in full flight.

The ambulance crews are busy running round being prominent and available and as a result we now even have a bike squad. These super-fit paramedics are hooning around the streets on expensive looking mountain bikes and clocking up some impressive response times. The idea is that they can get through crowds of pedestrians quicker than a road car and can assess and treat as required. Then they call for a car to come and back them up. They have not apparently figured out the logistics of transporting patients yet. I joked with a colleague about them needing little lights and sirens on their bikes until I was shown that they do in fact have both already. Stupid me, boy was I wrong!

Interestingly I note there has been some resistance to bike squads in other countries as people seem to expect more than an out-of-breath ambo on a bike with a first kit. So what do you carry. How much gear is enough?

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