By Alex Hickey
Daily Post
RHYL, Wales — Drink fuelled fights and arguments, people fainting because of overindulgence, traffic accidents, everyday emergencies and a slew of seasonal illnesses.
That is just a taster of what Welsh Ambulance Service workers are facing across the region over the festive period.
Rhyl paramedic Dermot O’Leary, who will be working tonight — on New Year’s Eve — urged revellers to take care not to end up in A&E. He spoke to the Daily Post about the challenges of life as an emergency worker and took me on a “blue right run” to see the obstacles he has to overcome just to get a patient to the hospital.
The 49-year-old is also the service’s road safety champion so has come across his fair share of driving idiocy and downright fatal behaviour.
He took time out from a road safety event demonstrating that point to Coleg Menai students, to take me on a tour of the streets of Bangor in an ambulance with the blue lights flashing.
It’s fair to say that my 10 minutes or so in the passenger seat wasn’t a comfortable ride.
Dermot never reached particularly hair-raising speeds — the emergency services can exceed the speed limit and treat red lights as a give way but, all the time he and his colleagues are aware of other road users.
He said: “If we were to be involved in a crash, and it’s never happened to me, we could be held liable.”
It’s a pity a worryingly high number of other drivers on the day did not afford him the same courtesy.
The sheer incompetence I witnessed left me open-mouthed. Some drivers seemed apparently oblivious to the flashing lights and the high pitched wail of the siren — not pulling over until the last minute, pulling up on to pavements with barely a look to see if they are clear, not giving way at junctions.
I was amazed at just how inconsiderate, inattentive and thoughtless some drivers can be and wondered how those same people would react if they were in the back of an ambulance with a loved one? For his part Dermot barely raised an eyebrow at what he saw: “We see this on the roads day in and day out; people texting, maybe listening to their MP3 player or having an argument and completely unaware of the world around them.”
What must make it more frustrating for paramedics is that they know how crucial it is to get someone to the hospital within the “golden hour” of an accident or emergency taking place.
And despite being philosophical about what he faced on the roads he was in no doubt about one thing: “Cars have improved, the roads are safer but, I think people’s driving skills have got worse, I really do.”
Like most paramedics and emergency service workers Dermot will be working over the festive period.
It’s something that he is happy to do but he would love it people could celebrate New Year without a trip to A&E. “The only message I would send out to people is think about your actions and the effect your actions can have on other people. If you don’'t it’s us and others that have to deal with the consequences if you don’t.”
“There may be fewer cars around on the roads but there tend to be more accidents in the winter anyway with ice, less daylight and low sunsets.
“There will also no doubt be call outs because of lots of fighting in city centres and in homes with people drinking too much, others fainting because they’ve eaten too much. I just hope we get a few New Year babies,” he said.
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