Christmas wishes from Glenwood paramedics

WHILE the thought of working on Christmas day or night might send most of us into a state of certain depression, emergency service staff know it is part and parcel of their jobs.

Unfortunately it is also their most busy time of the year according to Rescue Care Paramedics manger, Jodi Jamieson. “It seems this December is the worst and busiest we’ve had in four years. What’s particularly worse is that we are not just attending to minor crashes but really bad ones with serious injuries. In just over a week we have had two children die as a result of crashes. One was 19 months old and the other was five years old. The baby was sitting on the mother’s lap between the mum and dashboard when the crash occurred. We just want to tell people to be really vigilant. Always strap children in car seats. Too many times we see children unnecessarily ejected out of vehicles because they are not strapped in,” she said.

Jamieson said this year things worked out so paramedics either worked the Christmas or New Year’s shift. “They either work the day or night so have some family time and we bring in mince pies and try to ensure the office is festive,” she added.

Berea Mail chatted to Shane Papanicolaou, an advance life support paramedic who has worked in the industry since 1994. “Early in my career, before I was married, I would volunteer to work Christmas and New Year because it had good financial rewards and everyone wanted the day off, now with a family is does take a bit of a toll on family commitments but my children are old enough to understand the nature of the job and know their dad needs to work to take care of others,” he said.

The worst part about working Christmas Day Papanicolaou said, was dealing with child related emergencies. “My worst Christmas experience on the job in recent years was when a child (2,5-year-old) drowned on Christmas Day. The family were having a get together and the pool did not have a cover but a fence around. Because the older kids were running in and out, they wedged a sandal in the gate so it didn’t lock and this child got in,” he said.

Ian Wessels, also a paramedic at Rescue Care after ten years working as a fireman, agreed saying child emergencies in both his roles as emergency service worker were the worst. “You never know what to expect and because its the festive season people seem to slack off on safety precautions. Whether it’s on the roads or in their home by the pool. You can never just say you’re a safe driver so its fine, you have to worry about the others on the road. If you’re going to have alcohol, just don’t drive,” he cautioned.

Another big problem the team has experienced is with motorists driving in or blocking the emergency (yellow line), while they try to get to a scene. “Time is imperative, we have a golden hour where we have to stabilise the patient and get them to hospital for urgent medical treatment that could prevent death. Always remember, while its an inconvenience being stuck in traffic behind a crash scene, it could be your family member in need and it could be the difference between life and death,” she said.