Apologies if you got stuck in the jam on the M25 yesterday
Discussion
It was my fault! I was lucky enough to spend a day with the Air Ambulance yesterday and we ended up landing on the M25 near Chelmsford! Quite an experience - and incredible to see what those guys do. (although the chopper pilot was actually a lady). They cut some old boy out of his upside down car and performed surgery on him right there in the road to relieve pressure on his chest. It certainly caused a massive tailback but that's down to the fact that they are now able to do this sort of thing on the scene rather than just picking people up and racing them to hospital. So if you were stuck - it was genuinely because of a life or death moment...
Why do they have to do the surgery in the middle of the carriageway? Why not do it on the hard shoulder and keep the road open? People would drive by pretty slowly so as to ghoulishly stare, so the risk of fod damage to the patient would be reduced. They could have signs up saying, 'pass slow and wide, deadly operation in progress' and 'honk if you like guts' .
Some people are just selfish, I suppose?
Some people are just selfish, I suppose?
Edited by s3fella on Friday 14th September 07:59
I always try to stay composed in traffoc jans as invariably there is someone in a worse situation at the other end..... people get sensitive about it because they might be late to the next corporate teabagging session. Winds me up when people get so self important in such situations.
s3fella said:
Why do they have to do the surgery in the middle of the carriageway? Why not do it on the hard shoulder and keep the road open? People would drive by pretty slowly so as to ghoulishly stare, so the risk of fod damage to the patient would be reduced. They could have signs up saying, 'pass slow and wide, deadly operation in progress' and 'honk if you like guts' .
Some people are just selfish, I suppose?
Some people are just selfish, I suppose?
Edited by s3fella on Friday 14th September 07:59
The only surgery they did on the motorway was that required to safely transport the patient to a hospital.
Nobody does surgery on the motorway by choice.
If someone died, as they often do in this circumstances, there is usually a case conference about it. The people at the scene would come in for a lot of criticism if they were found to be doing any surgery that could more safely be done at a hospital. Subsequently the circling no win no fee lawyers would have a field day.
I assume this chap wasn't going to make it without a chest drain, which someytimes needs to be done right there and then because even a helicopter isn't fast enough to transport a patient with no breathing ability
.
Nobody does surgery on the motorway by choice.
If someone died, as they often do in this circumstances, there is usually a case conference about it. The people at the scene would come in for a lot of criticism if they were found to be doing any surgery that could more safely be done at a hospital. Subsequently the circling no win no fee lawyers would have a field day.
I assume this chap wasn't going to make it without a chest drain, which someytimes needs to be done right there and then because even a helicopter isn't fast enough to transport a patient with no breathing ability
.AndyandChrisGTR said:
I was there, glad the chap was ok. His car looked pretty sqaushed!!
Only problem I had was that I had to pee in a bottle!! First time I've ever had to do that and it's not easy!! Especially with just a 0.5ltr ribeana bottle that had no way near enough capacity!!!
Why didn't you just go to the roadside? Its one of the advantages of being a man, being able to stand up and go wherever you want! Only problem I had was that I had to pee in a bottle!! First time I've ever had to do that and it's not easy!! Especially with just a 0.5ltr ribeana bottle that had no way near enough capacity!!!
krunchkin said:
Obvious troll but I'll point out that landing a bloody great helicopter on a motorway requires all lanes closed. We had to circle for 20 mins while the cops got it together to shut down the opposite carriageway.
Why do they have to shut down the other carriageway too? (genuine question)Edited by krunchkin on Friday 14th September 08:10
TameRacingDriver said:
AndyandChrisGTR said:
I was there, glad the chap was ok. His car looked pretty sqaushed!!
Only problem I had was that I had to pee in a bottle!! First time I've ever had to do that and it's not easy!! Especially with just a 0.5ltr ribeana bottle that had no way near enough capacity!!!
Why didn't you just go to the roadside? Its one of the advantages of being a man, being able to stand up and go wherever you want! Only problem I had was that I had to pee in a bottle!! First time I've ever had to do that and it's not easy!! Especially with just a 0.5ltr ribeana bottle that had no way near enough capacity!!!
OP - sounds like an interesting experience.
krunchkin said:
Obvious troll but I'll point out that landing a bloody great helicopter on a motorway requires all lanes closed. We had to circle for 20 mins while the cops got it together to shut down the opposite carriageway.
Why do people always say "troll" when they read something they perceive to be perhaps rude. Some people just don't get satire.Edited by krunchkin on Friday 14th September 08:10
gtdc said:
Why do they have to shut down the other carriageway too? (genuine question)
I would guess that the amount of downdraught from the rotors would mean that even if the chopper landed on the same carriage way as the accident, the amount of debris and stuff that would be thrown up would be a danger to passing cars. Or it could just be to give the crew more room to land closer to the incident.Steve
Steve vRS said:
gtdc said:
Why do they have to shut down the other carriageway too? (genuine question)
I would guess that the amount of downdraught from the rotors would mean that even if the chopper landed on the same carriage way as the accident, the amount of debris and stuff that would be thrown up would be a danger to passing cars. Or it could just be to give the crew more room to land closer to the incident.Steve
When in the RAF there were traffic lights at the start/end of the runway to stop traffic passing under the glidepath of landing jets. Apparently the jockeys dont like watching vans and buses wafting across when they are trying to land!
gtdc said:
Why do they have to shut down the other carriageway too? (genuine question)
It's to prevent any possible further incidents due to people rubbernecking from the other carriageway - landing on (or near) any motorway is only done if there's no other viable option and if they do land, both carriageways will always be shut and for the least amount of time possible . . . it's not a decision taken lightly.Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff