July 7th Ambulance Report
Following on from my recent post which mentioned delays getting ambulances to Russell Square, Rachel From North London (who was in the same carriage as the Piccadilly Line bomb when it went off) has pointed me in the direction of the London Ambulance Service’s report on the problems they experienced that day. I found it interesting reading and I’m sure anyone else who was in any way involved with the events will too.
The ambulance service and other emergency services (and the hospitals and buses and underground and nearby businesses) all did something incredible that day — putting themselves in danger, going beyond the call of duty, clambering through bodies to help the injured and on the whole, everyone did a fantastic job. Although I played my small part, it was one occasion when I really felt in awe of the crews that put their lives on the line whilst I sheltered in the relative safety of the control room. I only have praise for the bravery of the crews and thanks for what they did manage to do — after all, this wasn’t just one major incident, this was four major incidents happening at once, something no one was expecting. However, for the small but significant number of patients who were left waiting in Russell Square for up to two hours, the fact that hundreds of ambulances crews were battling valiantly elsewhere to clear the scenes must come as cold comfort, so I am glad they have got some answers as to why they didn’t receive help as quickly as they should have.
on April 4th, 2006 at 9:28 am
Thank you Mark. Once more, I would like to express my thanks for all that the emergency services, medical staff, London Underground staff and passers-by did to help on that awful day. It is reassuring to read of how most passengers got help quickly, and to have some answers about what happened at Russell Square, which has long puzzled me. I’ve directed my blog readers to your site ( think you are already blogrolled) so they can comment here too.
on April 4th, 2006 at 9:21 pm
We were the second wave to russell square, met by police officers closing access roads and not knowing open routes of ingress, C.A.C. unobtainable on the radio due to “capacity” issues and once on scene managers not knowing one end of a vehicle from another. We were told one thing by police on scene another from our own guys which we mixed up and coughed out our own interprtation of events. As i have heard in the forces and again after the incidents it was summed up by a member of the public “lions led by donkeys”. This is only a small appology to anyone who felt we let them down on the day as the service as a whole performed well including the out of counties and voulantary services who offered first rate support.
on April 4th, 2006 at 11:09 pm
We all know you did astonishing feats on the day. Please try not to beat yourselves up about the ones you couldn’t help. BTP were working in the same vacuum of info. Salute to anyone trying to help. Keep safe guys….x