Ambulance UK October 2020

EDITOR’S COMMENT
EDITOR’S COMMENT
Welcome to this issue of AUK
So here we are in October still haunted by the ghost of Christmas future, the other big ‘C’, and reeling from a
summer not of whoa but woe. I don’t know about anyone else but sometimes I find writing somewhat cathartic
so sitting here writing this I thought I might reflect on the year thus far in the fond hope I can find something
positive.
“Surprise,
surprise,
numbers
began to
increase and
the strategy
seemed
obvious.
A little like
watching
numbers
fly up the
tube in the
National
Lottery,
area by area
‘hot spots’
were closed
down.”
Let’s begin with last Christmas when everyone I knew had a weird flu-like illness, my GP friend told me it had
even surprised him in its “different to the normal”presentation, lo and behold, enter stage left a brand new
coronavirus. Now I’m not really into politics but come mid February it was, I think, obvious to everyone that
things were not looking good. My parents boarded themselves into the house and haven’t been out since, Then
mid March the politicians started listening to “science” and convinced the nation to close its doors…that worked!
…I can remember working in my day job on the last weekend in March when our demand hit 100% increase on
normal and thinking well this is going to need some creative thinking, this just isn’t working the way they said it
would. I’ve found a positive ! The weather over Spring made working from home a distinct pleasure but then I’m
lucky to work for the health service, thousands of others lost their jobs, their lives and their sanity so really not a
positive, just a sobering reminder that sometimes the cure creates more issues than the disease.
Everyone looks forward to Summer, so as restrictions eased and bars re-opened, I think most people breathed
a sigh of relief. Surprise, surprise, numbers began to increase and the strategy seemed obvious. A little like
watching numbers fly up the tube in the National Lottery, area by area ‘hot spots’ were closed down. I’m
cynical, with a third of the country now ‘closed’ again, I’m not convinced that was successful, however, putting
the cynicism to the side let’s consider my favourite intervention, the mask! So now everyone has a little piece
of cloth that comes in and out of their pocket every two minutes, can be worn under the nose or chin, can be
hung on the car mirror so it isn’t forgotten next time at the shops and protects others even though the rules
that probably did protect people, hand washing and distance are pretty much obsolete because of the power
of the mask and the psychological confidence it brings. Worse still, the fomitic things are all over the place, I’m
just waiting for a dolphin to end up with one wrapped round its snout.
Time for the second wave. What on earth did they think would happen when the kids got back to school.
History perhaps might have given them a clue, since kids are the flu season super spreaders every single
year. I’m not sure how many students there are in the UK but again not entirely surprising when you send
them all over the country for the first time with a full grant and no parental oversight that within a fortnight every
university had hundreds of new cases…now wasn’t that a surprise!
And here we are, you just know its bad when the supermarkets are putting Easter eggs on their shelves, no
family Christmas this year, although I suppose technically if you cremate the Turkey like my wife does each
year you could get a few people round for its funeral.
Did I say this was a cathartic exercise, it isn’t really, it just makes me sad to think of the people who have lost a
year of their lives, the kids who should be enjoying life, the families who had their lives ruined, the people who
have died not only of the disease but of fear to have that ‘lump’, that ‘weakness’, that ‘chest pain’ investigated.
Those who have had operations cancelled, those that cannot see their grandchildren or grandparents. The
vulnerable who might as well have been imprisoned for perhaps one of their last remaining years. And finally,
let’s not forget the perhaps irreparable damage to the UK economy, the unemployment, the lost businesses
and the debt that will probably have to be repaid for the next century, the next budget will be interesting. Will
we look back when this is all over, if it ever is, they’ve never cured another coronavirus, the common cold, and
say “I’m not sure our scientific decisions were that great.”
Stay safe, stay distance, stay hygienic and of course, don’t leave the house without your shield of invincibility…
Sam English, Co-Editor Ambulance UK
AMBULANCE UK - OCTOBER
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