MEDICAL MATTERS

[PanBiker]

Hard luck Maz, you invariably come of worse if you fall off a bike, pedal or motorcycle. I personally have experienced both on a few occasions and the road or track is always harder than you. Not helped on a push bike as you are usually lightly clad. I cracked four ribs on the coast to coast which wasn't much fun at all when you need to take a full lung full of air. Still enjoyed the rest of the journey though with the aid of a few magic pills. I hope you mend up soon and all we can wish is that we learn from our mistakes.

[Stanley]

I'm still smiling about Mrs P standing at the bottom of the stepladders when Ken is on them. Shades of Uncle Bob, that was what he was doing when he fell....

[chinatyke]

Hard lines Maz. Hope it gets better soon.

Last time I fell off my bike was a few years ago when I was riding merrily home from the bar in Nanning. I got a slight wobble by dithering and avoiding people on the pavement and I fell off into the bushes. Gave the locals a laugh to see a tipsy old foreigner biting the dust but they helped me up and it didn't do me any harm! I'd have got some mileage out of showing off a bruise like yours.

[Stanley]

That image made me smile also.... .

[Marilyn]

Bruise has extended to well over dinner plate size, China...but no discomfort...all good.
Large areas of gravel rash still tender. No magic pills here. A rub with moisturiser helps scabs soften. ( I am a pretty tough old bird)

[PanBiker]

No magic pills here. A rub with moisturiser helps scabs soften. ( I am a pretty tough old bird)

That may be the case but when you still have over 100 miles to go, needs must. Can't see the point in being a martyr to pain if you can avoid it.

[Marilyn]

At the time, we had 14.5 kilometres to go, we where on a bush track, in the middle of nowhere on a warm Australian day. (Remote means remote in the Australian bush. We are talking dust, bush and kangaroos )Just had to get back. No other choice, unless you really want to call an emergency helicopter rescue and suffer the cost (and embarrassment) of just bruises and gravel rash!
I understand you have no concept of such remote terrain. That is ok. Australia can be truly hostile. We had plenty of water with us. We were fine.
If you are riding that far in UK after an injury that fractures ribs, I can only assume that was a choice you made?

[Marilyn]

Honestly, I have no idea what a helicopter rescue would cost in the UK. Perhaps it is like NHS? But it would cost thousands here!

[PanBiker]

All our Air Ambulances are voluntary funded, depends on the aircraft but it's about £2k - £4k every time one takes to the air. Medical staff are provided by NHS and are usually volunteers.

[Tripps]

I have no idea what a helicopter rescue would cost in the UK.

I don't think there is any cost to the rescued person. I think Ian's figures are what it actually costs - but to the charity not the NHS. Be interesting to know more - the TV progarmmes seem to imply such a rescue is fairly routine. I doubt it.

[PanBiker]

Indeed it is the cost to the charity in ownership, maintenance and running costs averaged out on a per launch basis. The medics onboard are usually doctors and paramedics voluntary working on their days off. No charge whatsoever to the recipient of the shout. I found out when looking at the costs that a land ambulance deployment costs £255.00 per go. Makes the peppercorn fines or warnings handed out for hoax calls a joke. They should at least equal the deployment costs.

[Wendyf]

The Yorkshire Air Ambulance landed on Pinhaw on Friday afternoon, I could see dayglo suited people around the trig point and someone reported 2 amblances in attendance down by the road. An incident report of a child injured in a fall has just appeared on their website today listed under Keighley.

[Marilyn]

We have The Flying Doctor Service in the Outback. I believe that flying ambulance is free ( charity and government funded).
Depending what state you live in here, land ambulance varies in cost ( I think in Queensland it is free for example). Most of us have ambulance covered in our Private Hospital Insurance. Intra-hospital ambulance transfers are paid for by the sending hospital, as they will only transfer if they are unable to provide the level of care that you need.
But if you are plucked off a cliff, bush track etc, be prepared for a bill.

[Marilyn]

Our ambulance is not staffed by volunteers. They are fully trained and paid.
We also pay an Emergency Services Levy annually, to fund the infrastructure of Emergency Services.

[PanBiker]

Our ambulance is not staffed by volunteers. They are fully trained and paid.
We also pay an Emergency Services Levy annually, to fund the infrastructure of Emergency Services.

Land ambulances have two person crews who are both fully trained and paid. Our Air Ambulances are all supported by charity funds, but staffed by fully trained NHS Doctors and Paramedics plus of course the Pilot. The medical staff give their free time for nothing. The pilot is retained on a salary paid for by the charity. There is no funding supplied by central government for the Air Ambulance service. The same applies to all our Hospices, they also are run solely via charitable trusts.

[Tripps]

The medical staff give their free time for nothing.

Google says otherwise - I don't know if this applies anywhere else.

"Our NHS partners
London Ambulance Service employs and remunerates London’s Air Ambulance paramedics, who typically join London's Air Ambulance for one-year secondments. Barts Health NHS Trust employs and remunerates the doctors, who typically join London's Air Ambulance for six-month secondments, and the consultants who are permanently associated with the service. Bart’s Health also provide direct financial support in the form of a monthly grant and the helipad facilities at The Royal London Hospital required for our operations. The regulatory requirements of the Care Quality Commission are covered by Barts Health for all clinicians attached to the service."

[Wendyf]

That's right Tripps the emergency doctors and paramedics are seconded from the NHS. My friend's daughter, who is a paramedic and mountain rescue volunteer, just applied for a HEMS post but failed to get to the interview stage, they look for very highly skilled individuals.

[Marilyn]

All I can say is I am applying rich moisturiser every hour. I do not want to pick at extensive scabs, and hope they wash of in the bath, but they are getting dry, crusty and itchy. Quite annoying. Deep bruise is healing, but has a nasty, tender lump beneath it.
All part of life’s rich tapestry. I shall survive. ( not worth thousands of dollars for a helicopter winch!)

[PanBiker]

I stand to be corrected on that then, not sure if it applies to all trusts. I'm fairly sure I have seen some of the documentaries that cover the Air Ambulances refer to voluntary work from some of the medics. Anyway if they all get paid so much for the better.

[Tripps]

If you got rescued round here a while ago, there was a fair chance that Prince William might be the pilot.

[Tizer]

The benefits of this study could go far beyond covid-19 and help us understand more generally how people suffer long term illness after virus infections and what can be done to help them or, even better, prevent the effects...
`Covid: UK Biobank scans aim to reveal health legacy' LINK

[Stanley]

We keep hearing of good side effects of the pandemic. I welcome them!
See THIS Guardian Article on the neglect of social care and make your own mind up about political negligence.

[plaques]

Last Thursday we went to the Colne Health Centre for our second Covid-19 vaccination. Obviously the people who were attending for their second vaccination were ALL over 80. With no queuing but including the 10 minutes at the end there were about 16 people in the process. What struck me was how many needed some form of assistance to help with their mobility. Men more than women. This was just one sample out of a restricted age population but very much an eye opener for me. Move on a few years and think what assistance and care will need to be in place to look after these people and that's just my age group.

[plaques]

Gisburne Park Hospital to close in April. Used by a lot of NHS patients the facilities and staff to be transfered to Blackburn Beardwood.
Gisburne

[Big Kev]

I thought that was on the cards, I went to Gisburne Park for the initial consultation on my knee but had to go to Beardwood for the op.