Our friend Marcini from the Philippines takes the cake this week for coolest gig: he used his off day to fly as an observer with the Royal London Air Ambulance. That's right, he was in a helicopter, high over London, rushing to scenes where medical help was desperately needed. Why isn't this a TV show? :)
Here's Marcini telling us about his adventure, what he calls a dream come true.
"It's sooooooooooooo cool!! It was just an amazing experience. Although i did some mede-vacs before with the army when I was requested to accompany a patient, with the RAA I actually helped them with the patient on scene. I would love to do this again.
"We started at 0630 then right after buying breakfast and orientation with the safety procedures we had our first call: a man fallen in scaffolding, body twisted when we got there. We stabilized him and he was lucky.
"The majority of our calls for the day were injuries from falls. One man fell from a roof and didn't make it -- he passed away on scene with a massive head injury and multiple rib fractures. A road traffic accident guy had an open fracture on his shoulder so we have to reduce it and put a splint on him after anesthetizing him. One was a 60 year-old man who also fell from a roof.
"London is so small when travelling by air!! The last call we had was when the aircraft needed to be back in the airfield because it was getting dark -- aircraft like this are allowed only during daylight in London) and we were brought back to Royal London by "blues" or police. Our three minutes of flight time home was equivalent to thirty minutes by car.
"So that's it. My adventure for a day with the HEMS team. It was awesome!! Even running with thirty kgs of trauma pack, looooonnng coveralls, bagels we bought at 0640 that were eaten at 1400, and cold weather. (It's freezing cold at the helipad!)
"My next adventure may be in Southampton. I was invited by a doctor whom i met in the Philippines, to visit them and see what they do and some courses they have.
"Take care,
Marcini
