Emergency Services

GabriellaG
You're way behind the times, the river Mersey is now one of the cleanest in the UK.
Admittedly, it was once a filthy cesspool, but is now a huge environmental success story.
There are now Salmon in the river, I personally saw some jumping at Woolston Weir last October. Atlantic grey seals venture into the estuary, along with harbour porpoise and bottlenose dolphins.
Otter pawprints have been seen on the banks.
Fishermen regularly catch Whiting, Plaice, Flounder, Cod and Mackerel.
The Mersey Estuary is a nature haven now, with Shelducks, Teal, Black Tailed Godwit, Teal, Dunlin, Pintails, Redshanks and Turnstones.
It may well be the Northwest, but it's beautiful!

So beautiful, in fact, that Teal get mentioned twice!

People do but ours always threw them back .

My granddaughter is a call-handler for NHS Scotland Ambulance Service and her partner is a paramedic in Edinburgh.
When 999 calls come in, it’s possible that an ambulance may be required as far away as the South-west or North-east of Scotland, for instance, so the call handlers have to direct the call to that area, all the while supporting the caller through the health emergency, which might be an elderly person living alone in quite a remote area who has perhaps fallen, or someone whose partner is having a baby, talking them through what needs to be done until the ambulance arrives.
I’m very proud of them both. ☺️

Whilst on the subject of supporting our emergency services I'd like to give a shout of thanks to the volunteer blood bikers.
Many of you may not be aware of the volunteer motorbike riders who initially have to take advanced training at their own expense before being allowed to volunteer.
Volunteer Blood Bikers save the NHS thousands of pounds a year being on call 24/7 365 days a year transporting nationwide, emergency blood, platelets, vital samples and even breast milk for sick premature babies. All costs are met by the charity from fund raising by members. My husband was 'on call' new years day and called out twice.

An unsung hero, Myym. I hadn’t known this. We can only imagine the emergency behind the calls your husband received.

I’d never heard of this Myym. What a wonderful thing for your husband and others to do, you must be very proud.
My son is a volunteer with the RNLI, I’m proud and scared at the same time, definitely more proud than scared

These unsung heroes deserve their weight in gold .

My dear dad was a senior fire service officer. DGD has so enjoyed learning to drive (passing test first time!) that she is rethinking her long-held ambition to be a nurse and is looking into paramedic training.
SiL is a member of the local mountain rescue service.
Without RNLI my DiL couldn't have had a funeral for her brother who took his life.
I believe that our emergency services know how much we appreciate them but I 'll never understand why they are at times attacked while carrying out their duties.

Me neither, mcem. It seems to be getting more common for even firefighters to be attacked on duty now. I have family members in the police and they are far too used to abuse - one had acid thrown in his eyes this year and the other was gouged by an addicted prostitute so had to worry about HIV. They only tell me about these things when they have injuries they can’t hide. Yet they still have outwardly respectable members of the public calling them pigs and complaining bitterly when they’re seen buying or eating a sandwich (because of course they shouldn’t eat when out and about on a 12 hour shift ).

So many unsung heroes. ????