Don Parsons, the instructor in this video was one of the officers on my LAS training course at HQ in 1980, an absolute gentleman. I also worked at Bloomsbury for 6 weeks as part of my operational training, great memories in CF Bedford ambulances around central London. Great to see the inside of the station again.
This footage is absolute gold, my dad was driving the same CF2's out of Gatwick ambulance station at the time of this, I swear I was born too late sometimes
When I was a boy I idolised ambulance crews. I thought it must be the best job in the world. As I have already said , these people were paramedics in every way except formal title. I went on to join Beds & Herts in 2000 🙂
Yes...I wish so too! Except for the medical advances....saving so many more people from heart disease. It's great what they can do these days with the heart. Stents and medication.
You've just described a complete fantasy. The 70s and 80s were every man for themselves with mass unemployment, destruction of social security, and civil unrest. We couldn't even have bins in London because of the weekly IRA bombs 😂 They only seem innocent because nostalgia makes you romanticise the past. I mean just look at the substandard medical care on show, ambulances were basically taxis to the hospital and not much more...
Don was a great Instructor..I was at Bloomsbury with Allan Norman and Ken Wenman....happy days! Anybody from that era fancy a chat? Trevor Gayne, Zack, Terry Towel, Jill Davis, Geoff Rendall ...etc etc
Hello, can I ask you a question...The Ambulance service seems in terrible crisis today, in the 70s and 80's the key issue appeared to be a lack of investment in wages and good quality vehicles but it seemed organisationally and in terms of efficiency , a very good service (I had use of it in the late 80s a lot because of non essential transport reasons, hospital appointments and transfers and it never let me down)...Was the service more sensibly organised back in the 80's?
Kailash, it is hard to compare because I have had no experience of Ambulance work since 1999. I can say that in my day it was a quasi-military organisation...polished shoes, Officers giving "orders" etc...and now it seems a Management operation...but still very much "them" and "us". Middle Management was always exceptionally good, being largely drawn from ex-QAM's who had the right ethos and knew what they were talking about. Upper Management were invariably ambitious, unctuous and self-serving. As for organisation, I think they did amazingly well on a shoestring budget and in the age of teleprinters, telex, landlines etc! The other problem is that society has changed...in those days if you were called to an idiot with a skinful you could get him dealt with by the police or relatives but now it seems your feet wouldn't touch the ground. Every service is scared to death of litigation over political correctness. The Hospitals are often backed up and will not accept Ambulance patients until they have room, which means Ambulances are waiting for hours at Hospitals to hand over their patients...obviously an idiotic situation. The Government appear to be addressing this by telephone call screening and prioritisation...great jobs for ill, injured or shattered Paramedics!
Thank you for that...my expirence was between 1988-91, and they took me to hydo sessions at charing cross and other hospitals around London, it always seemed like a clockwork operation and the banter with the drivers kept my spirits up at a hellish time in my life...it was non urgent transport but vital in my care..
@@kailashpatel1706 I'm from America....here the insurance companies and hospital admin suck way too much money out of the system.... Although they had been telling us on the TV news that a pandemic was inevitable.....low and behold they were not prepared. They have been under staffing hospitals for at least 20 years or more. Now after covid we have a nursing shortage, a mental health crisis, an opioid crisis, the homeless crisis, the obesity crisis, the dementia crisis. We have never been so sick as a society. They can go on and on blaming individuals but I think the government has the responsibility to make sure the population is taken care of and in good health...they are failing because of the fact that the 1-2% at the top, and all the religions who pay no taxes and big monopoly corps are not paying it back to all the people who have made them into billionaires. They buy off the politicians and blame everyone but themselves for not reinvesting in the country that has made them rich. It's the best of times and the worst of times all over again.
Tracy was a beaut! Don Parsons was a gent...Ken Wenman (16:36} has run into trouble in Devon/Cornwall. Oh, what stories....we used to call Wimbledon "The Olympic Flame" (never goes out!) :-)
i was stationed at Ilford in 1991 Terry Spur was station manager. I worked B shift and worked all over until i was given Ilford. I enjoyed working at Ilford ambulance station. I enjoyed working with Paul Ward. I worked with one older gent and he always drove and smoked his pipe in the ambulance...lol (not Ilford...i think West Ham) I just read about Kevin Walker still working at Ilford part-time..age is just a number. I forgot who was Kevin Walker's partner.
Have to say that John Black was the best advanced driving instructor I have ever meet and to learn Roadcraft under his instruction was a privilege. My own subsequent role as an advanced blue light instructor was built on the foundations he so carefully instilled in me. Thanks John!
Student para`s still have to meet the millar standard, it`s just these days it`s call proficiency. The training has not changed greatly to be honest because it does not need to apart from more emphasis on difib/ ecg`s ect. I did para traing at UEA and found I enjoyed being a EMT more, also when it really comes to saving lives its the foundation training that works. These people back in the day were paramedics in every way except formal term.
Strange,,,I agree this looks around 1986, but surely they weren't still using that ancient BBC 2 logo then ? If they were, it must have been at the very end of its days !
Yeah, God forbid the public see the sort of crap ambulance crews have to deal with. Perhaps if they saw the reality they wouldn't treat techs/paras like a free taxi service.
Complete change now, Witnessed a young woman trip over a high kerb and bang her head , she had a split above her eye and a nosebleed . Ambulance parked not 15 ft from her with male driver sitting just watching . I beckoned him but he just stared like he was a stuffed dummy. About 30 seconds later a female 'paramedic' walked across the road with a coffee and sandwich from the bakers . Her best effort was just standing 5 ft away and said "You alright yeah?" then quickly proceeded back to the ambulance. They both sat there eating and drinking . I approached them and asked what they were going to do with this woman sitting bleeding on the pavement ... the reply... "Not our call " Apparently , we would have to ring up 999 for them to be given the job. Unbelievable ! it was down to me and an old chap to give her paper tissues and the lady that was with her helped her to her feet. This country is BROKEN , No -one cares anymore .
New South Wales Ambulance in Australia first trained Intensive Care Paramedics who could intubate, cannulate, interpret ECGs and give IV drugs in 1976. I would have thought that London Ambulance Service would have been ahead of Australia in that regard, so it seems reasonable that LAS would have introduced those skills in the early 70s.
@@blokeabouttown2490 The first ECG machines were trialled on a few crews in 1986, about the time of this video; Instructor Parsons talks about it with colleagues from 31:58. I worked one of the Ambulances so trialled, out of Fulham, at this time; there were absolutely no intubation or cannulation facilities to supplement the manual defib cardiac care. Guedel airway, O2 and N2O were the only respiratory supports available, with of course mechanical aspiration as far as the pharynx. Aspirin was being considered as the supporting drug protocol.
There was another documentary called those men in the ambulance from the 1970s, it followed LAS and at the end it was the doctors teaching LAS staff ALS skills.
How about Ron Moore ted Edwards and Bill Langham as well then/All now retired of course BUT yes those days were the great one AND OF ACOURSE Sometimes TWO patients at the same time
Don Parsons, the instructor in this video was one of the officers on my LAS training course at HQ in 1980, an absolute gentleman. I also worked at Bloomsbury for 6 weeks as part of my operational training, great memories in CF Bedford ambulances around central London. Great to see the inside of the station again.
As a paramedic who joined 4 yrs after this film was made, and still serving, this was an absolute treat to watch. Thanks for sharing.
WOW!!! Thank you fo sharing also!
Awesome !!
This footage is absolute gold, my dad was driving the same CF2's out of Gatwick ambulance station at the time of this, I swear I was born too late sometimes
Oh brilliant, just awesome. Loving the hair but honestly its humbling and very reminiscent of today and lovely to watch the care and attention.
When I was a boy I idolised ambulance crews. I thought it must be the best job in the world. As I have already said , these people were paramedics in every way except formal title. I went on to join Beds & Herts in 2000 🙂
Wish we could go back to more innocent times like these, where everyone helped everybody and there was a community feel to things!!
Yes...I wish so too!
Except for the medical advances....saving so many more people from heart disease.
It's great what they can do these days with the heart. Stents and medication.
*So long as you’re White British.
blame multi effing culturalism.
Die english culture.
Hello violent islam.
You've just described a complete fantasy. The 70s and 80s were every man for themselves with mass unemployment, destruction of social security, and civil unrest. We couldn't even have bins in London because of the weekly IRA bombs 😂
They only seem innocent because nostalgia makes you romanticise the past. I mean just look at the substandard medical care on show, ambulances were basically taxis to the hospital and not much more...
Don was a great Instructor..I was at Bloomsbury with Allan Norman and Ken Wenman....happy days! Anybody from that era fancy a chat? Trevor Gayne, Zack, Terry Towel, Jill Davis, Geoff Rendall ...etc etc
Hello, can I ask you a question...The Ambulance service seems in terrible crisis today, in the 70s and 80's the key issue appeared to be a lack of investment in wages and good quality vehicles but it seemed organisationally and in terms of efficiency , a very good service (I had use of it in the late 80s a lot because of non essential transport reasons, hospital appointments and transfers and it never let me down)...Was the service more sensibly organised back in the 80's?
Kailash, it is hard to compare because I have had no experience of Ambulance work since 1999. I can say that in my day it was a quasi-military organisation...polished shoes, Officers giving "orders" etc...and now it seems a Management operation...but still very much "them" and "us". Middle Management was always exceptionally good, being largely drawn from ex-QAM's who had the right ethos and knew what they were talking about. Upper Management were invariably ambitious, unctuous and self-serving.
As for organisation, I think they did amazingly well on a shoestring budget and in the age of teleprinters, telex, landlines etc! The other problem is that society has changed...in those days if you were called to an idiot with a skinful you could get him dealt with by the police or relatives but now it seems your feet wouldn't touch the ground. Every service is scared to death of litigation over political correctness. The Hospitals are often backed up and will not accept Ambulance patients until they have room, which means Ambulances are waiting for hours at Hospitals to hand over their patients...obviously an idiotic situation.
The Government appear to be addressing this by telephone call screening and prioritisation...great jobs for ill, injured or shattered Paramedics!
Thank you for that...my expirence was between 1988-91, and they took me to hydo sessions at charing cross and other hospitals around London, it always seemed like a clockwork operation and the banter with the drivers kept my spirits up at a hellish time in my life...it was non urgent transport but vital in my care..
@@kailashpatel1706 Too many lowlifes ringing ambulance with mental problems.
@@kailashpatel1706 I'm from America....here the insurance companies and hospital admin suck way too much money out of the system....
Although they had been telling us on the TV news that a pandemic was inevitable.....low and behold they were not prepared.
They have been under staffing hospitals for at least 20 years or more.
Now after covid we have a nursing shortage, a mental health crisis, an opioid crisis, the homeless crisis, the obesity crisis, the dementia crisis.
We have never been so sick as a society.
They can go on and on blaming individuals but I think the government has the responsibility to make sure the population is taken care of and in good health...they are failing because of the fact that the 1-2% at the top, and all the religions who pay no taxes and big monopoly corps are not paying it back to all the people who have made them into billionaires.
They buy off the politicians and blame everyone but themselves for not reinvesting in the country that has made them rich.
It's the best of times and the worst of times all over again.
Remember those days so well. Worked with lovely Tracy, I was station at battersea,Brixton and ended in 91 at St helier.
Tracy was a beaut! Don Parsons was a gent...Ken Wenman (16:36} has run into trouble in Devon/Cornwall. Oh, what stories....we used to call Wimbledon "The Olympic Flame" (never goes out!) :-)
i was stationed at Ilford in 1991 Terry Spur was station manager. I worked B shift and worked all over until i was given Ilford. I enjoyed working at Ilford ambulance station. I enjoyed working with Paul Ward. I worked with one older gent and he always drove and smoked his pipe in the ambulance...lol (not Ilford...i think West Ham) I just read about Kevin Walker still working at Ilford part-time..age is just a number. I forgot who was Kevin Walker's partner.
I was at Ilford when John Lille was manager Terry spur was also there
Ah, the good old days. Don, John O and of course John Black legend
Have to say that John Black was the best advanced driving instructor I have ever meet and to learn Roadcraft under his instruction was a privilege. My own subsequent role as an advanced blue light instructor was built on the foundations he so carefully instilled in me. Thanks John!
💜😞.
Superb.
Must have been a lot of bad backs in those days with all that lifting of folk
💜💜💜.
The uniforms look really old fashioned today, with the shirt, ties and peaked caps.
bring them back please. All nurses these days dress like they're off to bed.
If you have no self-respect. You have no respect for others.
LAS still have QAP Miller certificate?
Retired LEO nope!
QAP > IHCD tech > Frec 4/5 for 'technicians' , also far more Paramedics in the Uk since that era
Student para`s still have to meet the millar standard, it`s just these days it`s call proficiency. The training has not changed greatly to be honest because it does not need to apart from more emphasis on difib/ ecg`s ect. I did para traing at UEA and found I enjoyed being a EMT more, also when it really comes to saving lives its the foundation training that works. These people back in the day were paramedics in every way except formal term.
Strange,,,I agree this looks around 1986, but surely they weren't still using that ancient BBC 2 logo then ? If they were, it must have been at the very end of its days !
Ha ha, the junior doctor pushed out whilst they closed the curtain 😅
I can only presume there's no gory scenes in this edition of 40 minutes from 1986
It is highly sanitised
Yeah, God forbid the public see the sort of crap ambulance crews have to deal with. Perhaps if they saw the reality they wouldn't treat techs/paras like a free taxi service.
Complete change now, Witnessed a young woman trip over a high kerb and bang her head , she had a split above her eye and a nosebleed . Ambulance parked not 15 ft from her with male driver sitting just watching . I beckoned him but he just stared like he was a stuffed dummy. About 30 seconds later a female 'paramedic' walked across the road with a coffee and sandwich from the bakers . Her best effort was just standing 5 ft away and said "You alright yeah?" then quickly proceeded back to the ambulance. They both sat there eating and drinking .
I approached them and asked what they were going to do with this woman sitting bleeding on the pavement ... the reply...
"Not our call "
Apparently , we would have to ring up 999 for them to be given the job.
Unbelievable !
it was down to me and an old chap to give her paper tissues and the lady that was with her helped her to her feet.
This country is BROKEN , No -one cares anymore .
That’s horrendous! They at least check her out and take to the hospital 🏥. I hope the poor woman get help in the end. 😪
At 32:20, claiming that intubation and cannulation has been going on for twelve years (in 1986!) is a bit optimistic
New South Wales Ambulance in Australia first trained Intensive Care Paramedics who could intubate, cannulate, interpret ECGs and give IV drugs in 1976. I would have thought that London Ambulance Service would have been ahead of Australia in that regard, so it seems reasonable that LAS would have introduced those skills in the early 70s.
@@blokeabouttown2490 The first ECG machines were trialled on a few crews in 1986, about the time of this video; Instructor Parsons talks about it with colleagues from 31:58. I worked one of the Ambulances so trialled, out of Fulham, at this time; there were absolutely no intubation or cannulation facilities to supplement the manual defib cardiac care. Guedel airway, O2 and N2O were the only respiratory supports available, with of course mechanical aspiration as far as the pharynx. Aspirin was being considered as the supporting drug protocol.
There was another documentary called those men in the ambulance from the 1970s, it followed LAS and at the end it was the doctors teaching LAS staff ALS skills.
th-cam.com/video/-18-vvcE8u0/w-d-xo.htmlsi=nDWaSDSsJuVWuJWI
How about Ron Moore ted Edwards and Bill Langham as well then/All now retired of course BUT yes those days were the great one AND OF ACOURSE Sometimes TWO patients at the same time
...and of course your mate the late great Laurie Strugnell RIP
G401
LOL
Same shit as NYC, get sick on the train.