Many people only think of the Ambulance Service when there is an emergency but the men and women of the LAS are on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Matthew took the opportunity to go out on a shift with them to see for himself the problems faced by a local crew in Mill Hill and also to understand how local residents experience the emergency service.
The ambulance station on Hartley Avenue is known to many people but less is known about how they operate. An ambulance from Mill Hill can be despatched anywhere in London but the usual range is to any location between Northwick Park Hospital, Barnet General, the Royal Free in Hampstead and as far as St Marys in Paddington. This ensures that the ambulance travels from emergency to emergency, with little respite between calls.
Responding to a call in Edgware, Matthew accompanied the patient to hospital at Barnet, before travelling back to Stonegrove, over to Underhill and then to Southgate before returning to Mill Hill.
Matthew said: “The experience of accompanying the ambulance crew certainly helped me to understand the pressures faced in this part of London. Negotiating the traffic alone is a difficulty and then there are the demands of patient care. We should have much admiration for the people who undertake this work.”
Photo: Matthew is pictured in the back of the Mill Hill ambulance