Bob
27th November 2008, 01:19
Motorbike paramedics in London, UK, are having their crash helmets stolen while they attend to patients, preventing them from attending other calls.
Shaun Rock, Motorcycle Response Coordinator, said: "As a motorcycle paramedic you're there to get to the patients in the most serious condition first and begin assessing them. For the most part people respect our equipment, but recently our helmets have been stolen or wilfully damaged while we're treating patients.”
"This means our staff cannot respond to patients in a life-threatening condition while they wait for a replacement. I urge the people doing this to respect the work of ambulance staff and keep your hands off our helmets."
London Ambulance Service said helmets had been stolen or damaged four times in the last month alone. The helmets are custom fitted with radios and cost £600 (roughly NZD1700) to replace. The radio equipment only works with ambulance radios, so is useless to anyone else.
Shaun Rock, Motorcycle Response Coordinator, said: "As a motorcycle paramedic you're there to get to the patients in the most serious condition first and begin assessing them. For the most part people respect our equipment, but recently our helmets have been stolen or wilfully damaged while we're treating patients.”
"This means our staff cannot respond to patients in a life-threatening condition while they wait for a replacement. I urge the people doing this to respect the work of ambulance staff and keep your hands off our helmets."
London Ambulance Service said helmets had been stolen or damaged four times in the last month alone. The helmets are custom fitted with radios and cost £600 (roughly NZD1700) to replace. The radio equipment only works with ambulance radios, so is useless to anyone else.