Have you ever seen a film or TV show about a small town, and how all the characters are known by everyone, and as they drive down the street, everyone waves, and says "Hi!" I can't think of any specific one at the moment, but I know that they exist.
Anyway, that is enough trying to recall pointless TV shows, let's get on with how the first day went for me. Well last night, after settling into my room in the halls of residence, I looked around for some people who were staying on the same floor as I am, but only found a couple of people rushing off to start their night shifts across the road at the hospital. As no one else was around, I headed for the town, to see if I could get a small bite to eat.
It wasn't hard to find a small friendly place – called the Camel Bar, and I recall that one of the paramedics at the ambulance station had said it was alright – I'd dropped in there earlier to leave my work gear there and to introduce myself. The place had stopped serving food, so I just stopped for a couple small glasses of pop, before heading back home. (Right!!!)
I headed into work in the morning, and met the lady who I was working with. I had thought that it was going to be a volunteer/womble, but actually this person was a qualified ambulance officer who only works days. The phone rang, and off we went to the first job of the day.
People out here in small town, Australia, in the middle of nowhere, don't call an ambulance unless they actually need it, so I am told. I was told that about all of Australia, but as I have said before, we now know that isn't especially true.
Anyway, the lady who I was working with knew everyone. We stopped at the petrol station, and someone in a car called over "Hi, Kerrie, and had a chat about some friend or other." We dropped our patient at the hospital and everyone came and said "Hello – oh you are the new guy" to me, and "Hi, Kerrie" and talked about something or other. While we were waiting for our salad sandwiches at the local lunch deli – free to the ambulance crew – two people in the queue came over and talked to Kerrie.
That sort of thing happened everywhere we went, and there was always someone who knew Kerrie quite well. We did have to go and meet an airplane that was arriving from somewhere in the outback with a patient on board, and yes, Kerrie knew the pilot as well!
The place has a very laid back, slow pace of life, and has a very small town feel about it. I keep looking over my shoulder to see if there is a camera crew filming some sort of TV show that I can't recall the name of.
1 comment:
This is great info to know.
Post a Comment