Buggies. Some parents live by them, some detest them. I am the latter. I cannot bloody stand them! The second that the boy could walk more than four steps without falling flat on his face the buggy was put into retirement. Luckily for us he embraced this and like me, he is extremely stubborn. Even on the rare occasions it was offered he would insist on walking. If I was in a rush, he would be carried. Why don't I like them? Well, they take up so much room, they cost so goddamn much and when I wasn't using them they just annoyed me everywhere I went. They cluttered aisles in supermarkets while other mums chatted, they blocked my desired route while in shops and people seemed totally incapable of not driving them into my ankles everywhere I went. Don't even get me started with them on buses and trains or I will explode. From an ambulance perspective loading a mum and her 'ill' child onto an ambulance, complete with the bags, the other kids and a double buggy is a pain in the arse to say the least. OK, OK, they are a necessity but that doesn't mean I have to like them. The reason I am writing this blog though is one of safety and sheer stupidity. I see it every single day at work, I see it every day driving my car and if you haven't seen it you are clearly living in an area which isn't home to muppets!
"RTC Car vs Pedestrian, 2 year old male, injuries unknown"
Those words give a sinking feeling every single time. It is the sinking feeling of fear. A weird fear but a fear all the same. Obviously fear is usually associated with something that makes you jump; a moment of tension in a film or a phobia. It isn't that we don't know what to do, it isn't that we don't feel able to do what we need to do, nor is it the fear of working in front of a crowd; it is the fear of seeing a dead child. A dead child that will make me think of my son. A dead child in front of their mother. That is the fear. Each drive to these jobs is subdued; you are hoping it isn't as given, you are hoping a passer by has got it wrong, you are hoping you are cancelled 'No longer required'. We were not cancelled, instead we struggled to barge our way though the traffic caused by the RTC. As per usual with these type of jobs, it occurred on a pedestrian crossing on a busy high street with a high foot fall. We were first on scene and my heart sank as we ground to a halt. Lying in the middle of the road was a push chair. A contorted push chair. Contorted by the impact with the Land Rover sat at a 45 degree angle on the crossing with its hazard lights flashing. The usual sea of frantic waves greeted us but from where we stopped, all I could see was the pushchair.
I grabbed the bags, my crew mate grabbed the collars and a blanket and I tentatively made my way around the car. Lying on the floor was the little boy. He was wearing the same Thomas the tank engine t-shirt that my boy wears. At his head, kneeling on the floor was an off duty policewoman keeping his head still. At his side was his mother, crying and holding his hand. Surrounding them all was a 50 strong crowd, camera phones at the ready. This morbid practice has become customary every time there are blue lights in the vicinity. Could this be the next viral YouTube video, could it be the next malpractice story the Daily Mail would sink their teeth into? I just try to ignore it. I made my way over to the boy. His eyes were open. That was a good start! To cut a long story short, we checked him over from head to toe. Apart from dirty clothes and a small graze on one of his hands he was injury free. Thank god for kids being bouncy. We took the usual precautions but I was happy that he was going to be just fine. Now, what happened?
It didn't take long to establish the facts. The mum had walked up to the pedestrian crossing and pressed the button. Remember 'Stop Look and Listen'? This time she had! She had approached and waited until it was her time to cross at the edge of the pavement. The problem was, she was pushing the buggy and whereas she was on the pavement, the buggy was half in the road. The car, driven by another mum with her child onboard the Chelsea tractor (that's a rant for another day), had not been concentrating and had continued to drive in a straight line and failed to see the buggy in the road. Bang! Land Rover + Maxi Cosi buggy = Contorted mess + flying child.
What... the hell... was she thinking?! Why do people do it?! It is your child, don't push them into oncoming traffic! Seriously! Like I say, it is not uncommon either! EVERY SINGLE DAY!! Walk down a high street, any high street and look at just how many buggies are edging out into the road! I have taken to stopping and ranting when I see it. Most sheepishly reverse, some flip me the bird and some tell me to Foxtrot Oscar, but why take the risk?! Every time I see it, my hatred for them increases. Obviously, I am being completely unreasonable in my hatred for an essential item but that's just me! I see things at work that cloud my judgment and make me see red! Have you seen this happen?! Is it just me?! Do you hate buggies too?! Maybe it isn't the buggies, maybe it's the muppet in control of them but it is easier just to blame the buggy and be done with it!