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This blog represents my own personal thoughts, feelings and reflections of events; it does not necessarily represent those opinions of the British Red Cross or any further extension of the Red Cross organisation, including any of its members, both voluntary and staff.
Additionally, they do not necessarily reflect any opinions or attitudes of the staff and people I meet within the health care environments I work in when on placement.

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Monday, 7 September 2009

Bravehearts

Sunday broke my Inverness duty virginity - I committed myself to covering a walk alongside my friend and colleague Lol. It was a trek alongside part of the Inverness canal, and for those of you who don't know this area very well, it is rather long. The leisurely stroll was to begin near the bridge - the sort of bridge which opens up to let boats pass through, like London bridge but on a far smaller scale.
The route travelled up to the canal's lock (Garoch Lock or something like that - someone feel free to correct or affirm me) and then back again to the starting line, where a picnic was to be held as a well done to all the walkers.
Lol and me, not being first aiders who like to be left out of the community spirit, decided the most practical way to cover the event would be to walk the lengthy canal too, and get our weekly dose of exercise.
So this is what we did.

The group hosting the walk was called Bravehearts, a cardiac rehab support group formed by a number of people who had all been affected by some form of cardiovascular problem. A fantastic idea, and I love the name, with it's relevance to bravery through heart difficulties and the film, obviously based in Scotland. Brill pun. Anyhoo, I digress...

The walk was a fundraising event, and it was actually really good fun, if not very tiring! The people were friendly and welcoming, and I think they enjoyed our company too. Actually, for being in the more mature age range, as most of them were (no disrespect here) and having suffered heart incidents, they were all very fit! More so than Lol and me were anyway!

There were no casualties, I'm glad to say, despite the pair of us being rather anxious of having to deal with a heart attack or something along those lines. In fact, the only casualty among us was myself - my boots rubbed my heels and I got a blister or two, to the amusement of everyone else on the walk. They found it very funny when I had to sit down, open the grab bag, and wrap my foot up in gauze and tape. Glad I entertained someone anyway.

The rest by the lock was welcomed really, not only for our poor aching feet (and blisters) but because we got choccie biscuits and water to re-fill the tanks. It also gave us a chance to admire the view of the busy canal, and the surrounding scenery.
Thankfully the sun never stopped shining, and the rain graciously held off. There was even a breeze to keep us cool. So we could walk quite happily and enjoy the surrounding nature with a single wish that at least one of us had taken a camera.

When we returned to the starting line, an entire buffet spread was lying in wait for us. And even the first aiders were fed, with everyone encouraging us to tuck in and eat our fill. It was brilliant! In fact, it might be safe to say that it was some of the best grub ever provided for us at an event. We definitely enjoyed it, especially the homemade raspberry cheesecake for pudding =)
So much for a nice healthy walk...

I suppose it was quite a fine wee duty. Certainly a contrast to what was going on back home in Elgin. Yes, Elgin has flooded with the torrential downpours that have plagued the North East for the past few days (well, the few days prior to Sunday when the sun shone again - weird, this weather...)
Although I wasn't there to experience it first hand, I know from reliable sources (and the emptiness of the Inverness office) that practically everyone turned up to help evacuate over 100 residents from their homes on the flood plains. The RC crews even helped out with the odd 999 call, and basically backed up the other emergency services during the initial flood response.
I also know that they spent a good bit of time sitting about watching the telly, waiting on something to do because some crews were a bit over-eager to sink their teeth into a real ER situation, and therefore there were too many people out on call, and not enough jobs to go around between them.
At least they were willing to help out... nothing wrong with being too over-zealous... as long as you don't get easily bored...

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