October (less a few days).

Immediately after the Beast event three of us were heading south taking ambulances down to Kendal ready for a final day of training prior to 'The Pipe Job'.  Training had already taken place from the 27th to the 30th of August covering safe working procedures for confined access, casualty management and evacuation from a confined work space, fire safety, water hygiene, VAS driving (Vehicle Access System) and a refresher on emergency life support and defibrillation. 

Monday 30th September.  From the Travel Lodge on the M6 just south of Kendal it was a short run up to Land and Marine's training base where we met up with the remainder of the Rescue Medic team to be introduced to Radon Awareness, everyone on the team was then subjected to a full medical examination, this followed by training and an examination in administering breathalyzer tests using the Alcometer 500 (the same instrument the police use for roadside breath tests) and carrying out drug tests on urine samples, a very sophisticated set up which registered even when only miniscule amounts of suspect substances were present in the urine.  A talk on tunnel hygiene completed our training and all that remained was to get our issue of PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) and disperse to our allotted work zones, find the accommodation booked for us and prepare for work!

Based in Waddington about 30 miles north of Manchester this was the view from Apple Tree Cottage front door.  Five star accommodation, see www.orchardcottages.co.uk (and the village pub is just out of shot right!!











The job was to provide medical cover for the six teams of guys who would be working underground in a 2.6m diameter water pipe which had been drained for a two week period in preparation for a detailed survey and critical repair work.

Sunset over Bowland Forest on the way to night shift.

 





The interior of the pipe was photographed (these photos taken by ROV during the planning phase of the contract), ventilation fans were installed to create a positive through draught to minimise any danger from possible gas ingress, a communication cable was clipped to the wall and marker plates with GPS coordinates were fixed to correspond with the pipe plans.  To facilitate the work being undertaken electric trucks were to be used and to get them into the pipe meant cutting a large access port and lowering the vehicles into the pipe.

Night shift and the VAS are due to go in; the site foreman talks to the guys down the hole.

 

 

 VAS and Equipment Bogie.  All this gear was lowered through the cut into the pipe with just the toilet cassette and VAS batteries being lifted out at the end of each shift and the second set lowered in in preparation for the next shift.

 

15th and job done, all tools, coms cable and VAS out; last job was to put the lid back on!

 

Pieces of the pipe top ready to be lifted back into place!  Once sealed the tap can be turned on!!

 

Back home and two weeks of catching up on odd jobs, squaring stuff away ready for winter, a drain repair on a neighbour's van, help out at a CLAN coffee morning and give a talk about my 'wee bike ride' to the Parkinson's Support Group.

 

October just about done, the last few days can get a mention in November's episode!