From the Races to the Rugby

Saturday

I went on duty with St John Ambulance at Cheltenham Races this morning, to help with the setup for the afternoons racing. I was there until 1pm, and apart from cleaning the first aid post in preparation for an infection control inspection, we had nothing to do. I did manage to speak with a couple of people I had been trying to arrange meetings with, so it wasn't a completely wasted morning.

I then travelled over to Kingsholm as I was carrying out an official duty visit at Gloucester Rugby. When I arrived I went and met with Ann Marie who was the duty officer, and she showed me the operational plan, and I went through all my questions with her. We then went up to the match control point where I met the stadium manager and security manager, and was reacquainted with the safety officer whom I had met previously. Introductions over, and Ann Marie went through the procedures around where the crews were located, their call signs, and which areas of the stadium were covered by CCTV. We then watched Gloucester thrash Cardiff Blues by 40 points to 3, from the comfort of the control box (which I thought was a much better plan than standing in the freezing cold with the crews at the side of the pitch!)

This was the second time I had visited a Gloucester duty, and as expected, everything was under control and well organised. As there were no incidents to deal with all afternoon, fairly soon after the end of the match we were stood down. I then managed to grab a lift in the ambulance back to Longlevens, so only had a two minute walk home- result!