To think I'm NOT allowed to punch members of the public unconcious no matter what my company tells me?

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

company is an nhs hospital

Annual study day today and of all the bollocks ive ever heard I reckon this takes the biscuit.

According to the fire officer on this formal study day if there's a fire and someone is refusing to evacuate "as an nhs employee you are allowed to punch them unconcious and then drag them out"

He wasn't joking, not at all.

Questioning colleagues later on its something he's said to other groups on other days.

I really don't think he's right. Surely even a police officer can't punch someone unconcious? What happened to informed choice! People are allowed to make stupid decisions if they want.

What if I do an unlucky punch and kill someone with one punch? What if I struggle to knock them out? Do I just keep battering them?

And most importantly dragging uncooperative people out of burning buildings is surely going to slow down my own escape!

Sorry. I was being silly and you were asking a serious question.
It seems crazy to suggest punching someone in those circumstances. You run the risk of being punched back.

I'd email the press officer your boss and ask them for wriiten confirmation of this policy.

Didn't they used to say this about rescuing drowning people?

People at risk of drowning are normally flailing around panicking so I think the old advice was to hit them then tow them away on their backs.

Or maybe I imagined that...

Accept the tick in a box and crappy coffee/biscuit safe in the knowledge you don't have to do a fire lecture again for another year. And leave on time for once, what's not to love!

Was the fire officer's name Keith Lard ?

No, not Keith.

Sadly we don't get free biscuits or coffee.

The cynic in me thinks this is actually a ploy to reduce staff sickness. Think about it, you wake up feeling like turd, you contemplate calling in sick, then you think 'but what if today's the day i get to knee drop Cheryl from HR' . You know the chance of missing that is too great so you drag your sorry carcass in and sit staring at the fire alarm willing it to go off. Id drag myself off my fucking deathbed for that possibility.

this is the first thing that has tempted me to go back to work.

It's the NHS, you get a vending machine with no change facility and an area to eat your packed lunch.

On a serious note, this report of actual fires in five Lindon hospitals makes for a good read. Entire hospital - including a patient in middle of a major surgery - evacuated in 28 minutes. Wow.

The cynic in me thinks this is actually a ploy to reduce staff sickness. Think about it, you wake up feeling like turd, you contemplate calling in sick, then you think 'but what if today's the day i get to knee drop Cheryl from HR' . You know the chance of missing that is too great so you drag your sorry carcass in and sit staring at the fire alarm willing it to go off. Id drag myself off my fucking deathbed for that possibility.

Not only is this a brilliant analysis, but it also explains all the boiled-dry kettle fires in the OP's trusts - it's all the staff who have already done fire training and want their chance to knee drop Cheryl. MrsK, you are a woman/marsupial of genius.

Damn it!!! I am seriously pissed off I missed the golden opportunity to judo chop our middle manager into unconsciousness when our toaster caught fire. Everyone in our department would totally have backed me up when I claimed she was refusing to leave, or formed a manager-pummelling queue.

Our fire bloke talked about the Marsden evacuation. Said they were opposite another hospital and less than a mile down Fulham rd from another which made it easy. Very sick shoved over the road, less sick pushed down Fulham rd. Still good going though.

He spoke about another ICU dept which evacuated all their patients in 3 mins inc patients on ventilators.

Our scbu had to evacuate the tower block years ago. Nurses ran down the stairs with babies and to another floor and bagged and masked ones that needed it.

I do remember our theatre having to evacuate due to a floor once, actually we had to evacuate the whole labour ward as water was a foot deep quickly. Poor woman was mid cesarean when water started coming through the ceiling in the operating theatre above the table. Staff were holding drapes above her while urging the Dr to suture faster.

Many years ago I had the pleasure of NHS fire training, he also showed the Bradford fire.
We had to practice using the new safety sheets, these ridiculous contraptions went under a mattress and wrapped the patient in his mattress with straps, so you could "safely" drag a patient down the stairs.
I worked on a 24 bed, elderly, male, mental health ward, it was on the second floor.
We actually decided, that the only way to quickly strap some of the patients to the mattress, would be to knock them out first while the bloody ward burned around us
It's good to know that the NHS is still giving staff excellent advice ??

He's sounds mad. I'd make a complaint if I were you. He must be making that up!!

We all got trained on those evacuation sheets. Then infection control said they were an infection control risk and they all disappeared. Weeks after the hospital spent £1000s on them.

Did anyone else get very thoroughly warned about the dangers of batteries igniting wire wool? A cautionary tale of a man that burnt his bits by dropping a cigarette into a toilet containing both bleach and cleaner?

We also had more emphasis on trays on toasters than dry boiling kettles, I think...

I think we've had the marsden for the last few years. They used to talk about a different fire each year IIRC.

never been told to punch a patient who won't leave. Although I don't think the subject's come up before. maybe I'll ask next year.

We had emphasis on not turning a normal toaster sideways and making cheese on toast in it. Some spanner at our place did it ten years ago and started a fire and the fire officers rave about it every year still.

Then they start talking about oxygen and cigarettes. And I thank my lucky stars about the shift where I allowed a labouring woman to spend hours on gas and air and an e-cigarette. Puff on the gas and air, puff on the e cig, repeat for hours.

Ive since learned that's not recommended!

I do remember our theatre having to evacuate due to a floor once, actually we had to evacuate the whole labour ward as water was a foot deep quickly. Poor woman was mid cesarean when water started coming through the ceiling in the operating theatre above the table. Staff were holding drapes above her while urging the Dr to suture faster.

If they were anything like ours slooooow, they'd have still been there 30 minutes later, lol.

Wouldn't it be less stress just to offer to pay them £20 if they vacate the premises for a little while? Or £50 even.

If they have to warn against the cheese toastie then maybe you have have had 14 fires from kettles.

O2 and cigarettes definitely not recommended. Same for patients trying to sneak a crafty cigarette in bed, under the covers.

What the hell did poor Janet from accounts do?

Crying laughing at MrsKoala battering Janet & Cheryl!!

I always knew cigarettes and oxygen was a major no. Didn't realise that e cigarettes could also be dangerous with oxygen.

If you punch someone unconscious then you are liable to kill them or cause brain damage. Special schools often have to have risk management to evacuate uncooperative teenagers who lack mental capacity. If you have two trained adults then it's possible to use physical restraint to get an adult or child out of a building against their will. Why can't hospitals do the same.

If you attempted to punch someone unconscious they might punch you and knock you unconscious.