Peoples Stories - Bevendean History Project
Douglas Victor Brown's Life Story
Life after the Army
On my discharge from the army I worked as a rounds man for
Grooms the bakers. They had a unit in Sutherland Road. It was a good
job with good wages and commission on sales, but the hours were long,
it was a six-day week and out in all weathers.
I left this job and started work with Boots the Chemists in the London Road branch as a storeman/porter. The store at that time was on the opposite side of the road facing Oxford Street.
The pay was not as good as I had been getting, but I loved the job and spent quite a time there before I was offered the even better job of relief storeman/driver with a good pay rise.
I was relief cover for all the shops in Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath. The Worthing and Haywards Heath shops had a delivery van.
I had many happy years in this job. Very many, very nice young ladies worked for Boots and one of them was very special to me during this time. Her name was Shirley Fox; we were together for a long time. What a girl, she very nearly became Shirley Brown. I could go on, but that is all the detail you are going to get about that. We don’t want to scorch the paper, do we?
I must have been mad, but wanting to do a job that involved full time driving I left Boots and took a job with the Co-op in London Road. What a big mistake, lousy firm, lousy job, lousy vehicles and the place was run by the unions.
The foreman told me off one day when I started to replace an electric light bulb over the loading bay.
I was told that this was an electricians job. So one had to be sent in a van all the way from Portland Road in Hove to do the replacement. I soon left for something better.
Life in the Brighton Ambulance Service
In October 1960 I joined the Brighton Ambulance Service at Elm Grove. I started my basic training which included both first aid and ambulance aid, in the lecture room and out on the road as a third member of the crew, just to observe or work under supervision.
I left this job and started work with Boots the Chemists in the London Road branch as a storeman/porter. The store at that time was on the opposite side of the road facing Oxford Street.
The pay was not as good as I had been getting, but I loved the job and spent quite a time there before I was offered the even better job of relief storeman/driver with a good pay rise.
I was relief cover for all the shops in Brighton, Hove, Worthing, Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath. The Worthing and Haywards Heath shops had a delivery van.
I had many happy years in this job. Very many, very nice young ladies worked for Boots and one of them was very special to me during this time. Her name was Shirley Fox; we were together for a long time. What a girl, she very nearly became Shirley Brown. I could go on, but that is all the detail you are going to get about that. We don’t want to scorch the paper, do we?
I must have been mad, but wanting to do a job that involved full time driving I left Boots and took a job with the Co-op in London Road. What a big mistake, lousy firm, lousy job, lousy vehicles and the place was run by the unions.
The foreman told me off one day when I started to replace an electric light bulb over the loading bay.
I was told that this was an electricians job. So one had to be sent in a van all the way from Portland Road in Hove to do the replacement. I soon left for something better.
Life in the Brighton Ambulance Service
In October 1960 I joined the Brighton Ambulance Service at Elm Grove. I started my basic training which included both first aid and ambulance aid, in the lecture room and out on the road as a third member of the crew, just to observe or work under supervision.
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| 1961 Basic Training with Douglas in the middle |
After this I went onto treatment work, taking patients in and out of
hospital for treatment, taking patients home after they had been in for
operations etc. This was a very good way of getting to know your way
about in Brighton and surrounding areas, the one way streets. The best
way from point A to point B etc.
After this I received yet more training before going onto shift relief duties. After some time doing this I was given a permanent position on amber shift doing a full range of duties. It goes without saying that this was the best shift on the station.
During my time on the shift I spent the odd week working in casualty in the accident unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (R.S.C.H.). This was to give us some idea of what went on after we had taken our patients in. I was also away on two occasions for national training, two weeks in Essex and two weeks in Surrey.
Over a period of six months I underwent training at the R.S.C.H. under Dr. Richard Chamberlain, a brilliant cardiologist. This resulted in my being among the first ambulance men in the country to be cardiac trained. We were able to record and read an E.C.G. Give certain drugs, set up a drip and defibrillate a patient whose heart had stopped beating. This was in 1970.
This made us the most highly trained ambulance men in the country at that time.
For someone who had received a very poor education you could say that I was very pleased with myself.
After many years on the road I knew Brighton like the back of my hand. I could direct you to any road, pub, and club etc. in the area. I was asked if I would like to work in the control room. I thought well it will be a change, so said yes.
This was great, I did not know it at the time but this meant that after a short time I got promotion to control officer with a good pay rise. I was still able to go out on any cardiac emergency if required at busy times.
After about two years the officer ranks were changed, due to my experience I was promoted once again.
We were having many changes to the service at this time. When Brighton became part of the East Sussex Ambulance Service the control room in Brighton was closed down and a central control set up in Eastbourne. I had the choice of going to Eastbourne or coming out of control and remaining in Brighton as a station officer.
I did not fancy having to travel all the way to Eastbourne every day so decided to stay in Brighton.
I was on a twenty four hour seven day rota with four other officers. This suited me fine. After a few more changes to the service the night shift was out and just three officers were required to work between 07.00 and 23.00 during the week. I was one of the lucky ones out of the five. Yet more changes, only one officer was now required. You know who was dead lucky.
I now received promotion to senior station officer with a very good pay rise. I was now in sole charge of the biggest and busiest ambulance station in East Sussex, with a staff of sixty and about twenty vehicles. If the area officer was away for any reason I had to act up in his place this meant that I had to deal with any problems at Hove, Newhaven and Lewes ambulances stations.
As you can guess this meant a mass of paper work.
One of my better duties was to attend at any big emergency that required two or more ambulances in attendance.
For this I had a Ford Escort staff car fitted with two tone horn and a detachable blue light. That car really was a pleasure to drive and could really move when you put your foot down. Remember, no speed restrictions on blue light jobs.
This was great, I was able to get out of the office and have a grandstand view of many spectacular emergencies, large fires and traffic accidents etc. The biggest one of these must have been the Grand Hotel bombing. Another great thing about this new rank was that when it came to medical matters at the scene of an incident I could tell the senior police and fire officers what I wanted done.
The years of shift work, rushed meals and stress built up and I ended up having my by-pass operation in 1991.
I was not really sorry at having to retire as I had done thirty years service and things were changing in many ways, none of them for the better I might add.
I was being bogged down with paper work, some of which I had to take home at weekends just to catch up. I had to go to constant meetings that were a great waste of time.
We also had a new chief ambulance officer, (now called manager) the very keen type who was intent on changing everything. What you would call a right pain in the rear.
After this I received yet more training before going onto shift relief duties. After some time doing this I was given a permanent position on amber shift doing a full range of duties. It goes without saying that this was the best shift on the station.
During my time on the shift I spent the odd week working in casualty in the accident unit at the Royal Sussex County Hospital (R.S.C.H.). This was to give us some idea of what went on after we had taken our patients in. I was also away on two occasions for national training, two weeks in Essex and two weeks in Surrey.
Over a period of six months I underwent training at the R.S.C.H. under Dr. Richard Chamberlain, a brilliant cardiologist. This resulted in my being among the first ambulance men in the country to be cardiac trained. We were able to record and read an E.C.G. Give certain drugs, set up a drip and defibrillate a patient whose heart had stopped beating. This was in 1970.
This made us the most highly trained ambulance men in the country at that time.
For someone who had received a very poor education you could say that I was very pleased with myself.
After many years on the road I knew Brighton like the back of my hand. I could direct you to any road, pub, and club etc. in the area. I was asked if I would like to work in the control room. I thought well it will be a change, so said yes.
This was great, I did not know it at the time but this meant that after a short time I got promotion to control officer with a good pay rise. I was still able to go out on any cardiac emergency if required at busy times.
After about two years the officer ranks were changed, due to my experience I was promoted once again.
We were having many changes to the service at this time. When Brighton became part of the East Sussex Ambulance Service the control room in Brighton was closed down and a central control set up in Eastbourne. I had the choice of going to Eastbourne or coming out of control and remaining in Brighton as a station officer.
I did not fancy having to travel all the way to Eastbourne every day so decided to stay in Brighton.
I was on a twenty four hour seven day rota with four other officers. This suited me fine. After a few more changes to the service the night shift was out and just three officers were required to work between 07.00 and 23.00 during the week. I was one of the lucky ones out of the five. Yet more changes, only one officer was now required. You know who was dead lucky.
I now received promotion to senior station officer with a very good pay rise. I was now in sole charge of the biggest and busiest ambulance station in East Sussex, with a staff of sixty and about twenty vehicles. If the area officer was away for any reason I had to act up in his place this meant that I had to deal with any problems at Hove, Newhaven and Lewes ambulances stations.
As you can guess this meant a mass of paper work.
One of my better duties was to attend at any big emergency that required two or more ambulances in attendance.
For this I had a Ford Escort staff car fitted with two tone horn and a detachable blue light. That car really was a pleasure to drive and could really move when you put your foot down. Remember, no speed restrictions on blue light jobs.
This was great, I was able to get out of the office and have a grandstand view of many spectacular emergencies, large fires and traffic accidents etc. The biggest one of these must have been the Grand Hotel bombing. Another great thing about this new rank was that when it came to medical matters at the scene of an incident I could tell the senior police and fire officers what I wanted done.
The years of shift work, rushed meals and stress built up and I ended up having my by-pass operation in 1991.
I was not really sorry at having to retire as I had done thirty years service and things were changing in many ways, none of them for the better I might add.
I was being bogged down with paper work, some of which I had to take home at weekends just to catch up. I had to go to constant meetings that were a great waste of time.
We also had a new chief ambulance officer, (now called manager) the very keen type who was intent on changing everything. What you would call a right pain in the rear.
© Douglas Brown 2014
| Part 4 Retirement | Photographs from the Ambulance service |
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