HNY!

[David Lang]

Happy New Year to everyone I know and especially to my daughters. Becky is part of a MRT PO in London and Nicky is doing a night shift in an Alzheimer's Ward.

[Jonno]

David Lang scribbled

Is Nicky looking after Harry ?

[David Lang]

She's only a senior with 10 years experience, so she's not qualified enough.

[ss]

Happy new year to all and a special thanks to all who have helped me with their posts for my various DIY projects during 2015.

Thank you!

[Judith]

Same to you - keep up your good work

[Brian-Gaff]

Ah, yes to all here, but.. Its entirely fictional time to change the year, it should have been done back in December. Brian

[Adrian Caspersz]

March, and rename July & August to something else ;-)

[F]

Happy New Year to all.

And in English?

[David Lang]

Medic Response Team - Public Order.

[F]

Ah! Thank you.

Us from Up North, especially Yorkshire, like to get our money's worth out of language so we use the whole word.

[Huge]

Sounds suspiciously like "sorting out drunks".

[David Lang]

Technically, sorting out drunks injured in riots, but yes.

[David Lang]

You wouldn't like LAS [1] in that case :-)

[1] London Ambulance Service.

It runs on acronyms. My daughter works for Central Operations (C Ops) who have their own ambulance station and control centre in east London.

Based there are MRT - medic response teams who cover all large public events where there are too many people about for ambulances to get in. They work on foot in teams of three, a medic & 2 St Johns volunteers.

MRT - PO are similar but are used in riots or civil disturbances, they wear full body amour, stab vests, flame proof overalls & NATO helmets and undergo the same training as riot police. Also trained & equipped to work with CO19 police tactical firearms units.

Also there are MERIT major emergency response incident team who can set up a 100 bed treatment centre anywhere in London in an hour and a half, comes in 2 trucks & inflates.

And - HART. Hazardous area response team who are trained and equipped to cope with biological and chemical incidents.

[Dave Liquorice]

I wonder if there is something similar in this part of the world? The industrial/urban areas of Tyneside, Wearside and Teeside are just as busy and as packed as London.

It's slightly surprising what contigency plans and facilities are in place. 4 days after the Tesco on Warwick Road, Carlisle got flooded to about 2' at the begining of December, Tesco had constructed, equipped (with cooled fresh fruit and veg racks, all the normal chilled cabinets and the freezer section) and stocked a temporary store. OK is doesn't do any clothing or electricals but the vast majority of the food range that the flooded store carried is there. It's not little either takes about 1/4 of the car park, one row of central columns with quite a large span (50'+) to the walls and the floor is flat, smooth and solid just like the floor in a permenant store.

It's raised above the car park by a good five feet, far more than it needs to be to level out the carpark but high enough that it shouldn't flood... The access steps and ramp are more of the scaff planks/screwed down OSB panels/anti slip coating temporary nature. The actual store is obviously a complete "food store in a box" that they can deploy in very short order.

The petrol station was also flooded but reopened within the same period, pay at pump only, no kiosk but all the pumps *and* the concrete standings for them have been replaced.

It also looks as if a temporary mains power supply has been installed as well, none of the carpark lights are working, all the pre existant buildings are dark and a heavy duty cable ramp has appeared across the entrance on the top of the raised bit of road that forms part of the flood defenses. A Sainsburys also got flooded but don't know how badly, it was certainly shut for a while. These enforced closures left Carlisle and extended environs, probably out to 20 miles+, with only two large supermarkets open for business.

[Huge]

Only if you've never worked on Disaster Recovery plans. :o)

I've done 2 "data centre in a box" setups, and DR was BAU in my last job; "Have you done a DR test?" was a standard part of the go-live.

[Vir Campestris]

Those of us who work in SW laugh at your TLAs and ETLAs.

Andy

[David Lang]

Well 53YOM, DIB & GCS to you :-)