NYE 06

For the first time ever I had to work on New Year’s Eve. I was positioned at Young Street in Circular Quay. It was something completely different from what I’m used to seeing on NYE. Here are some comments on what occurred.

The Parade
I’ve come to the conclusion that when girls get dollied up and head into the city they don’t walk, they parade around. In effect they are demanding attention, and they usually get it. I’m assuming they love the attention that they are getting but they wouldn’t let those looking know that of course.

The Drunkenness
Unfortunately there are plenty of people who believe a good time can’t be had without alcohol. Even more unfortunate is that a lot of these people don’t know how to control themselves. It is sad to see people bringing in the new year by vomiting into a plastic bag, laying down usually passed out with a drip in their arm. At Sydney hospital they had a room set out for these people where mattresses were laid out on the floor. The staff there labelled it the “Vomitarium.” One such patient that we took in is probably still wondering where he is and what he did for NYE.

The Tourists
Some visitors to this country get an unexpected change in their travel plans by getting a trip to one of Sydney’s finest health facilities. I transported one patient from Denmark and one from England. It was fun to talk to them about Australia and what their travel plans were. We were waiting at Sydney hospital for a while with a lady from Britain. We chatted for about half an hour (on & off) about things such as her son, London tourist icons, her late husbands cancer, even the British health care system. I enjoyed this even though she was a complete stranger.

The Fireworks
I missed the 9pm fireworks because that was when the aforementioned drunk patient decided to keel over in Macquarie Street. Fortunately I was able to see the 12am fireworks. We had a pretty good vantage point where we were stationed.


The Pretty Lights
I’m referring to the pretty blue and red lights on top of our vehicle that we never get to use. Well I finally got to use them for when we were in crowded situations. Most people were good at getting out of the way. Others who weren’t in control of their senses didn’t really know we were there.

Being Sent Back West
One minute we were being assigned to the station near the Imax theatre. The next minute we were being sent back west to clear out Mt Druitt Hospital Emergency Dept. Five patients were going to Blacktown Hospital so they sent 3 vehicles at the same time and it was done very efficiently. It was definitely a relief to get out of the city.