Made my blood boil !

[cgrosart]

Ok. So nothing yet has made me angry enough to ever post on here - well, nothing that I COULD post on here..but something happened today which I could do nothing about and it made me MAD !
I was at work, on a frontline ambulance - as usual - and we were called to an Road traffic collision on a particularly notorious bit of road in Wiltshire.
Anyway...One elderly lady injured with neck and back pain, so we set about doing our business treating her.
The carriageway was closed and as you can imagine, there are lots of people out of their cars, generally dossing about as it is clear that due to the accident, they aren't going anywhere for a while.
Then - to our utmost disbelief - my crewmate and I turned around whilst we were in the process of strapping our little old lady to a spinal board etc - to see a man, in his 50s maybe, taking pictures of her with his mobile phone !!!


Aghast, we politely but firmly asked him not to do this as it obviously infringed our patient's privacy and dignity. He was nothing to do with the incident and did not know anybody involved. He had walked some distance from his car which was some way back in the bank holiday traffic - and just began taking photos of us and our patient as we were treating her.

Then, he retorted with a sneer : " I can take photos if I want to !"
We replied that we and the patient would rather he didn't and again explained why we thought it was inappropriate.
He retorted again " I can take whatever pictures I want so long as I don't publish them".
Now, I am a healthcare professional and the public face of the ambulance service. It is the closest I have ever come to actually seriously considering thumping someone !!!!
Thinking of my job, I gritted my teeth and marched up to a police officer on scene, explained what this lowlife was doing and to deal with him.
We left the police to it and continued our treatment in the ambulance. The policeman popped his head in a minute or three later to say that he had warned the man that what he was doing was inappropriate and was met with the same "I know the law better than you do" drivel. The policeman said it was a long time since he had wanted to thump someone as much as he did right then !!
Needless to say, as far as we are aware, it is not a crime to take pictures of complete strangers receiving treatment in unfortunate situations. Sad, considering we often have to cut clothing off people to assess and treat them. Not very nice for anyone, never mind little old ladies ! But then you don't expect some sicko to stand there with his mobile phone doing just that !
And no, it wasn't a chavvy, ferile thug. It was a well dressed, tweeded, suited and booted 'gentleman' in his 50s. I expect he thinks he is a pillar of society, a law abiding citizen. Well, he was abiding by the law this time. Even though I think his actions were nothing less than sick. I don't even want to imagine what on earth he was going to use the pictures for. Own personal use ??
I expect they will end up on some sick website.
If it weren't for my job, I think I would have snatched the phone off him and lobbed it over the nearest hedge - having broken it first.
What is with people these days ???
Does nobody give a sh!t any more ?
I see plenty of things in my job as you can imagine, but this one today made me particularly angry. Mainly just the attitude.
So I needed to let off steam seeing as I couldn't do it there and then.


Grrrrrr

And reeeelaaax....

[nickb]

Did you get his car's registration details? If so, post 'em up here; I'm sure somebody might be able to use that information.

[StuartC]

Surprisingly, whilst what he was doing is on the limits of bad taste, it is not illegal.

On a photo course a while back, the chap leading the course explained that if you're in a public place then you have no right of privacy, i.e. to not be photographed.

Sadly, the copper probably knew this too, but it's really despicable behaviour and totally voyeuristic.

I blame the 24 hour news broadcasters and the tabloid newspapers.

Well done for not giving him a slap.

[the goat]

To answer your point.
No , nobody does give a shit these days . Because basically people don t care if it s not their immediate problem.
Folk may pontificate and murmur all they like but if it s not in their own backyard then you re on your own.
But ..on the brighter side.............Beckham is back in the England squad.

And the warmer diving season is just around the corner

[cgrosart]

Originally Posted by nickb

Did you get his car's registration details? If so, post 'em up here; I'm sure somebody might be able to use that information.

The copper did

Better not see the pics anywhere.......

[Dave Crampton]

Console yourself that you may be in a position to take pictures of him some time....

[gerbil]

Just cus something aint illegal doesnt mean your right to do it, if the bloke wasnt a tosser he would know that. On the plus side i bet even his mum thinks he is a tosser as well.

[kato]

What makes me laugh is on the bbc news website the have the following statement:


"Do you have a comment or news story?
Have you taken a picture or filmed some video that tells a story? If so, BBC News wants to hear from you. Read below to find out how to get in touch with us."

In other words you pay (through the overpriced licence fee) us to report the news, but we would like you to do all the leg work for us.

That and the usual comments after an incident like; the recent uk earthquake/ ferry fires/ london bombings etc. Have you been affected send us your....

I must explain I have had some bad experience with local press misquoting me so I think all news reporters are vultures.

[paramedic paul]

Happens a lot doesn't it, well done for not thumping him, if your trust is owt like ours you'd have been out on your arse before you got back to base!

We had an incident last weekend where one of my collegues managed to roll an ambulance, the following day the front page of the local "Rag" was a half page photo and half page editorial about the incident. The only person seen using a camera phone was the wrecker truck driver!

[David Tombs]

There is a general lack of simple consideration for other's,and common decency now. Just because someone is in middle age does not mean that they were not a git when they were younger and are simply an older git.
People have too much,do not have to help and share to get by now,and live in a me me me state of mind,with instant gratification a priority.
I fully agree about the media.