More and More Paramdedics Being Attacked

Attacks on paramedics are becoming more and more frequent when answering emergency calls.

As shown in the table in Wales alone there were 290 attacks in the last year alone, 123 of which resulted in injury to the paramedic.

Paramedics in London have also become frequent victims of attacks with statistics showing one in 10 paramedics get attacked.

"Safe"

Although attacks are increasing it doesn't seem to be affecting the paramedics who are on duty, paramedic Simon Froggatt said "Although attacks on paramedics are increasing it isn't something i worry about when i am on the job as my main concern is my patient".

However Mr Froggatt did say "I am aware of the attacks increasing and if they continue to increase it would be something i would be worried about".

"An Issue"

As attacks on paramedics are increasing it is becoming more of a concern to them on the job, Mr Froggatt said "although the police are usually on scene with you if the patient is intoxicated or has taken illegal substances safety can then become an issue".

"Over Dramatised"

The media has recently picked up on the frequent attacks, however Mr Froggatt said the media can "over dramatise" the stories, he said "although paramedics getting attacked is a serious crime and has to be reported by the media I personally feel the media often over dramatises the attack and can make it sound worse than it actually is"

He went on to add how paramedics go through sufficient training in order to deal with situations such as being attacked.

http://www.nwas.nhs.uk/internet/

Alcohol Consumption

So within today's society there is a major problem with the consumption of alcohol.

I thought it was a problem just in the UK but whilst i have been traveling around i have realised it is a worldwide problem.

So i thought it would be interesting to look at a few countries and see how it compares to the UK.

the table shows the amount of pure alcohol consumption in litres for people 15 and over:

SOURCE
WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION
.
DATALINK
http://www.who.int/whosis/en/

So my predictions were not completely wrong as although Ireland does drink more it is close enouhg to the UK, whom drink more than the United States and Australia.

Wrexham beat Ebbsfleet for vital away win!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not being an "armchair" fan i went to watch Wrexham away against Ebbsfleet United on Saturday. Ok it isn't Manchester United or Liverpool but it is more than exciting enough for me.

Ebbsfleet's ground isn't the biggest in the world but it is at least clean,unlike some of the grounds i have been too in the past.

The game wasn't thrilling and wasn't end to end in goal mouth action,but then again i can't remember the last Wrexham match that was.

One of our newer signings Lamine Sakho scored the only goal in a goalmouth scramble,which kind of summarised the game if i am honest.

Ebbsfleet will feel a little hard done by as they had 2 players sent off in the second half,which prevented any serious attempt to claim anything from the match.

Although Wrexham still sit 16Th in the Blue Square Premier i am confident we can still mount a serious push for the playoffs if we can keep picking up the scrappy wins that are needed.

Preston football museum to be moved!!!!

Preston have not had much look recently as they were voted one the least desirable cities in the Uk, and then they were hit with the news that the national football museum maybe moving to Manchester.

If we are honest the museum will probably become more popular in Manchester where there are two premiership football teams, and a mass population in comparison to Preston, but it would only make Preston become less desirable to live in.

But the question is, does Manchester need the Museum? as Preston needs attractions such as the museum to make their city more "desirable".

With Preston Fc mounting another serious challenge for promotion to top flight football it could be a massive boost for the players and the fans if the museum was to stay in Preston.

As a student who know lives in Preston i believe it would be great for the club and the city if the team manged to get promotion this season. It may provide the city with the boost it needs.

After watching a few matches i can't see why the team would not get promoted as they are strong at the back and have good target men in Neil Mellor and Jon Parkin up top.

The spirit of the Deepdale fans also impresses me, which makes me ask the question, why are they planning on moving the football museum?

My opinion, although it counts for nothing is that the football museum should stay in the city of Preston and maybe it should get money to improve the museum and publicize it more so it gets more people visiting it.

Reggae Music festival coming to Preston

So there is a Reggae music festival planned for Preston next year, i usually would not be interested in this type of event, but as a third year journalist student i thought it would make an interesting story for my upcoming portfolio.

Admittedly I am not a Reggae music fan,but that is what interests me,are the people of Preston Reggae music fans? and by doing this story I would find out.

I would interview somebody from the council for my story and ask how it would improve the culture of the city of Preston. I would then go to local music venues and ask people for their opinion on Reggae music and if they are going to go to the gig.

Then I would take pictures of the venue, which i believe is Avenham park.

This is just one of many ideas!!!!!!

I love Camp Greentop

so during the summer i went to America to work in a summer camp and haven't looked back since.

The camp was called Camp Greentop and it must be the best camp in America as i genuinely had the best three months of my life.

the camp is situated in Maryland and is on top of a mountain and although the camp is situated in the middle of nowhere i would live there in a flash providing my favourite people at camp were there to share it with me.

i wasn't sure if i would be able to adapt with the living conditions when i was first there as i am not the type of guy you would see living in cabins and sharing showers and toilets, but as the summer progressed i fell in love with the living conditions and wouldn't have swapped it for a five star hotel.

the work was hard at times but so rewarding and when you have a cabin leader like Declan it makes life a whole lot easier,that guy who i flew over with made my summer extra special and got me through the hard times and also made me laugh ALOT.

how could i do a blog about greentop without mentioning Sexy Shower Time,which was the talk of camp basically a few of us guys who at first were edgy about sharing communal showers decided to make shower time sexy by doing it together(naked) and adding music. My most frequent shower partner was Steve Bailey and even when we were in different units we showered together.Mike Lawrey another close friend was banned from it as his muscles were too big.

Greentop is run by the legend that is Bill Morgan but he could not do it without the help of the amazing Carmichael sisters who tolerated me constantly being in the office all summer, even when i wasn't meant to be.

i have made so many good friends there,too many to mention and since camp finished i have tried to keep in touch with as many as possible, i am at the same university as Jennie so that is easy and i have seen good friends such as Anna, Declan and Mike and not to forget Paddy on a night out and the rest i keep in touch via facebook.

i was so Happy the other day as i got mail from a close friend from camp Bridget she sent me a postcard which really cheered me up,she was definitely one of my favourite people at camp.

and the best part is they have let me go back to winter camp,even after acting like an idiot on the last night of camp and stupidly getting drunk,won't be doing that again. so i get to see some of my old favourites at winter such as Emily,Aaron,Bridget and Mike lawrey and basically i cannot wait.

i wish more of my favourites such as Declan, Steve, Sally,Anna and Paddy were doing camp but i am sure i will see all of them very soon

miss you camp greentop!!!!!!!!!!

The UCLAN badminton team deemed not important enough to go on trips!!!!!

after much deliberation i have chosen to write this blog again as i know do not care if the Students Union reads it as the UCLAN badminton team is not getting the funding that they deserve as one of the universities most successful teams.

even after relegation last season we are still one of the universities top teams but the SU doesn't fund us for a tournament where we could win them BUC's points.

if we were the football or rugby team we would have got the funding no problem but as badminton isn't deemed to be one of the more important sports we didn't get the funding, even if we are going to have over 100 members this season.

no wonder the football and rugby teams believe they are "god's gift" when they are favoured by the SU so much,and i cannot see why because from what i have seen the rugby union and football teams are not that special and average is a word i have used to describe there playing abilities, i suppose that's what you get when you pick your mates.

so although the badminton team are not recognised by the SU i believe all the teams will get promoted this year and the men's first team should win the cup so maybe the SU will recognise what a successful club we are,on second thoughts they probably wont.

Manchester United fans get back on your armchairs!!!!!

so the best team in the league lost a match,most fans will accept it when there team loses after not losing in ten league matches,but Manchester united fans are not your regular fans.

Don't get me wrong some of their fans are good football fans who know alot about football,but a large chunk of the so called fans i refer to as "armchair" supporters,whom never go to the matches, usually because they live to far away but then still claim to be the club's biggest fan because they have the shirt and watch them on Tv.

then they have the nerve to accuse me of knowing nothing about football because i support a team who are not in the premier league.

so there team lost for once and obviously it is the referees fault,and not because Liverpool were the better team, as a neutral i thought the ref had an OK game and man united were outplayed but there armchair fans didn't see it that way.

i do enjoy watching Manchester United play but cannot watch them with one of there fans as they usually know nothing about football.

i am not saying all Manchester united fans know nothing about football,but anyone who doesn't know anything about football supports Manchester united.

Wrexham Fc back to winning ways!!!!

i was a relieved fan at the weekend when my local team Wrexham finally getting back to winning ways after 4 games without a win.

although we were playing fellow strugglers Grays it was a much appreciated victory and for once i even felt like i got my four pounds worth.

the victory hasn't done wonders for us in the league table as we still lie deep in the bottom half but i believe the victory will let the rest of the league know we are still around and have potential to make the playoffs.

when the teams were announced i turned to my friend and fellow supporter and said "i don't know why he(Dean Saunders) plays that Christian smith hes awful i could even do a better job" so no guesses who got the first goal, that's right you guessed it Christian Smith,although it was gifted to him on a plate.

as the game continued we had chance after chance and it looked like we were going to throw the game away bit then veteran striker Gareth Taylor bagged another goal and we went 2-0 up so i began to relax.

i should realise by now that as a Wrexham fan relaxing is not and will never be an option. Grays proved how dodgy are ageing defence is by scoring a simple yet effective goal, but we managed to hold on for three vital points.

lets hope are good form continues!!!!!!!!!!!!

John and Edward to win X factor!!!!!!!!!

The more I watch the "John and Edward" show the more i want them to win just to annoy the people complaining they shouldn't be in the show, the way i see it is they must be slightly popular to have survived two public votes.

although they are not the most talented contestants the show has ever seen they do provide alot of entertainment. There performance on Saturday night lacked talent but did provide laughter and that is better than "eyebrow" boy who went out and rightly so.

what isn't fair is that it isn't John and Edwards fault they keep getting voted in so people should just lay off them and appreciate the entertainment value they bring to the quite serious and dull series.

what made it worse was that Cheryl Cole who's live performance was debatable to say the least said "I cant believe my act went out when John and Edward are still in" even when her act was awful and didn't make anyone laugh.

so i hope John and Edward make it through next week. the week after and every week for that matter.

is internet the only future for football?

You only realise what you've got until it's taken away.That's how I feel over this weekends England game, due to be broadcast that was only available on the internet, depending on when you buy.Watching football online is not new, the difference being it is usually on a dodgy free stream rather than an official pay-per-view service.Lets face it, we all do it. Especially on Saturday afternoons when we know the match can't be on TV.We have a hunt around the net, check out a few forums , find the link and wait for the stream to start buffering, chuckling at whatever language the commentary is in and cursing your computer when it freezes just as your side is about to have a shot on goal.I see them as 'bonus' games, matches I wouldn't normally expect to see live so can't really grumble at the technical hitches.But there are some matches that deserve to be on TV, indeed look at their best on the TV and ones I would rather make the effort to go and watch rather than tune in online.I'm not saying this particular match is vitally important, but if it was on normal TV you would watch with your mates in your front room or down the pub.This is especially the case with big England games - like at next year's World Cup.Online streaming will kill all of that. Instead they want us all to be huddled round our computers, each paying the right fee to watch the game on a tiny screen.In my opinion the boom in online match viewing is a reaction to high subscription and ticket prices rather than any particular desire to watch football through the internet . Money enveloped football a long time ago and fans will always innovate to try and support their team without being forced to pay through the nose - this is just an example of the media companies trying to catch up and rake in more cash.If I had my moral hat on I would say that watching dodgy streams is illegal and shouldn't be encouraged. However ask most football fans and they would say they wouldn't do it if prices - both for match tickets and TV subscriptions - were lower.There is a problem there, but I feel they have come up with the wrong answer.

Daniel Roberts

my name is Daniel Roberts and i am, 20 years old, I'm a third year student at the university of central lancashire where i study journalism. when i am not at university i live in north wales in a small town called connahs quay where i grew up and attended school. my main interest in life is sport and in particularly badminton where i have represented my country at all levels. i am doing a set of blogs for my university course and will more than likely blog about sport but you never know..........................