[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by Wolfy^)
That sounds really really interesting. Our unit plans on doing something similar close to the university campus where we get a few smashed up cars and involve the police and fire brigade. Sort of a mass incident scenario. Should be good.

Yeah it was quite fun. Our ambulance and the fire engine started off around the corner and I pretended to be a passer by with another person. There were two 'casualties' who were stuck in the car and we assessed them and called for help. Then the ambulance and fire engine arrived - sirens blazing and we all proceeded to help get the two casualties out safely without moving their heads. This mean me sitting in the car holding one of the casualties necks for about 30mins whilst the firemen removed the roof and windows. Was kinda scary at times cos they had this massive saw lol.

If you ever get the chance to do it you should totally go for it!

[KingGoonIan]

The perfect metaphor for regionalisation?

[zippyRN]

(Original post by KingGoonIan)
The perfect metaphor for regionalisation?

the perfect metaphor for not regionalising ...

Regionalisation is happening and will not be stopped no individual or small group of individuals are beigger than the organisation ...

the rate at which SJA is consuming reserves means that without arresting the loses the organisation will be insolvent within 10 years

here's some Myths that we busted tonight at the first of the NE region roadshows

1. the overwhelming message for units and members in units is business as usual, yes you'll have a some faces to deal with from day 1 ( the RMT and your district manager ) in stead of your CEO, Commander and County Management board ,locality and functional management will continue until you are informed otherwise.

2. no volunteers are being 'sacked' though quite a few COunty and area staff officers will be in different jobs by christmas

3. the money is not being 'taken away' how we manage money at the locla level will be changing

4. units will still be able to fundraise for local, specific , projects and for the district / region in general

5. properties and how they are used will be under review but there will be no hasty moves unless buildings are dangerous / totally unfit for use - the property strategy is going to take several years to evolve

6. SJA is not abandoning youth, the main change is that youth units will not be reporting solely to youth staff, Area managers and District managers will be managing ALL units in their area / district ( adult, specialist adult, LINKS and other uni units , cadet, badgers, CFR) the only unit s that won't be managed in this way will be units that are set up as regional units whether they are actual or virtual units who will report to the relevant Regional manager via specialist staff officers

7. the region will be taking responsibility for property and logistics issues , enabling unit leaders to concentrate on delivery of service and supporting their members

if you are in the NE region there's still several regionalisation roadshows still to come

http://member2.sja.org.uk/Member/new...pril-2012.aspx

NW people - you've missed yours , East and West Midlands are nearly 3 months into regionalisation, the remaining four regions are in the autumn

for those wanting more info - the regional alignment document

http://member2.sja.org.uk/Member/PDF...nt%20FINAL.pdf

and links to the presentations as delivered to E+W midlands regions at their roadshows

http://member2.sja.org.uk/Member/new...uary-2012.aspx

[Elastoplast]

No one really knows if Regional is going to be better or worse than the current state of affairs until it has been put into practice.

[zippyRN]

(Original post by ~Justin~)
No one really knows if Regional is going to be better or worse than the current state of affairs until it has been put into practice.

regionalisation will be better if nothing because of three significant issues

1. reduced pay bill for paid staff as CEOs go replaced by one RD, and paid staff in counties may be subject to redundancy, redeployment or regrading

2. removal of duplication of a volunteer role and a paid role doing the same thing

3. reintegrating youth into SJA as a whole by having all units reporting through the area managers rather than youth developing it's own parallel structure ( in some cases triplicating structures all ready in place with paid staff and 'adult volunteers )

[Elastoplast]

(Original post by zippyRN)
regionalisation will be better if nothing because of three significant issues

1. reduced pay bill for paid staff as CEOs go replaced by one RD, and paid staff in counties may be subject to redundancy, redeployment or regrading

2. removal of duplication of a volunteer role and a paid role doing the same thing

3. reintegrating youth into SJA as a whole by having all units reporting through the area managers rather than youth developing it's own parallel structure ( in some cases triplicating structures all ready in place with paid staff and 'adult volunteers )

However I do feel that members won't know who is who anymore, or even less so than they do now. Why shouldn't we know who is pulling the strings and be able to put a face to the names on the bottom of memos.

[zippyRN]

(Original post by ~Justin~)
However I do feel that members won't know who is who anymore, or even less so than they do now. Why shouldn't we know who is pulling the strings and be able to put a face to the names on the bottom of memos.

in my region that goes live 1st June ...

RD has been out pressing flesh

DMs -

one is well known in his new district as he was an assistant commissioner in the county that covers most of that district,

same with another of the DMs with regard to his new district

the third DM is the commissioner of one of the 2 counties his district covers and had been a div supt and ? staff officer in the other county in his district ,

the late addition 4th District - we don't know yet but based in the above may well be someone well known the the members of the 4th district having been in the county staff team - 4 of the 5 counties in question were already working together on various events as it was , and the 5th county was limited by the attitudesof peoplewho have seen their roles disappear ...

RM - Events - well known to one of the counties in the region as he's currently Ops support manager

RM Admin + HR was Commissioner in one of the counties and has now come across to being paid staff

RM Youth - was a youth SV in one of the countes in the region

RM Logistics and Facilities - was CEO of one of the counties in the region

RM training and community projects - again known ? paid staff? to at least one of the counties in the region

Regional Ambulance Service Manager - an 'outsider' in that he had been managing SJA ambulance commercial operations for 2 counties in another region - but several of the in county regions know him as we've subbed vehicles and/or crews to him in the past.

RM Clinical - not appointed yet

RM assurance - currently doing a similar job ( and some more) in one of the counties in the region

RMT coordinator - currently the PA to the CEO and CMB of one of the counties in the region and a damn good herder of cats !

District managers in particular are to a person people who are well known to at least part of their new District having been staff officers in the predecessor counties.

people in the remaining 4 regions will begin to see more action in the process of preparing once the 1st of June has passed and NE and NW regions are live ...

and final message - go to the regionalisation roadshow when it hits your region ( NE people there are still several of ours left in the next week -10 days - i've posted the link before )

[Me123456789]

If i'm 16 and i want to join SJA is it better to join with the cadets or with the
16-25 year olds?? and which one is better, like more interesting? and also is it worth it and what sort of things do you do?
Can someone tell me please i need to start it soon......

[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by Me123456789)
If i'm 16 and i want to join SJA is it better to join with the cadets or with the
16-25 year olds?? and which one is better, like more interesting? and also is it worth it and what sort of things do you do?
Can someone tell me please i need to start it soon......

I'd join the adults personally. I was 17 when I joined SJA and went straight to the adult branch, glad I did so. Few 16 year olds in my SJA division atm too.

[Alexandra's Box]

Got my Silver Grand Prior last Wednesday.. yay! Had to wear the revolting old uniform though - at least I don't need the long skirt *puke*

[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by Alexandra's Box)
Got my Silver Grand Prior last Wednesday.. yay! Had to wear the revolting old uniform though - at least I don't need the long skirt *puke*

Congratulations!

I had to send back the new trousers and shirt so all I had was the new jacket for a duty on Sun with my old uniform. Got light-heartedly told off lol.

[N!*]

I'm applying for a job and it asks whether I have a current First Aid Qualification. I've done my basic first aid course with SJA, so will this cover that. It just has a yes/no box, so no room for comments. Also, when will that run out, I only did it last weekend, so haven't got any certificates etc through yet.

How long did it take for everyone's memberships to come through?

[Alexandra's Box]

(Original post by KingGoonIan)
Congratulations!

I had to send back the new trousers and shirt so all I had was the new jacket for a duty on Sun with my old uniform. Got light-heartedly told off lol.

Thanks I'll be trying for some duties this summer, though there haven't been many this year for us

[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by N!*)
I'm applying for a job and it asks whether I have a current First Aid Qualification. I've done my basic first aid course with SJA, so will this cover that. It just has a yes/no box, so no room for comments. Also, when will that run out, I only did it last weekend, so haven't got any certificates etc through yet.

How long did it take for everyone's memberships to come through?

That's a tricky question. Technically you do know some first aid but I think when a lot of work places ask applicants if they are first aid trained they really mean do they have the 'first aid at work' (FAW) certificate.

May I ask what the job is - is it in the healthcare sector? Bare in mind that if you do say you are first aid trained there is a danger that they might say 'use' you for their first aid responsibilities and as a trainee first aider you won't want that.

My membership took about 6-8 months but that was a few years ago and was because my welcome letter took so long. Now they are much quicker to come through in my county or should I say region.

Hopefully Zippy will be able to give us a piece of his mind; he's usually quite good about these kinds of things

[Me123456789]

(Original post by KingGoonIan)
I'd join the adults personally. I was 17 when I joined SJA and went straight to the adult branch, glad I did so. Few 16 year olds in my SJA division atm too.

Okay, thanks

[KingGoonIan]

Got a large football tournament on Sunday should be a good day and food is provided free from the BBQ

[carl_senior]

OK guys, question for you:

What is the most challenging/stressful/difficult situation you have had to deal with whilst on duty?

[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by carl_senior)
OK guys, question for you:

What is the most challenging/stressful/difficult situation you have had to deal with whilst on duty?

Fortunately haven't had any that have been that stressful. Situations that stress me out is when the casualty is a child and is in a lot of distress and so are their family members that are present. It's stressful because it's horrible to see anyone in great distress because of an injury but it's even worse when it's a child. It's also stressful to try and reassure the parents and the child. I used one example of this type of scenario for my nursing interviews.

Another stressful situation would be when I had more than one casualty arriving and we were understaffed to deal with the number of casualties but that rarely happens.

How about you?

[N!*]

(Original post by KingGoonIan)
That's a tricky question. Technically you do know some first aid but I think when a lot of work places ask applicants if they are first aid trained they really mean do they have the 'first aid at work' (FAW) certificate.

May I ask what the job is - is it in the healthcare sector? Bare in mind that if you do say you are first aid trained there is a danger that they might say 'use' you for their first aid responsibilities and as a trainee first aider you won't want that.

My membership took about 6-8 months but that was a few years ago and was because my welcome letter took so long. Now they are much quicker to come through in my county or should I say region.

Hopefully Zippy will be able to give us a piece of his mind; he's usually quite good about these kinds of things

Thanks for the reply. It's a job for disability challengers, so basically just being there, doing activities with the children/young adults.

I might just say no, and write on the cover letter that i've recently joined SJA, probably easier.


Hope my membership doesn't take that long. Now i've done all the training, just want to get out there and get some experience!

[KingGoonIan]

(Original post by N!*)
Thanks for the reply. It's a job for disability challengers, so basically just being there, doing activities with the children/young adults.

I might just say no, and write on the cover letter that i've recently joined SJA, probably easier.


Hope my membership doesn't take that long. Now i've done all the training, just want to get out there and get some experience!

No problem I hope you get the job and it goes well, I recently applied for a similar job working with adults with learning disabilities

Tell us how your first duties go!