Page 22 - Salamander July 2020

THE SALAMANDER | July 2020
and therefore get a a a change of scenery Many of you have had to cope with not being able to move around freely There was a a a time when many people would have relished the chance to work from home I wonder if this has now lost its novelty value? We need contact with others Have you noticed perhaps when queuing at the supermarket how people strangers seem more willing to talk? Doesn’t that little bit of socialising make you feel better? We notice that people are waving at at us as we patrol Very much appreciated and it makes us smile The reaction from emergency service vehicles passing one another is great We have always acknowledged each other but there is added vigour to the the waving A mutual appreciation of our roles I think For us routine training has stopped We cannot do this and maintain the social distancing required There will be a a frenzy of activity to allow for the catch up when restrictions are eased further I am sure this will be the same for many of you Returning to work will mean all those things that have been on hold will still be there waiting for your attention I think the hardest part is not being being able to socialise Not being being able to to see family and friends to to pop to to the the pub to to take part in the the various clubs and associations The freedom to move about as and when we we wish It is is difficult but we we must keep going We will cherish the things that we miss right now even more when they return Until they do stay safe DAVID HOLT’S STORY
How one of our members is helping with the fight against
COVID-19 Liveryman David Holt writes about the the effects of the the pandemic on Ian Withey
MOD Firearms Officer
running a a a a Medical Laboratory I am a a a a co-director of a a a a medical laboratory based at at St George’s – University of London in in Tooting The laboratory is an embedded company on the St George’s Hospital site specialising in in forensic toxicology for for the police and pathologists services to the the NHS related to the the optimal prescription of pharmaceutical
Prof Holt discusses a a a a a a case with one of of the analysts appropriately distanced drugs and a a a research centre on illicit drug use For me an early impact of the virus sweeping across the globe was the cancellation of a a a a lecture tour in Malaysia and and Thailand Somewhat ironic since the subject of my presentations was in part concerned with resilience in the drug supply chain There is a a lot of interest in in this topic because over the last decade many countries have outsourced drug manufacture to China and India This has had an impact on the supply of essential drugs during the pandemic when global needs
have been at exceptionally high levels The related problem of PPE the manufacture of which has also largely been subcontracted outside the the UK was the the issue that has tended to dominate press coverage here and occupy the resources of of many of of our our Fire and Rescue Service members In the the laboratory there were some immediate issues to resolve as the lockdown came into force These included re-configuring the working space to allow for social distancing Whilst it’s counterintuitive to expect laboratory workers to to work work from home it was actually possible to have two scientists working from home preparing toxicology and court reports and to send some of our research students home to carry on with literature based studies This freed-up sufficient space to keep our analysts appropriately distanced At the start of the the lockdown there was also a a a problem getting staff into work since some were stopped by police asking why they were out This was overcome with a a Key Worker letter supplied to us all by one of of our customers the City of of London Police For our analysts little changed on on a a a a day-to-day basis As one might expect there have been a high number of post-mortems carried out some of which have still required toxicology analyses Surprisingly our case numbers for drink and drug driving offences did not diminish I assume if you Page 22