#JKMemories : The JK 2017 Safety Officer Role in Numbers

The JK2017 Safety Officer Role in Numbers

0

Serious casualties requiring evacuation to hospital.

1

Phone call to the police non-emergency number (to discuss what to do if the Holmbush neighbour who was making a point by deliberately parking his vehicle across the car park entrance didn't remove it by the time our layby closure came into force at 8am... fortunately, whilst I was on the phone, he did!)

1

Search team sent out (for a child who returned safely whilst they were looking for her) plus some judicious surveillance of the mini relay course by planner Neil and assistant planner Steve - thanks all of you!

1

Conversation with a supplier of the type that involves quoting their own industry best practice guidance in order to 'encourage' them to work to appropriate safety procedures.

2

Competitors still unaccounted for in the St Leonards half of the forest when someone swapped the radio control for a normal one. Since both missing competitors were on SIAC cards and the units don't store 'fly by' punches, this left us unable to distinguish whether or not they had passed back into the Holmbush area. Fortunately, both turned out to be the sort of 'retired' competitor who walks back safely to download under their own steam.

4

Different district councils so 4 Safety Advisory Groups to deal with.

5.3

Average hours sleep on the nights between events.

8

People (mostly, though not entirely, children) officially growled at for activities such as climbing on chalk piles / flying kites near power lines / playing hide-and-seek in marquees that were being dismantled / nipping off for a wee in the active paintball area.

14

Beats per minute drop in the safety officer's pulse rate when the final competitor on the final day returned safely (thank you Fitbit for that gem).

23.9

Percentage of the bibs in the raffle box which actually had any emergency details filled in on the back... come on everyone; that is shocking! Do you not want the paramedics to know who to contact if you are picked up in the forest?

30+

Apparently late returning competitors checked to the extent of "No, they didn't start" or "OK, they actually started much later than that" or "Yes, they've been seen recently on the way round" or "Yes, they went out early because they walk rather than run" before deciding not to search for them... or at least not yet.

42

Hours spent on duty in the arena areas over the 4 competition days.

57

People treated by the paramedic team (almost all on the level of just a sticking plaster; only 5 advised to go home via a minor injuries unit or see their own GP for follow up).

194

Bibs from the raffle box which did have information filled in shredded carefully to protect personal details.

500+

Wonderful volunteers who each did their bit to keep participants safe - and my special thanks are particularly due to the 4 fantastic day organisers it has been my pleasure to work closely with. I am also indebted to the SPORTident team for their patience with my constant pestering for details of late competitors and to the lovely paramedics from Event Medic Services for their cheerful, calm competence throughout and 'nothing too much trouble' attitude.

247

Fastest time in minutes to juggle all 18 radios through only 5 charger slots. Yes, that means well after midnight if you are still helping the planner change a flat tyre at 7:15pm!

632

Minimum distance in miles to the nearest lightning strike on any of my early morning weather checks.

1,177

Emails written or received (and still counting...)

2,980

Stickers showing the event emergency number applied to bibs following a printing error that resulted in it being accidentally missed off.

10,960

The approximate amount in pounds that I would have earned if I'd worked at the day job during all the hours that I've spent doing this role. I haven't (quite) thrown away the safety officer high vis on calculating this but I think maybe next time will have to wait until after I retire!

57,271

Words written within the various pieces of safety documentation required by British Orienteering, their insurers and the council safety advisory groups. That's enough for a doctoral thesis or a decent length novel... though I'd probably be in trouble over the amount of cutting and pasting if I was writing either of those.

86,745

Steps counted by Fitbit over the event weekend just walking round doing the safety role...

Who needs to actually run in the competition???