[Closed] Helicopter on Southwark Bridge

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twitter search says an accident involving a lorry but mostly it's just chaff (well, it's twitter)

Maybe its military excercises in prep for the Olympics?

I had three Tornado jets fly very low over my house (im down the Thames a bit) last Thursday- at 9.30 at night. Very unusual, you never see the RAF over London unless theres an event and especially not late at night.

Edit- no not military 😳

Thats an air ambulance isnt it?

Yup HEMs.

air ambulance

Yeah think so. Copper chopper is black and yellow.

Suicide attempt?

twitter:

Southwark Bridge closed. Cyclist hit and air ambulance has landed.

"A cyclist on a bright green bike has collided with a lorry which was either turning into, or reversing out of, Bell Wharf Lane.

Watching this from my office at the moment. Happened approx 1:40pm. Southwark Bridge is closed to all traffic, as the Virgin Rescue helicopter has landed on it. Three paramedics got out of the helicopter, into a taxi, and got dropped off at the scene.

Lots of police and ambulance staff at the scene.

Fingers crossed for the rider."

A cyclist on a bright green bike has collided with a lorry

😯

Fingers crossed for the rider."

Fingers crossed indeed- thats going to hurt at the very least....

Good piloting in that paraffin parrot, he hasn't got much leeway between the ends of the rotor and all that sticky-uppy street furniture.

A cyclist... [s]collided with[/s] [b]has been run over by[/b] a lorry

God 'collided with' really gets my goat. Like there's going to be damage to the sodding lorry...

Hope the cyclist is ok.

paraffin parrot

😆

"A cyclist on a bright green bike has collided with a lorry

A lorry has collided with a cyclist on a bright green bike, shirley?

so we know the lorry was actually moving when this occured?

"A lorry and a bright green bike have been involved in an incident"

God 'collided with' really gets my goat.

Eh? Collided just means "came together" - it doesn't imply anything else.

A lorry has collided with a cyclist on a bright green bike, shirley?

Now I'm really baffled.

Who is Shirley

Don't call me shirley

Collided just means "came together" - it doesn't imply anything else.

Maybe it's just me then. I dunno. It doesn't seem to adequately reflect the vulnerability of the cyclist in relation to however many tons of lorry they ended up underneath.

I work in the building that sits over Lower Thames Street.

That's the third bad incident at that junction in the last few years.

Fingers crossed for all those involved, including the lorry driver.

Let's hope the Cyclesurgery that is due to open on that corner, doesn't live up to it billing.... 🙁

Maybe it's just me then. I dunno. It doesn't seem to adequately reflect the vulnerability of the cyclist in relation to however many tons of lorry they ended up underneath.

Does the statement of impact require portrayal of severity of damage to either and is it fair to suggest fault without knowing details? To me there's no point stating the obvious, ah well, each to his own.

Ouch. But why helicopter? There must be only half a mile down to King's College or a mile and a half over to St Thomas'. Must be quicker on the road half a mile than all the faff and strapping in then takeoff/landing?

It doesn't seem to adequately reflect the vulnerability of the cyclist in relation to however many tons of lorry they ended up underneath

You seem to be assuming vulnerability implies innocence. It's perfectly possible that the lorry was behaving responsibly and the cyclist was not. It sounds like that might be the case if the lorry was backing out of somewhere.

Still bad though, sympathies and fingers crossed for the cyclist responsible or not.

Ouch. But why helicopter? There must be only half a mile down to King's College or a mile and a half over to St Thomas'. Must be quicker on the road half a mile than all the faff and strapping in then takeoff/landing?

HEMS tends to be called out for "major trauma" (they got called out a couple of times for stabbings outside a college I used to work for), and they're based out of Royal London which is meant to be the best hospital for it. Also they're crewed by a senior trauma doctor as well as a specialist paramedic so have more treatment options than a regular ambulance & paramedic - they don't always do patient transport, but can do much more to stabilise a patient before they get moved.

I'm guessing it would be pretty bad to get those guys, or they were already in the air and nearby so could respond quickly.

Ouch. But why helicopter? There must be only half a mile down to King's College or a mile and a half over to St Thomas'. Must be quicker on the road half a mile than all the faff and strapping in then takeoff/landing?

Because THAT helo caries a very experienced trauma team (including Doctor) who arrive from their base like that; with all the gear they need for just that sort of job. It also gives them the option of taking the casualty to whichever hospital they think is most appropriate for their injuries rather than simply going to the closest. I believe they do sometimes evacuate the casualty by road when it will be faster/better for the patient. In theory you could drag a doctor out the local hospital but ordinarily he won't be as experienced at dealing with trauma at the scene with the limited equipment he could grab etc. (Treating someone potentially trapped under a truck, with only a bag of medical kit is more akin to battlefield medicine, than a nice A&E department with a team of 'helpers' and specialists to call on. He also then leaves his "base" short staffed so there is already depleted resources when he arrives back with the probably critical patient.

But why helicopter? There must be only half a mile down to King's College or a mile and a half over to St Thomas

[Speculation], but it may have been the quickest and easiest way to get a trauma doc to the scene; it can be easier to sedate a patient prior to transport in certain cases. if either of the hospitals mentioned are major trauma units then the likelyhood is the patient would still travel by road, simpler and quicker. [/speculation]

Edit, there you go.