Should have done this earlier but I was too tired Sunday evening and was concentrating on revision yesterday. Anyway over the last three weekends LINKS have had a series of large sports duties to cover (all of which I had some hand in, limited for the first event but more so in the last two weekends) and they've provided me with my first real challenge as the new unit leader (the previous one had done it before and had the sense to avoid it this time round).
After a long period of battling over the level of cover we would provide and the costs related to that (as mentioned in previous blogs) we finally arrived at the actual events where my role changed to organising the specific command people for the various days (taking the role of post commander 2 and duty manager on two of the three days myself) as well as taking part in 'command meetings' to sort out where people and equipment would be positioned on specific days.
Eventually all the prior organising was finished with it was just down to the minute by minute... tactical? for lack of a better description, organising and generally treating our casualties. Unfortunately for the last two weekends which were the big events (the first weekend wasn't so much though it gained us more PRF's the the first two days of the big events) on the first day when I was post commander 2, the busier post, the organising wasn't great as I wasn't meant to treat myself but still ended up leading the few pitchside responses there were (lots of my casualties were stolen at the tent) and the second day when I was a plain first aider it wasn't as busy as hoped for (though I did get to quickly jog the entire length of one rugby pitch to respond to a casualty whilst two others drove over shortly afterwards, they then drove back with the casualty and a friend whilst I was made to walk meaing my casualty was again stolen from me).
Then came the final day when I took the role of duty manager giving me command over everything (and also forbidding me from so much as looking at casualties 
). Actually had limited in put across the day as people and control know what they were doing and people generally requested what they needed when they needed it rather than just reporting a casualty and needing me to decide on the response but I got to put in a few bits and did my rounds to make sure things were working, also broke the rules and gave a second opinion on a broken finger and at one point was the only person patrolling the netball games due to complications over rotating members (was only brief and no one got injured during the time, but left me out of the way during the great radio conversation of where some spare high-vis jackets were to give post 2 even though they weren't required delaying my response in carrying them across the field for no reason).
However the day that I was duty manager was the most bloody of all the days (with a total of 25 PRF's out of the 60 across the three weekends and including around 4/5 off to hosptial in our ambulance, once on blue lights) and seeing as there were no deaths I think I can be proud of my first big event as duty manager and call my first challenge as Unit Leader a success. Now I've just been handed challenge 2 though which I'm expected to take on single handedly so this could prove interesting.
QOTD:
[hearing shots, Aeryn contacts John over the radio]
Aeryn Sun: Who's taking fire?
John Crichton: Huh. Who isn't?
Aeryn Sun: Are you all right?
John Crichton: Well, other than being shot at by the Electric Mayhem... I'm fantastic!