Ipswich Dock cautionary tale.

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toyboy

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I just read on FB;
Eventful night. I drove around the dock as usual at 3am but the security guard driving around all night has been a PITA blocking me so this morning I started at the opposite end. I got to South West Quay and I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a lady in night clothes standing on a boat screaming. It turned out her she reckoned her husband was having a heart attack and she didn't know what part of the dock she was berthed. She had phoned 999 but the para-medic could find her either as the lady hadn't been able to say what quay the boat was at. I found the para-medic and led her to the lady and then I had to go and guide the ambulance into the berth. This took the best part of an hour and there was absolutely no sign of the security guards she needed.

Follow up;
OUR IPSWICH This could easily turn out to be a tragety. The ambulance driver couldn't find the boat, the woman didn't know where the boat was berthed presumably because it was berthed by the casualty and none of the security staff nor the Lock Tower seemed to be aware of this incident even though there were two vehicles at 3am driving around the dock with blue lights flashing. The biggest point of absolute stupidity and danger was the big unlawful gate across Ship Launch Road which stopped immediate access to South West Quay by the para-medic and ambulance. This gate is unlawful and also prevent us from accessing the East bank of the New Cut and should therefore be removed immediately as being unlawful. US flagged boat apparently.
Toyboy
 
That was my point; ABP own the port, and if you don't like something they're doing, the first place to complain to is ABP. The International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code is often used by lazy or badly run port management organisations as an excuse for stuff like this; if they're doing it wrong, complain.
 
If its the boat I think it is then its been resident in Ipswich for at least the last year and is only a few berths away from my boat.However I'm struggling to follow the issue about the gates.
 
jimi said:
If its the boat I think it is then its been resident in Ipswich for at least the last year and is only a few berths away from my boat.However I'm struggling to follow the issue about the gates.
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The point about the gate is it is unlawfully blocking the way across the lock. The ambulance should have been able to drive across the lock straight to the boat but instead it had to come via Stoke Bridge entrance and got lost as they didn't know where the boat was moored and the lady who was phoning them didn't know the name of the quay either. There was also a lifting cradle across the road making it look as if there was no way past it. She had her navigation light on to attract but the CCTV camera didn't pick up something was happening with all the blue lights too. The security guards were nowhere to be found either and the lock keeper was less than useful on ch68 too. If you are moored close by the boat Lalize you obviously know where the lock is in relation to your berth. The road used to run over the lock until ABP gated it so now you cannot walk around the dock to Aurora opposite you and would have to go all the way round. Same with the takeaway on Ship Launch Road. If you have an emergency and your ambulance or para-medic is not from Ipswich you will also be in trouble I am afraid. The unfortunate truth is very few Ipswich born people know where South West Quay is either so the ambulance/para-medic cannot ask walkers for directions.
Toyboy
 
toyboy said:
The point about the gate is it is unlawfully blocking the way across the lock. The ambulance should have been able to drive across the lock straight to the boat but instead it had to come via Stoke Bridge entrance and got lost as they didn't know where the boat was moored and the lady who was phoning them didn't know the name of the quay either. There was also a lifting cradle across the road making it look as if there was no way past it. She had her navigation light on to attract but the CCTV camera didn't pick up something was happening with all the blue lights too. The security guards were nowhere to be found either and the lock keeper was less than useful on ch68 too. If you are moored close by the boat Lalize you obviously know where the lock is in relation to your berth. The road used to run over the lock until ABP gated it so now you cannot walk around the dock to Aurora opposite you and would have to go all the way round. Same with the takeaway on Ship Launch Road. If you have an emergency and your ambulance or para-medic is not from Ipswich you will also be in trouble I am afraid. The unfortunate truth is very few Ipswich born people know where South West Quay is either so the ambulance/para-medic cannot ask walkers for directions.
Toyboy
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The whole of the East Anglian Ambulance Service is not working. None of them are "local" to any area any more.
When we stopped in Tollesbury marina they gave us a pack which included all local doctors,dentists, map, ect & was a superb idea. suggest that to the Haven / Neptune / ABP
 
I have written to ABP Ipswich but I do not expect any useful result going by past experience. If you are moored there to you may wish to mail the Port Manager and express your views Mr.Alistair MacFarlane AMacFarlane@abports.co.uk
If enough people complain maybe something will happen but he will not take any notice of me as I don't moor there and rarely visit either.

Toyboy
 
sailorman said:
The whole of the East Anglian Ambulance Service is not working. None of them are "local" to any area any more.
When we stopped in Tollesbury marina they gave us a pack which included all local doctors,dentists, map, ect & was a superb idea. suggest that to the Haven / Neptune / ABP
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That would be an improvement but Ambulance/Doctors/fireservice and event the cops need that knowledge too. What ABP needs to do is signpost the quays and wharves/marinas and keep those routes open and not park the carrier cradle across it. It would also help if someone was watching the numerous CCTV cameras too and listening to VHF at night.
Toyboy.
 
toyboy said:
That would be an improvement but Ambulance/Doctors/fireservice and event the cops need that knowledge too. What ABP needs to do is signpost the quays and wharves/marinas and keep those routes open and not park the carrier cradle across it. It would also help if someone was watching the numerous CCTV cameras too and listening to VHF at night.
Toyboy.
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Most car nav systems do not show "un digitized" roads so totally useless in your situation. a lat / long might have worked
 
Folk like the Coastguard (I was one until recently) regularly drive round their patch and familiarise themselves with the harder-to-reach areas in preparation for such incidents, especially difficult at night obviously. Around here I see the Fire Service doing the same thing. Never noticed ambulance crews cruising around doing this, though - do they?
 
Not sure I quite understand the OP or the follow ups. And pardon me for being a bit sceptical about a new user starting his/her career on the forums with an axe to grind, or so it seems anyway

First query: Who was driving around Ipswich Docks "as usual" at 3:00am? And why were they being obstructed by security? Was it the OP or somebody else? Did they have authority / permission to be driving around the docks? ????

Second query? Why is the gate illegal? As far as I can ascertain, and I have tried to find out for myself, it is on private land where there is no public right of way. If that is not the case and it obstructs a PRoW the the local authority Highways Department should (and in my experience would) be all over the case like a rash.

The above queries aside, the OP does raise an interesting and safety critical point about crew members not being aware of where precisely they are in case of emergency. That has given me pause for thought as I suspect it's often the case when we're out and about. I nearly always make a point of the top page of the log or chart table notepad having our co-ordinates if we're anchored or which marina we're in clearly visible but it never occurred to me to add pier / berth details as well. Shall be doing so from now on!
 
An interesting post, I have no detailed knowledge of the rights of way issues around Ipswich dock, but we have berthed there a few times and can imagine it might be a problem for emergency services if they have no information as to berth number or indeed which marina, they are on opposite sides of the dock for non locals who might be reading this.

I do, generally, make a note in the log of the berth number, but just for interest, it had not occurred to me that it might be needed in an emergency. I am not sure that SWMBO would think to look there anyway in such a case. I would expect that she would know anyway where we were moored.

Regarding giving a lat long or Grid ref position to emergency services I am not sure if that would help. Certainly in the past when I was working, I did on more than one occasion try to give a grid position to an ambulance controller only to be told "We don't use those can you give me directions please doctor!" That was a long time ago though.
 
Brigantia said:
Not sure I quite understand the OP or the follow ups. And pardon me for being a bit sceptical about a new user starting his/her career on the forums with an axe to grind, or so it seems anyway

First query: Who was driving around Ipswich Docks "as usual" at 3:00am? And why were they being obstructed by security? Was it the OP or somebody else? Did they have authority / permission to be driving around the docks? ????

Second query? Why is the gate illegal? As far as I can ascertain, and I have tried to find out for myself, it is on private land where there is no public right of way. If that is not the case and it obstructs a PRoW the the local authority Highways Department should (and in my experience would) be all over the case like a rash.

The above queries aside, the OP does raise an interesting and safety critical point about crew members not being aware of where precisely they are in case of emergency. That has given me pause for thought as I suspect it's often the case when we're out and about. I nearly always make a point of the top page of the log or chart table notepad having our co-ordinates if we're anchored or which marina we're in clearly visible but it never occurred to me to add pier / berth details as well. Shall be doing so from now on!
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Career on the forum???
didn't realise it was a career!!
 
Cantata said:
Folk like the Coastguard (I was one until recently) regularly drive round their patch and familiarise themselves with the harder-to-reach areas in preparation for such incidents, especially difficult at night obviously. Around here I see the Fire Service doing the same thing. Never noticed ambulance crews cruising around doing this, though - do they?
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No is the short answer.The ambulance service is part of the NHS and is therefore run like a factory production line rather than what you or I might think of as an emergency service.There simply would not be time or resources for staff to "familiarise" themselves with local areas as efficiency requirements mean they have to be flexible as where and when they work.The local area might therefore cover many hundreds of square miles.
 
Biggles Wader said:
No is the short answer.The ambulance service is part of the NHS and is therefore run like a factory production line rather than what you or I might think of as an emergency service.There simply would not be time or resources for staff to "familiarise" themselves with local areas as efficiency requirements mean they have to be flexible as where and when they work.The local area might therefore cover many hundreds of square miles.
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Or they have to stop for duel on the way to an emergency & arrive too late, as happened this week
 
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