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- 11 Jan 2004
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Had a call-out tonight.
A 96 y.o. customer who is profoundly deaf, poorly sighted, incontinent and very disorientated and not at all lucid.
To my mind, she should not be living independently at all, let alone on her own in a damp victorian terrace.
Her power had gone off, and my checks revealed that there was no supply to the tails, although the main cut out was intact.
So I rang the electricity company. I had to guess who it was, and luckily struck right first time. However, the call went something like this:
If you have a power outage or no gas supply, press 1.
If you have no electricity supply, press 1.
You need to call your local distributor's office. The number is on the back of the bill.
Line goes dead.
Because it is almost impossible to communicate with her (even writing things down was useless due to her poor sight and lack of light), I didn't have a bill to get the number off, so ended up ringing the general number and waiting 25 minutes for an answer.
I explained the plight of my customer, and the operator went away several times to check every response I gave her.
Eventually, they agreed to send a guy round to check the supply. He duly came, found out the voltage between L & N was 12V, grunted, and left.
He didn't say what would be happening next, or when the power would be on.
So I made another lengthy call to insist on further action. Sometime later, another van rolled up, and the guys came and looked. Their conclusion was rthat they could not dig at 8.30 at night (there would be complaints), there wasn't a nearby lamp standard to take a temporary supply off, so they would have to leave it till the morning. I asked why they couldn't take a supply from the lamppost over the road, they said quote "I can't do that, cars go by, and they might knock it down...." I pointed out that even BT had managed successfully to run cables across the street at a level high enough not to be struck by passing vehicles, but to no avail. Impressing on them the need to have a supply for a bit of heat and lighting for a frail 96 year old lady overnight was paramount, they shrugged their shoulders and left. He even told me that they couldn't make an early start as their shift didn't start till 8, then they'd have to go to a far-flung corner of Greater Manchester to pick up supplies and another corner of Greater Manchester (far away from the first, of course)to pick up equipment.......
So I rang the emergency number yet again, to ensure she would at least be first on the list.
"We'll try" was the limp response.
So my last call was to Manchester City Council Social Services. I wanted them to know there was a frail lady spending the night without electricity, so they could summon help for her. Remember, she has no cooking facilities, no lighting, no kettle, no care-phone, no stairlift, no heating. Nothing. Technically, the house is unfit for human habitation.
"The best we can do is to try and see if we can get a night warden round there......"
I would not be surprised if she does not make it through the night.
Angry is not the word. I started off feeling very sad for this customer of mine. Then those feelings gave way to anger. Now I am apoplectic with rage that in 2005 we as a society cannot help this lady in her hour of dire need.
I am feeling very, very sad that I am powerless to do anything for her, except take her in myself.
I GIVE UP.
A 96 y.o. customer who is profoundly deaf, poorly sighted, incontinent and very disorientated and not at all lucid.
To my mind, she should not be living independently at all, let alone on her own in a damp victorian terrace.
Her power had gone off, and my checks revealed that there was no supply to the tails, although the main cut out was intact.
So I rang the electricity company. I had to guess who it was, and luckily struck right first time. However, the call went something like this:
If you have a power outage or no gas supply, press 1.
If you have no electricity supply, press 1.
You need to call your local distributor's office. The number is on the back of the bill.
Line goes dead.
Because it is almost impossible to communicate with her (even writing things down was useless due to her poor sight and lack of light), I didn't have a bill to get the number off, so ended up ringing the general number and waiting 25 minutes for an answer.
I explained the plight of my customer, and the operator went away several times to check every response I gave her.
Eventually, they agreed to send a guy round to check the supply. He duly came, found out the voltage between L & N was 12V, grunted, and left.
He didn't say what would be happening next, or when the power would be on.
So I made another lengthy call to insist on further action. Sometime later, another van rolled up, and the guys came and looked. Their conclusion was rthat they could not dig at 8.30 at night (there would be complaints), there wasn't a nearby lamp standard to take a temporary supply off, so they would have to leave it till the morning. I asked why they couldn't take a supply from the lamppost over the road, they said quote "I can't do that, cars go by, and they might knock it down...." I pointed out that even BT had managed successfully to run cables across the street at a level high enough not to be struck by passing vehicles, but to no avail. Impressing on them the need to have a supply for a bit of heat and lighting for a frail 96 year old lady overnight was paramount, they shrugged their shoulders and left. He even told me that they couldn't make an early start as their shift didn't start till 8, then they'd have to go to a far-flung corner of Greater Manchester to pick up supplies and another corner of Greater Manchester (far away from the first, of course)to pick up equipment.......
So I rang the emergency number yet again, to ensure she would at least be first on the list.
"We'll try" was the limp response.
So my last call was to Manchester City Council Social Services. I wanted them to know there was a frail lady spending the night without electricity, so they could summon help for her. Remember, she has no cooking facilities, no lighting, no kettle, no care-phone, no stairlift, no heating. Nothing. Technically, the house is unfit for human habitation.
"The best we can do is to try and see if we can get a night warden round there......"
I would not be surprised if she does not make it through the night.
Angry is not the word. I started off feeling very sad for this customer of mine. Then those feelings gave way to anger. Now I am apoplectic with rage that in 2005 we as a society cannot help this lady in her hour of dire need.
I am feeling very, very sad that I am powerless to do anything for her, except take her in myself.
I GIVE UP.
