I was on night shift last night, and I happened to run into the ambulance service call handler who took my 999 call on that horrible night. It was funny because I hadn't had the opportunity to speak to her since that night, it's just one of those things with shift workers. However, we had a wee chat amongst the general banter that was going on, and shared some of that famous "Gallows humour" that we all have, that gets us through the horrendous things and helps us tolerate the abuses of the NHS that so many people are guilty of. She was very nice, and I saw she was getting a bit emotional, so I changed the subject very quickly and we moved on. We sometimes forget that it's different when you're at the other end of the phone. Although tragedy often occurs, you can be a bit detached by the distance between you (both physical and emotional), and it helps keep you doing the job you're doing, and without it we'd all either be emotional wrecks or off sick all the time. But when it's someone you know and can't avoid meeting, what do you do? You talk to each other and if you're emotional, it's fine. We understand that, when all's said and done we are only human. Thanks for trying!