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47
SUFFOCATION
Is chiefly the tragedy of small children and
babies. (Choking over food resulted in more
than half the fatalities in 1969, among the
under-fives).
Why Safety is your Best Bargain
No one deliberately sets out to shop for danger. Yet how
many people, in every other way responsible and careful in
conducting their affairs, stop to consider safety before they buy?
Every year around 8,500 people in Great Britain die as a
result of accidents in the home and it is estimated that for every
death, there are probably at least 200 non-fatal injuries of varying
degrees of severity. Accidents don't just happen. They are
caused, by human carelessness or ignorance, by a fault in one of
the host of mechanical devices which surround us, or by a
combination of both of these factors.
. A good many of the burns and scalds, falls, cuts and bruises
which contribute to the appalling home accident casualty figures
can be traced to some ordinary household article of everyday use
—a kettle without a heat resistant handle, a badly balanced stepladder,
a rug without non-slip backing to prevent it slithering on
a highly polished floor, a tin opener that leaves jagged edges on
tins, an electric blanket with a faulty fitting. A good deal of pain
and suffering could have been avoided if someone had only said
"But is it safe," before buying.
LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE
The Ambulance Service for the whole of Greater London is
provided by the G.L.C. Ambulance stations within the Borough
are sited in Crown Lane, Bromley, and Croydon Road, Penge,
but service is provided in addition from other stations sited outside
of the Borough. There is a main Control in Bromley which
covers the whole of South-East London for non-emergency work.
All emergency calls are routed directly to a Central Ambulance
Control at Ambulance Headquarters which directs ambulances by
radio and by direct telephone lines to ambulance stations.