This blog reflects my personal experiences and opinions and does not represent or reflect those of DierenAmbulance Nederrijn.
The Hand that Co-ordinates the Cradle
I’m feeling increasingly more at home with the animal ambulance recently, more so since I stopped working at the wildlife rescue centre in February. There’s a greater sense of teamwork because we work together as a unit, and even though some people have some idiosyncrasies that some people might have a problem with, there’s enough fluidity to overcome it. So when I arrived on-site I wasn’t surprised when the co-ordinator asked me how my hand was doing. I don’t think this was from an administrative thing standpoint (although I did need to fill in an accident form! 😉 ) but rather from one of general concern and care. Nice!
She went back to a couple of actual administrative things (that’s her job! 😉 ) then she was ready to give me a tour of the new ambulance.
A tour of the new ambulance from the co-ordinator 😉
The new ambulance has all kinds of new bells and whistles (read: warning alarms and flashing lights) but more importantly for me as a co-driver, a new layout inside with the equipment version of all kinds of new bells and whistles!
This slightly larger ambulance is effectively designed like a tiny house where space is used not just efficiently but also with a practical mindset, for example, a drop-down table where there’s not only space for 2 people to read the chip of a cat, but it’s easy to clean too. Thanks again to the co-ordinator for keeping an eye on the design for this! 🙂
Of course, this only works if the space and cupboards are used for what they’re supposed to be used for, hence all volunteers get this tour to make sure we all know what’s what, what goes where and how it gets there with various sequences of pulling levers, clips, bolts, pins and other kids of gadgets monkeys often use to get peanuts out of a glass jar.
All the drivers need to take instruction / a test to make sure they can drive the vehicle which is 50 cm longer than the previous ambulance. Having driven long vehicles before, I can’t imagine this extra length makes much difference (a feeling also confirmed by another driver who drives HGVs) but given that an old ambulance was dinged just a couple of weeks ago – and to time jump a little – how much I crapped myself as a passenger today with some dodgy maneuvers, I’m glad of any further training they get to have!
Time Ticks with a 3rd Wheel
Even though last week I finished late (and wounded), I knew in advance that today was going to be a long shift. My regular driver who I get on well with couldn’t make it so someone else stepped in. As we don’t have that same good click time goes slower. And like last week, we were going to have a 2nd co-driver. I like the idea of this because it means I can talk about what I like doing with the animal ambulance – and sometimes why – but it also makes it a busy time for me. And after my cat bite incident last week where I didn’t show things to my padowan, I was very keen to show him a lot of stuff!
Shift Start
I had half an hour to kill before my shift started – although this includes the 15 minutes coming early time the centralist last week digged me for. The driver, co-driver, 3rd wheel and centralist chatted around the table. And as for what was on top of the table – the March 2026 Edition #48 Animal Ambulance Magazine!
I took a copy for myself, and also a couple for my neighbours – they provided a picture of their dog for one of my articles. I made a mental note to let the winners of the photo competition know the issue is out and hopefully I’ll be allowed to drop a copy to each of them in the post. That said, animal ambulance sponsors and donors get a free copy of the magazine. Tens, if not hundreds, of the magazines are arranged in piles on the table according to district so that volunteers can drop them off personally. Perhaps the winners can get their copy this way too; I’ll need to check.
My 3rd wheel rolled in (haha). Actually I shouldn’t call him a “3rd wheel” because the idea is that he becomes an active part of the team and not someone who’s in the way. I told him about my experience last week and why I wanted to show him everything and how it all worked, but he let me know he wanted to take it slow and easy. Of course I need to respect that, but made (another) mental note that if push came to shove (especially with cats!) then I’d either work with the experienced driver, or show my padowan (let’s call him Paddy) how things work before we get into a dangerous situation.
It didn’t surprise me (for reasons I’m not going to whinge about again) there were a lot of non-animal jobs to do; pick up clothing, pick up a clicko and drop off some magazines(!). No real rush to start, but then a real rescue came in!
Swan seen with blood
A swan had been spotted swimming onder het bloed (“under blood”) which I could only assume meant he had blood on him. We checked the ambulance had a “swan bag” – a sheet of thick PVC shaped so it wraps around a swan keeping his wings close and his neck free, and allows us to pick him up and bring him to a rescue centre.
This process took a long time; the padowan from the previous shift listened in to the driver who explained how the swan bag worked to Paddy. Incidentally, I listened in too because I also didn’t know! I chipped in that a simple towel was recommended by the expert on the course for securely transporting sick and injured animals but was told “Yes, you can dry the swan with a towel.” No click 🙁 , but we’re a team and I let her get on with it. I was curious how she was going to manipulate a swan into that cold thing…
Explanation over and swan still suffering in his blood, Paddy and I climbed into the ambulance – but the driver didn’t follow. Previous padawan was asking questions about other pieces of equipment in the ambulance. In some ways I applauded him for this; certainly in my own experience as a padowan I found many people didn’t offer information and I needed to ask for it which is what he was doing now. But on the other hand, we needed to get going and rescue our poor swan! Now isn’t the time for questions!
We eventually got underway. We had a road name but no house number or landmark to pinpoint the swan’s location. To make matters interesting, a good third – the middle third – of the road was actually a cycle lane with no access for vehicles. We had no choice but to park up at one end, and scour the entire area for the swan.
The area was huge – and beautiful! Lots of water (obviously) with reeds and footpaths. We were going to be here some time! The 3 of us split up, Paddy walking clockwise around the water body, and the driver and I anti-clockwise. We had the swan bag with us, and also a metal pole with a hook on the end, much like a shepherd’s crook. I looked like Sinterklaas as I trunched along with this thing!
Two men dressed in green and welly boots approached us as we reached one corner. They were the managers of the area (I guess like rangers?). I wasn’t able to follow whether they’d also had a report of the injured swan, but in any case they were more than happy to help us. They’d already been in one area and hadn’t seen any swans.
I suggested we call the finder directly for a more accurate location, but it went to voicemail. One of the rangers left and the other suggested we try looking right over at the far end of the water body. But getting there meant a huge roundabout trip to get past the cycle lane. No worries; he’d lead the way.
We swapped phone numbers when we got there; we called him so he’d have ours except it registered as private. So he called us so we had his, then took a photo of the side of the ambulance so he had ours. (This may register as mundane and uninteresting, but hang in there…I’ll circle back to this!)
And we circled the water body again. Even when the hail stopped and the sun came out again, it didn’t go well. We spotted a white bird in the distance. Could this (finally) be our swan? Nope; it turned out to be a stork. But maybe the finder mistook the stork for a swan? As we approached, the stork flew away. This healthy bird wasn’t what we were looking for!
A little later we saw another white bird. As we got closer we were dismayed to find it was a white flag on a fence post! The situation was much like catching a rainbow; the closer you get the further away it is!
Exasperated we called the finder again. This time the phone went straight to voicemail. I wondered whether the finder ignored / blocked us each time we called because we appear on other phones as a private number. (And now the circle is complete!)
It was no use. We’d been searching for over an hour. Sadly we gave up on the swan 🙁
Pigeon attacked by magpie
Another rescue appeared on our list; a baby pigeon had been attacked by a magpie. It was possibly a nestling that couldn’t fly yet, but in any case she’d lost the fight and the finder had brought her home.
I was showing Paddy how to complete the rescue shelter form when the co-rdinator called me on my personal phone. She couldn’t get hold of us on the ambulance phone as it redirects to the centralist! (So she told me; now I”m wondering how the ranger managed to call us…) Her query: had we seen there was a rescue for a pigeon attacked by a magpie? Argh! I’d forgotten to “start the rescue” in the on-line admin so she had no idea what we were up to!
Anyway, yes we had, and yes we were on our way. But not for long; the centralist called to let us know we should cancel the rescue. The pigeon had moved from the finder’s back garden into the back garden of a neighbour who was out. There was no way to reach him 🙁
