Morning has broken - and it broke without warning whilst I was standing outside waiting for an ambulance. Last night (and this morning) I was on duty as a St. John Ambulance first aider on my university campus during the event known as "The End" - the night after all exams have finished.

Thus we started on duty for 10pm, having been there earlier for briefings etc., and almost immediately started receiving casualties of the type that were to be by far the most common over the night - cuts, specifically to the feet. Most of these were caused in girls who were wearing, of all things, sandals and flip-flops on a night known for the amounts of broken glass that litters the ground of the "squares" in the university. Idiots.

Another common cause of patients was sheer drunkenness, usually accompanied by vomiting and other leaking of bodily fluids. Lovely, indeed. For the vast majority of these there was little we could do except wait with them until they sobered up enough to go home alone, or friends willing to look after them were found.

And this continued all night, with injuries of various degrees of seriousness, 26 over the night, six of which went to hospital by ambulance, plus several others who were advised to make their own way. With the eleven first aiders we had on duty, we just about had enough - there were, however, situations when a couple extra would have been useful. This can be contrasted with the six first aiders which the Students Union Ents team had originally only wanted us to provide (because they would have to pay for them) but eventually a compromise of nine had been arrived at - still below what we provided and which would not have been enough for the number of injuries we received, especially considering the cupboard-sized first aid room we are given to use [literally, it fits one stretcher and two chairs in it. And that is all.].

Eventually we finished at around 3.30am, having finally got to a stage where we could finish. But the night was not over yet - for as a few of us made our way off campus, we were called to yet another patient. This man had quite obviously been taking a lot of drugs, although he absolutely refused to admit it - it was obvious through his mannerisms, huge pupils, and constant teeth-grinding. But there was nothing that we could do for him, although he was eventually sent off in an ambulance, that was more due to there being no way that he could get home than due to any real medical need.

One of the most annoying things about being on duty surrounded by drunks is that there is always at least one or two who approach offering "help" with providing first aid cover, citing a course taken in school or Scouts and the like several years previously. Like the idiot today who approached a drunk we were dealing with - despite there being three of us standing around her in bright green jumpsuits and hi-vis jackets. People like that annoy me.

Eventually I got home, at around 5am or so after a very long day - and whilst we had been treating our extra patient, the sun had dawned and night had turned into day. So instead of going to bed when I got home, I had a bath to remove the almost-certainly lingering smell of vomit, shit, dried blood, sweat, and stale beer. And now I feel much, much better. Though tired - but I can't go to bed because I'll sleep the entire day away!

Morning has thus broken - even though I haven't actually got to bed.