Mind the Gap
Oct. 26th, 2004 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lostcarparkA word of warning: be careful on the steps at Marble Arch tube station.
Whoever thought that putting smooth tiles on the steps would be a good idea deserves a special award for bad design. In good weather they may be okay, but as soon as it's a little bit wet, they become trecherous.
It was Wednesday, and we'd just got off our tour bus. We were descending into the station. My foot slipped on a wet tile, and I went sliding down the stairs landing rather hard on my bum.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
madangie said she'd never heard me curse as much, so it must have hurt.
After a few minutes, I felt okay, so we walked on into the station. We got about a hundred yards when I felt dizzy. I tried to make it to somewhere to sit down, but suddenly my feet wouldn't hold me up any more and I went down "like a sack of potatoes" as Angie so elegantly put it.
London Underground staff were quick on the scene, and a staff member who seemed to have some first aid training wouldn't let me move until the ambulance arrived. She also explained that while I didn't have to go to hospital, if I had any cause to claim in the future, not getting checked out now might compromise such a claim. A bit inconvenient as I was in the middle of the corridor and people were practically having to step over me. The floor was also rather cold and uncomfortable.
Eventually the ambulance crew arrived, and after lots of questions determined that I probably hadn't broken my back, and that it was safe for me to stand up. I was taken to the ambulance where they checked things like blood pressure. They said that I seemed to be fine, but suggested it would be safest to get checked out in hospital, as did Angie.
So off we went. After fighting our way through London trafic (if an Anbulance can't get through it, what hope have the rest of us?), we found ourselves in the hospital. After a short wait, I got seen by a nurse, who did most of the same tests as the ambulance, as well as pricking my finger to check blood sugar.
Another wait, and I eventually got seen by a doctor, who told me pretty much what I knew all along. The shock of the initial fall had caused the dizzyness and the collapse, and that I seemed to be fine now. He said I was fine to go, but if I felt dizzy again to come back again.
Apart from a rather sore bum, and a very colourful bruise, I seem to be fine. After almost a week the bruise has started to fade, but it still can be painful if I lie on it the wrong way.
I think London Underground need to look at the design of the station. Smooth tiles on an outdoor stairs seems an insane design. I was reasonably lucky not to be more seriously hurt, but if an elderly person were to slip in the same place, they wouldn't stand a chance.
Whoever thought that putting smooth tiles on the steps would be a good idea deserves a special award for bad design. In good weather they may be okay, but as soon as it's a little bit wet, they become trecherous.
It was Wednesday, and we'd just got off our tour bus. We were descending into the station. My foot slipped on a wet tile, and I went sliding down the stairs landing rather hard on my bum.
madangie said she'd never heard me curse as much, so it must have hurt.After a few minutes, I felt okay, so we walked on into the station. We got about a hundred yards when I felt dizzy. I tried to make it to somewhere to sit down, but suddenly my feet wouldn't hold me up any more and I went down "like a sack of potatoes" as Angie so elegantly put it.
London Underground staff were quick on the scene, and a staff member who seemed to have some first aid training wouldn't let me move until the ambulance arrived. She also explained that while I didn't have to go to hospital, if I had any cause to claim in the future, not getting checked out now might compromise such a claim. A bit inconvenient as I was in the middle of the corridor and people were practically having to step over me. The floor was also rather cold and uncomfortable.
Eventually the ambulance crew arrived, and after lots of questions determined that I probably hadn't broken my back, and that it was safe for me to stand up. I was taken to the ambulance where they checked things like blood pressure. They said that I seemed to be fine, but suggested it would be safest to get checked out in hospital, as did Angie.
So off we went. After fighting our way through London trafic (if an Anbulance can't get through it, what hope have the rest of us?), we found ourselves in the hospital. After a short wait, I got seen by a nurse, who did most of the same tests as the ambulance, as well as pricking my finger to check blood sugar.
Another wait, and I eventually got seen by a doctor, who told me pretty much what I knew all along. The shock of the initial fall had caused the dizzyness and the collapse, and that I seemed to be fine now. He said I was fine to go, but if I felt dizzy again to come back again.
Apart from a rather sore bum, and a very colourful bruise, I seem to be fine. After almost a week the bruise has started to fade, but it still can be painful if I lie on it the wrong way.
I think London Underground need to look at the design of the station. Smooth tiles on an outdoor stairs seems an insane design. I was reasonably lucky not to be more seriously hurt, but if an elderly person were to slip in the same place, they wouldn't stand a chance.
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no subject
Date: 2004-10-26 11:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 01:14 am (UTC)I shall check out these steps myself.
sounds terrible
CLAIM
no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 07:23 am (UTC)Via your lawyer.
no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 08:09 am (UTC)Why not try one of those 'ever been in an accident that wasn't your fault? No win no fee' companies?
no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 08:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 08:41 am (UTC)And another vote for ticking off the "bad design" people from me.
Crazy(will also be minding the gap more carefully!)Soph
no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 08:58 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 09:50 am (UTC)The only way something will be done about that step is if you do sue over it. Plus you might get a few grand out of it. Win-win situation. Listen to TalkSport, they're bound to have an ad for one of the "no win, no fee" lot within 5 minutes of you tuning in. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-10-27 10:05 am (UTC)*STOOPID* fucking design of the steps, as well. What do these people think of??? Shouldn't adapting to the weather being something to learn in architecture class? Who the hell passed the design?