I have been riding a desk at work for the last five weeks through no fault of my own.
My bi-annual physical competency test (PCT), what I refer to as the run, jump, climb and crawl, expired on the 15th July. I had intended to resit it in April, plenty of time before expiry, however the covid lockdown saw all mandated qualification expirys suspended for what was supposed to be six months from lockdown commencement (March 25th).
When the lockdown finished in late May qualifications started up again, but insead of the extensions until September, suddenly there was a rush on to get everyone who had already expired recertified and those about to expire retested.
My brother was able to get a PCT booking for mid June, however I was recovering from a back sprain and decided to wait until July 2nd. Ten days before the test date I went to the doctor to get my medical clearrance (my age, weight and some minor medical issues mean the dpeartement insist on a medical clearance before I attempt the test).
I have a new doctor (since January this year) who is from Europe. He could not really grasp what I was requiring and his first question was when did I last have a treadmill test. I laughed and told him I exercised on my treadmill three times a week and my maximum heart rate was well above what was considered maximum. But no, he wanted results from a cardiologist supervised treadmill test. He said if he gave me clearance and I sufferred a heart attack during the test his license would be in jeopardy.
This was going to take three months through the public system (warning for universal medical care enthusiasts) but two weeks privately. I have medical insurance so said I'd go private.
The next day I rang the cardiologist (two hours away) to be told that when they recieved the referal I would have to wait until early August for an appointment. When I called back a week later I was told they had the referral and they could see me on July 27th. This would/should fit in nicely with an additional test date scheduled for August 6th.
The treadmill test went well. The cardiologist noting no heart issues and that my blood presure did not spike as much as expected. He promised to get the results to my doctor within two days. When I telephoned my doctor two days later for an appointment in the three days before the PCT date, I was told sorry, no appointments available all that week. Earliest they had available was 10th August, four days after the PCT date (which was an additional one scheduled to catch up post covid lockdown).
Luckily the originally scheuled PCT test date was 20th August, so on Thursday I made my way to the venue. For once I slept well the night before, no overthinking the test. Walking into the basketball arena where the course is set up I realised I was missing the usual "butterflies in the stomach" I usually experience and was feeling quite relaxed.
There were few people present. One of my colleaugues had just run the course and was lying down on a bench recovering. A second was just getting ready to start.
Changing clothes I filled in the paperwork and decided to start cold, no warmup, just the way a foot chase commences in real life.
I am no jackrabbit who runs for time. I know my capabilities and aim to finish the course about 10 senconds ahead of my required time, which is gender and aged based. Just over three minutes later I had finished, 16 seconds ahead of my required time and four seconds faster than when I last sat the course in May 2018.
There was one hiccup, I had been slightly short on the long jump which the instructor overlooked (I'll have to work on that over the next 18 months or so). In the meantime I spent Friday tidying up paperwork wearing uniform for the first time in over a month. Right now I have a four day weekend and back on patrol again Wednesday morning.
My bi-annual physical competency test (PCT), what I refer to as the run, jump, climb and crawl, expired on the 15th July. I had intended to resit it in April, plenty of time before expiry, however the covid lockdown saw all mandated qualification expirys suspended for what was supposed to be six months from lockdown commencement (March 25th).
When the lockdown finished in late May qualifications started up again, but insead of the extensions until September, suddenly there was a rush on to get everyone who had already expired recertified and those about to expire retested.
My brother was able to get a PCT booking for mid June, however I was recovering from a back sprain and decided to wait until July 2nd. Ten days before the test date I went to the doctor to get my medical clearrance (my age, weight and some minor medical issues mean the dpeartement insist on a medical clearance before I attempt the test).
I have a new doctor (since January this year) who is from Europe. He could not really grasp what I was requiring and his first question was when did I last have a treadmill test. I laughed and told him I exercised on my treadmill three times a week and my maximum heart rate was well above what was considered maximum. But no, he wanted results from a cardiologist supervised treadmill test. He said if he gave me clearance and I sufferred a heart attack during the test his license would be in jeopardy.
This was going to take three months through the public system (warning for universal medical care enthusiasts) but two weeks privately. I have medical insurance so said I'd go private.
The next day I rang the cardiologist (two hours away) to be told that when they recieved the referal I would have to wait until early August for an appointment. When I called back a week later I was told they had the referral and they could see me on July 27th. This would/should fit in nicely with an additional test date scheduled for August 6th.
The treadmill test went well. The cardiologist noting no heart issues and that my blood presure did not spike as much as expected. He promised to get the results to my doctor within two days. When I telephoned my doctor two days later for an appointment in the three days before the PCT date, I was told sorry, no appointments available all that week. Earliest they had available was 10th August, four days after the PCT date (which was an additional one scheduled to catch up post covid lockdown).
Luckily the originally scheuled PCT test date was 20th August, so on Thursday I made my way to the venue. For once I slept well the night before, no overthinking the test. Walking into the basketball arena where the course is set up I realised I was missing the usual "butterflies in the stomach" I usually experience and was feeling quite relaxed.
There were few people present. One of my colleaugues had just run the course and was lying down on a bench recovering. A second was just getting ready to start.
Changing clothes I filled in the paperwork and decided to start cold, no warmup, just the way a foot chase commences in real life.
I am no jackrabbit who runs for time. I know my capabilities and aim to finish the course about 10 senconds ahead of my required time, which is gender and aged based. Just over three minutes later I had finished, 16 seconds ahead of my required time and four seconds faster than when I last sat the course in May 2018.
There was one hiccup, I had been slightly short on the long jump which the instructor overlooked (I'll have to work on that over the next 18 months or so). In the meantime I spent Friday tidying up paperwork wearing uniform for the first time in over a month. Right now I have a four day weekend and back on patrol again Wednesday morning.
