HarperElement
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First published by HarperElement 2015
FIRST EDITION
© Joan Hart and Veronica Clark 2015
Cover layout design © HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd 2015
Cover photographs © Photograph of author supplied by author (Nurse); Selwyn Tait/Sygma/Corbis (background)
Joan Hart and Veronika Clark assert the moral right
to be identified as the authors of this work
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Source ISBN: 9780007596164
Ebook Edition © July 2015 ISBN: 9780007596171
Version: 2015-06-22
For my husband, Peter
Contents
11. Practical Jokers and Perfume
13. Medical Emergencies and Marriage Guidance
14. Chewing Tobacco and Cursing in Casualty
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Dropping the telephone receiver back down into its cradle, I jumped to my feet and closed the door. My pale blue overall was still grubby with coal dust from my pit inspection the day before. I was a nurse on call, in charge of thousands of miners, and right now one of them needed me. I clamped the palm of my hand against my hard hat and ran along the pathway towards the lamp cabin. With my metal checks jangling inside my pocket, I grabbed my lamp, battery pack and self-rescuer canister, and clipped them onto the side of my belt. It was still early and grey clouds swirled overhead. The air was thick with industrial noise and the threat of immediate rain. My pit boots picked up pace as I dashed from the lamp cabin towards the shaft side where the doctor was