General Chat

when i need an ambulance on 22nd dec I rang 999 as usual and was told a paramedic would call me back which he did and was very appologetic after a lot of questions and said as it wasnt life threatening i would need to make my own way to A & E. I put it down to weather as we had all of 1/2 nch of snow.

Talking to someone at school her son in London was also refused an ambulance even though he couldnt walk and told to get friend to take him in.

Is this a new ruling that I havent heard of? Becaue of oung children at home and daughter who saw my accident was so upset she couldnt drive me so had to get her boyfriend to come out and getme and take us up there luckily he was more than willing to help oout but not everyone has that.

Well if it is new I think that is a good thing, 999 as far as I am aware is emergency , and like the man told you it was not life threatning therefore it was not , at least that way an ambulance is available for those that really do need one .

I believe a new system has come in to ensure that ambulances are available for those who actually need one rather than for individuals who could call a taxi, be given a lift by a member of the family or friend etc. Personally I think it's a good thing.

AMy

I fell down the stairs and couldnt move yes not life threatening but without being looked at how did I know I hadnt done more damage to myslef than a foot I still cant walk on almost 3 weeks later. If I had cut myself as I went down I could of had one.

Yes ambulances are for life threatening cases and yes they are used by some for trivial things and I would never begrudge anyone using one,.

Maybe we should provide more and charge for them if its not a genuine case

Esta

didnt now about the new system but then i dont usually ring them and if kids do something and have to take them I drive up there and pay for the parking.

Hopefully I wont ever be in the position that we need one again.

Well everyone has to make their own judgement on how they feel after an accident and call an ambulance if they feel it is necessary. I don't think providing more ambulances would be the answer or charging for them and therefore perhaps assessment by a paramedic on the phone is the middle ground.

Well seems you could move , you managed to get in the car and be taken to hospital , amazing what people can do when they realise no other option .I agree Esta , dont need more ambulances if people only ask for one when it is really required.

You do have such an uncharming and judgmental way of putting things, don't you, Amy? Sad, really.

i havnt heard of that one i usually ring for my husband who suffers with copd breathing problems we must have been lucky we live in watford hospital drs nurses has given us every support now hesbeen told he has lung cancer hes had a hard time with illness the last 15 yrs but without the help outthere it could have been a lot harder

Well, I live alone, don't have a car.
Even if I did, should I drive if I've had an accident/am having a heart /asthma attack?
Do I have enough cash for a taxi?
Not exactly the first thoughts in my mind when I fall down the stairs etc!!
Yes, I could possibly reach the phone. Do I then wait for the bus - every half hour (if you're lucky) , every hour on a Sunday - up until 18:50 every day of the week (don't be really ill after then!!)
That bus takes me 2 miles from the hospital.
God knows when the connecting buses go - even if it's before 19:00.
If the emergency is 3 am (the only time NHS direct has called an ambulance for me) - who can I wake to take me?
Yes. Amy, it's amazing what you can be forced to do, isn't it?
Goodness, I must be such a strain on society - I should really learn to drive - and buy a car I can't afford) so, in an emergency I could drive myself (sod any other person on the road, or pedestrian) to the nearest A &E!!!!
It terrifies me when a colleague from work drives home because they have a migraine!

During the ambulance strike of (I can't remember when) - possibly 1990, my daughter cut her finger with a bread knife.
I called the hospital (not 999), for advice, assured them it wasn't life threatening, but it was a child, and asked what I should do.
They were outside my door within 10 minutes!!

After a fall down the stairs, who knows what hidden problems there might have been, which could have been aggravated by moving the wrong way. An assessment 'on the spot' would be a better thing.

Huia (who has never had to ride in an ambulance). (So far!)

dawn i heard about it a few weeks ago...

question is ..if ambulance men get it wrong.. as they are not doctors where does the blame lye....

hope you are feeling better dawn

jgee xx

I see Amy has spread her usual belligerent brand of charm to here on the General Board. This is usually reserved for the Chat board, but perhaps nobody was posting anything last night that she could attack.
Personally speaking Dawn, I have never experienced any problem. When I ring 999, which is a regular occurance for myself, they usually send a Paramedic first. Because he/she has to administer Morphine, he/she then has to call an ambulance crew for transport to hospital.
I hope that whenever you need an ambulance, you are able to have one.
Take Care
Julia in Derbyshire

I thought I read somewhere that it was suggested because of the current pressure on ambulances with the flu outbreak. I can see that maybe some people should be able to get themselves to hospital. Unfortunately many hospitals don't have sufficient parking near A&E so presumably next we'll see a spate of people being fined for parking in the wrong place while off loading patients.

I think it all depends on who is doing the over the phone assessment, and what the criteria is for 'life threatening'. If it is to become the norm maybe they should publish instructions in the papers because I haven't seen anything definite. As nobody knew how you'd landed when you fell and you were in no state to make an assessment Dawnie, maybe if you had said 'I don't know' when they asked if it was life threatening then they may have sent one. However, you probably got there more quickly with daughter's boyfriend.

I assume anything with breathing problems, heart pains etc would be classed as life threatening.

well Im glad to see it wasnt me taking Amys comments wrong seeing as havent been on much lately havent seen her other works and for your information Amy I already suffer with health problems including mobility ones hence the phone canbe bought to me whereever I am so I dont mi calls or can contact someone in an emergency. And it took 3 people a while to get me to the car and every inch of the way it was agony even with me taking my usual Morphine (as instructed by paramedic on phone)


Ann we have about 5 parking spots by A&E and the nearet car park is a walk up a hill to A&E.

Our hospital charges for parking and while we were there one of the nurses rang the security people to tell them of a car that was unticketed and that they were seeing to the owns sick child that way the people wouldnt get a ticket.

Dawnie, that is a thoughtful nurse. Reading in the paper our hospital security are very quick to ticket and apeals take ages.

Please ignore Amy, her mission in life is to spread gloom an doom and reply to threads in the most unfriendly was possible it seems.

D/L you are right. I am sure taxi drivers are very wary of ferrying people to hospital, if they helped somebody from their cab and the person put their back out they could possibly sue the taxi driver. That is the sort of world we live in.

On the two occasions when I have had to call 999, both falls ( not mine) the instruction was NOT to move the person, other than to assist breathing,in case of spinal injury.

when I had to call them last year for hubby who had chet pains, pins and needles, trouble breathing they sent paramedic car first thankfully he didnt have to go to hospital but they were very thorough.

Huia have only had one trip in ambulance and thats when eldest was 7 and fell out of bed and broke both bones in her arm hopefully that is one and only time.

RR thankfully spine ok only major injury to ankle and foot plus bruises elsewhere , am getting very good at going up and down stairs on hands and knees or backside lol (and I didnt break the bottle of wine I was carrying whenI fell thats a point what did happen to that bottle)

Ann when Nath had flu before christmas on day 6 of him not moving out of bed I rang Dr and he said then if he gets to point of wheezing and having trouble breathing take him to A & E so expect there were a lot of people that called for ambulances as its worrying to see someone that ill.