General Chat

Tess, I imagine that if you said there was no way you could get to hospital they would send an ambulance. However, if you said it was not life threatening you might have to wait a bit longer. So if you don't know if it is life threatening, and mostly we have some sort of idea, say so. I think people on these boards are intelligent enough not to call an ambulance for a trivial reason.

I sympathise Dawnie, it must have been very upsetting for all the family.

I know that some people abuse the system (as Kempin athermalhat has said) I just wish that the abusers could be charged with something and fined.

I have not called an ambulence myself, but the police called one after I had been mugged (they didn't like the look of the big lump on my head).
Twice when my son was little and in a very bad way with asthma in the middle of the night, I called the emergency number for my G.P (You could do that in the 1970's) Both times after seeing my son, the Dr phoned an ambulance and my son was admitted to hospita;

I find it strange that non-medical people can be asked to make a medical judgement. especially after something like a fall or a bang on the head.

I hope that no-one will suffer badly because of this "new way" of doing things.

I don't know how I would get myself to hospital if this had happened to me. A very scary thought.

Tess

Some interesting comments and points of view coming out on this subject. I have used an taxi to take one of my children to hospital with a broken arm. I was dropped directly outside the A&E department and no parking problems. Frank 06 - no taxi driver is going to risk moving you or be expected to heave you down the stairs it's all about applying your own common sense.

Everyone just needs to make their own assesment and really needs to think whether calling an ambulance is more for convenience or a bit of a panicked reaction at the time rather than an absolute emergency.

I,ve read some of your comments ..and agree with a lot of what you are saying .....

A close family friend is a paramedic and has been called to so much C**P its unreal
One person called coz they had an appointment coz they had tooth ache and couldnt park their car very easily at the hospital !!!!
one called coz their child had sickness and was dizzy this had gone on for half an hour!!!!

when will it stop when will people realise ITS FOR EMERGENCYS....
My hubby had a heart attack last May and from footie pitch to operating theatre it was less than 20 mins ...lucky us if it hadnt been that quick he would be dead!!!

So when do we call and ambulance .....theres a good question ...???

Paramedics are often better informed than doctors as I,ve seen doctors remove non return valves on hickman lines but the paramedic knew how to use it !!!!!

The times I have to take Sasha to hospital ( Which is very often ) its quicker for me to take her in the car,( We,re about 9miles away ) by the time an ambulance has got here She,s in A&E. **M**. Oh and Amy. I told you once what to do with your Stupid Comments.So I repeat it.incase you didnt understand. "Go Forth And Multiply" **M**.

Dawnie, I expect someone drank it to get over the shock lol

but seriously it IS a shock both for the injured and those who are around at the time.

It's a hard call for the paramedics to judge who needs an ambulance and who can make it under their own steam, and also depends on age and history...a fall for a healthy person may be minor , the same fall for a person with osteoporosis for example may be a different matter altogether.

There is some useful info on this site as to when you should call an ambulance

http://www.ehow.com/how_2173045_call-ambulance.html

Dawnie - hope you are getting better. However I would say you probably had a more comfortable ride in the car than the ambulance. Only ride I had was 18 mths ago when gp sent me off in one from surgery. In spite of being in a lot of pain all I was aware of - was of every pothole and bump on the way! Had assumed ambulances were well sprung before for patient comfort! As others have said - ignore Miss Sweetness and Light.

that's right rose ..they do say don't move them..

dawn we know you don't abuse the system... and you are disabled .. with your health i would have told them.. amy makes comments and doesnt who suffers what..

i do agree some peeps ring for a ambulance for a minor cut..but how can a ambulance man judge over the phone..

jgee

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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!)

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!!

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!