Wibu to get an ambulance ?

If the OP truly cannot weight bear, I’m curious about how all those who are recommending getting a taxi to A&E think she is going to get from her property into the taxi, and from the taxi into the waiting room?

Fall (with twisting involved) + swelling + unable to weight bear is absolutely appropriate for an ambulance if there is no one else available who could assist her into a taxi.

Sorry you had to wait so long. I think it was around 20 mins but I was delirious with pain so could have been slightly longer but not much. I was in hospital for a month, so clearly needed that ambulance!

It was actually both 999 and the actual ambulance service. I phoned the ambulance service twice during the 7 hours that I was made to wait telling them I would get a taxi, and I was told three times (initially and on the two subsequent occasions) that I was to sit and wait for the ambulance and minimise movement, I was to eat nothing, I was to drink as little as possible (sips only when I must) and to keep the hand elevated.

To add insult to injury, after arriving at A&E at 5:30pm with a severed finger, disabled, alone and having already waited seven hours for the ambulance I was stuck in a wheelchair in a corner and not spoken to by anyone until 9:30pm when I had a severe PTSD meltdown. That led to a nurse finally getting a doctor who looked at my hand and shouted at me for having "left it so long without treatment". That was the point at which I snapped and my reply was calm, not shouted, but also not pretty. I have lost the use of my finger, and it has been assessed as a result of inadequate treatment (they then added only doing surgery on it 10 days later when all the medical advice is within 24 hours) and have admitted liability to my solicitors.

No way! Get a bloody taxi.

You can suffer a cardiac arrest from a broken leg ...so its important to leg qualified people assess injury and immobilise broken limbs for transport

You can suffer a cardiac arrest from a broken leg ...so its important to let qualified people assess injury and immobilise broken limbs for transport

Same but waited on the ground for 3.5hrs, was in hospital 4 months ...the idea of a taxi for that is ludicrous. Fractured tibia plateau (leg) lots of wannabe medics on here offering uniformed advice

Is wasting ambulances really a thing? When I have watched the various programs about the emergency services, people are told by dispatchers that an ambulance will not be sent to them.
And sometimes paramedics can treat someone and not end up taking them to A&E. Has happened to me a few times. One time, they treated me, but said I had to make my own way to A&E. So I don't understand how anyone is getting a ride in an ambulance that they don't need.

You are not bleeding, not at risk of death... why do you need paramedics to take you? It's madness like this that caused a wait for an ambo took 2 hrs to get to us for a month old ds as no vehicles available as all in queue...

I’m not wrong thanks. I work for the NHS in radiology so no, I don’t need to look at any ‘campaigns’!

Same here, no minor injuries so anything not treated by a GP or a pharmacy goes to A&E.

They don't have minor injuries everywhere and they have limited hours, it can take days or weeks to get a GP, bot sure what pharmacy can do in many cases. Obviously if it is treatable at home with an ice pack, but there are symptoms that are good to check out.

Not everywhere has minor injuries. Where i live broken bones go through a&e

We don’t have a minor injuries that is 24 hrs. It is open three days a week.

How do you know the extent of the OP’s injury? Look at you trying to prevent someone by your words from seeking medical care. Let the medics at the A&E do their jobs in accessing the injury.

It's helpful to regard the need for an ambulance and access to A&E as two separate things. You don't have to be brought in by paramedics, on a trolley and festooned with tubes and wires to need A&E. I fell at home and broke my elbow not long before the first lockdown. I rang 111, who said A&E would want to see me as they have access to x-ray etc after hours, and to get a taxi in - no problem as we are about 5 minutes drive away. 111 gave me an appointment with Urgent Care, which allowed me the time to book a taxi, have a wash and tidy-up and make sure I had plenty of charge on my phone before going up to the hospital.

There would have been no point in waiting to see the GP as the surgery doesn't have an x-ray machine and would have only sent me to A&E or Urgent Care. But an ambulance would have been vastly OTT and I'd have had a very long wait.

Wrong!!!! Thry only want life threatening emergencies, threats to life and limb. Anything else should go to:
Minor Injuries
GP
Pharmacy
Treat at home

Look at the NHS info campaigns.

@MissPobjoysPonies WTAF!

That's presuming she has a minor injury unit. Our nearest one closed years ago.

Minor injuries unit, not A&E.
Taxi not ambulance.

Get a taxi. Ask the taxi driver if they can get crutches or a wheelchair for you. They might be able to help you.

Don’t be so stupid. A&E isn’t just for ‘risk to life’ treatment. Accident & Emergency, BIG clue here! The OP has had an accident, she’s perfectly reasonable to call a taxi and go to A&E for her injury to be assessed and x-rayed, as an emergency.

I know i had a cardiac arrest in one once. Which is why im big on dont waste ambulances as others can die because of it

Blimey. When I fell and broke my leg, I very much knew it was broken (apart from the fact I was lying on my back where I’d fallen, my foot was pointing backwards). There’s no way I could have made it to a taxi or indeed the front door. Doubt a taxi would have taken me either. I was alone too - no one to drive me.

999 sent me an ambulance almost immediately. Think I waited 20 mins tops.

It's A&E the A literally stands for accident. She's had an accident and cannot bear weight. She probably needs an x-ray and therefore she needs to be in a hospital.