AMA ambulance emergency call taker

[iusedtohavechickens]

I work as an emergency call taker, any questions?

Thank you @Peacheroo. I still carry so much guilt for it, I think about her often. I really hope she wasn’t too badly impacted. It was obvious DH had already passed, on reflection, so I imagine she knew it wasn’t going to be a good outcome.

Thank you @iusedtohavechickens, I do know the date. Who would I contact in the first instance? Does each area have a local hub or something?

@whatwhhat is that a thing? I love that, I've never heard it before. A really lovely call handler talked us through delivering our baby at home on the bathroom floor last year! The paramedics arrived a few minutes after he was born, I love to think that she hung up and was like, "I got a baby! Add him to the list!" 😂

Did you get instructed to limit access to NHS services by applying a higher clinical threshold to assessments during the early months of covid? I know a few people who were told they weren't ill enough to get treated during this time, one of whom died as a result. From their/family members' accounts of conversations with HCPs it appears that they were asked about and confirmed difficulty breathing/blue lips but were told to stay at home.

I rang 999 last December when my Dad had a fall - he was dying from liver cancer. The call handler was so apologetic she didn't have anyone to send, and I was sobbing at her as I just didn't know how on earth to move him as he'd been sick and was yelling in pain. I rang family to help move him, and Dad's phone then rang with a call centre manager who was so apologetic and talked me through moving Dad slowly and safely (I'm a trained HCP but it all went out the window in panic). He was phoning from Wales (we're in Gloucestershire but he was taking calls as the area had declared emergency status or something), and I'll never forget his kindness - he rang me 3 times that evening to check Dad was still OK (and me). His gentle welsh accent was of such a comfort that cold dark scary night.

You're doing a really worthy job OP and I take my hat off to you for being able to do it.... I know I couldn't.

There's a good BBC programme called Ambulance which follows both paramedics and the call centre staff through various shifts so you see both sides of the same medical emergency.

OP have you ever had a new colleague who was realistically not up to the job at all? What was the problem and what happened?

Wow, that’s truly shocking that you’d estimate that only 10% of calls are actual life threatening emergencies. I thought it would be perhaps 30-40%, not THAT low.

@bogoblin I wasn't either when I gave birth but I saw it on the program ambulance, then my friends son was training to be a paramedic and he said it was true (and so did Google 😅). I'm just not sure if they have to be on the call for the birth to receive it so my call handler would have just missed out.

The paramedics that attended asked if they could radio the control room to say I had a healthy boy and apparently my husband heard a cheer (although he was buzzing on adrenaline so that could be an exaggeration 😂

You do an amazing job OP.

It's something I've often thought I'd like to do but not sure I could handle it. I think I'd spend too much time after each shift overthinking and wondering about outcomes.

This is what we do our job for, we want to help people. Even if you don't want to go to hospital it's always better to be safe than sorry. Never feel guilty for calling us!

It's funny what jobs end up staying with you isn't it! I was sure one of my cpr calls was in vain but amazingly he pulled through, thanks to his friends doing what I told them very quickly and effectively! 🥰

Annoyingly we only get the stork badge if the baby is delivered while we are on the phone. Crews always arrive before and get all the credit! Although as long as both mum and baby are happy and healthy we don't really mind!

What area are you in and I'll try and find out the details for you when I'm in on Wednesday. Private message if your more comfortable x

She would have got her stork badge for your little one! Congratulations xx

I didn't work as a call handler during the pandemic so I'm afraid I don't know the answer to this question.

Do anaphylaxis calls get immediate dispatch?

One of my fears since the ambulance service has been under such high levels of pressure is that I'll die waiting for an ambulance if I eat nuts by mistake.

I always try to go above and beyond and get as much support as I can for the pts especially when I know there are delays. I'm so glad you had a positive experience, usually we only get negative feedback so it's nice when we get positive news back xx

The interview and training process ensures people who are not up to the job don't make it through. I've not heard of anyone not being able to do the job once those are passed. The interview process took 3 months, training was 4 weeks classroom based followed by coaching (anytime between 2-6 weeks) pod coaching (4 weeks) and then sign off by auditors. All call handlers are audited every month. X

@HamBone unfortionatly we get a lot of calls that just aren't emergencies but we are called simply because they have never been told when it is appropriate to call or they cannot get a gp appointment and we are the last resort. I've had people asking for ambulances for blisters in heels, period pains and other minor things that just simply don't require our services. This puts a massive strain on the system as it delays emergency calls getting through to us.
We don't get to choose the calls they automatically connect to our headsets once we are available and we only get 30 seconds from the end of one call to being ready to take the next call.

Oh yes the whole room would have been awaiting the news, brings us a nice warm fuzzy feeling when we get the update 🥰

You have to try and switch off, it is hard and I've often gone home and had a little cry. There are good days and bad days. I had a run of three horrible shifts and was glad when I got my days off. We work 6 days on 4 days off so pretty full on!

That is a cat 1 call so amb is dispatched as soon as the call drops in and heading in the right direction before we even confirm the address!! We will also talk you through taking your epi pen if you haven't already xx

I just popped in to thank you for the work you do. In the worst day of my life, a kind 999 operator kept me calm and helped me save my DH’s life.

Thanks OP. This is hugely reassuring.