When have you gone to A and E and was it the right call?

[TheFrogsLegs]

So many threads on here are about people misusing A and E, which got me thinking.

I am now in my fifties and ended up in a and e as a child with appendicitis, but that was my only visit then.

My own children never had to visit a and e as kids - luck rather than stoicism - but as adults DS was in a bad car crash and another time had Quincy and felt his airway was closing. He got some tuts from the doctor for going to a and e for that one, but I backed his decision - airways closing are an emergency!

DD has been once for a dislocated joint.

I’ve been many times for dislocated joints, almost always in an ambulance as that was deemed the most appropriate way. I have always felt a bit embarassed as I was not ill, just unable to move without extreme pain.

DH has never been to a and e.

So, what about you? Have you been and were you judged by NHS staff over your attendance?

DS (4 at the time) fell off of his scooter, stanrted walking funny so we got sent to a&e, had an X-ray, turns out he had fluid on his knee. I try not to go to the drs or a&e unless absolutley nessasary.

Loads of times. We have brittle bones disease in my family. When we thought we'd broken something the GP used to give is a form that fast tracked us to x-ray, then they stopped it so every time we think we've a broke bone, even a small one, we have to wait for 5 hours in a&e. total waste if their time and mine! It means that we basically hobble around for a few days in case it's not broken to avoid going to a&e

I also went to a&e when I was 8 as a local boy kicked me off the monkey bars and the massive lump in my arm gave us no choice 😂

DS1 has been to A&E once, his breathing was fast and shallow. Turned out he was in heart failure due to two undetected heart defects. We were very lucky.
Two hospital transfers, diagnosis, and major open heart surgery within 24 hours, then a two week stay to recover.

DS2 also once. He had pulled elbow, it was popped back into place by the nurse very quickly and we went home 10 minutes later.

Haven't been to A&E for myself since I was 9, I had fractured my right arm on two separate occasions.

I was sent to A&E in an ambulance (blue lighted ) by the local cottage hospital as it was close to 5pm & they clearly didn’t know what to do with me. I was having a nose bleed which wouldn’t stop after three hours. But it was such a complete waste of time & money.

When I got to A & E there were queues and queues of very seriously ill patients, I felt a complete and utter fraud and was very embarrassed. Understandably I was left waiting for ages & by the time anyone was free to see me the nosebleed had stopped, so I called my DH & he did a 3 hour round trip to collect me.

So in my case, better local facilities would have saved the NHS a considerable amount of money.

I've been twice.
The first time I thought I had an appendicitis- it turned out to be a serious reaction to antibiotics which stripped the lining of my gut so I had symptoms similar to c.difficele (won't go into details here but very nasty). It was the only time I honestly thought I was never going to see my dcs again - in other words I thought I was going to die.
The second time was after five days of having palpitations almost continuously. They were so bad I was immediately taken through to majors. It turned out that it was harmless, but I was very scared all the same. (I was going through a very stressful divorce at the time, and being prone to ectopic beats, it made them much worse than usual for me.)

And yes, absolutely the right thing to do both times. I didn't use an ambulance and was reassured that I had every reason for being there.

I had meningitis as a child so ambulance then. Various fainting episodes as a teenager.. last year my dd accidentally scratched my eyeball and I couldn't open my eye so went to a and e. Nurse said it was worst corneal abrasion she'd seen in a long while.

Dd choked on her vomit at 2 days old so straight to a and e in a blue lighted ambulance. Ds fell out of a high chair when he was a baby and then went to sleep so I panicked thinking he had concussion and rang the ambulance!!

Me twice- one overdose as an angst ridden teen, once with appendicitis. Have been sent up to x-ray twice by gp for broken bones in foot.
Ds 4 times - meningitis, bronchitis, concussion and croup.
Dd 1 time - dropped him when he was a newborn
Dh once as an adult for chest pain but several time as a child/teenager for rugby injuries

Other visits have included

Bronchitis - I was put on oxygen as couldn't get a breath at all, given different medications and was there for 3 days

most recently in Feb, a fall with increasing pain and a bang to the head so was concussed as well

urine retention at one point, I hadn't been since Friday night and it was now Sunday morning, I was trying to hold out until GP surgery opened on Monday - the relief when the catheter went in was fantastic

As a teenager I was a "fainter", a good day was when I only passed out 4/5 times a bad day was many more, no warning to any of them so I ended up falling up and down stairs at school many times, the school had many flights of stairs

An ambulance was called by GP due to very unstable BP several times,

An ambulance from opticians after they consulted with GP, my optic nerve was very inflamed and had to go via a&e to be admitted for intensive antibiotics, steroids, painkillers and then treated for subsequent reaction to same and prescribed something else.

about 20 years ago, I fell drunk off a kerb onto the road in front of a taxi, grazed my face on the number plate which was slightly lower than the bumper, broke my wrist in 2 places

chest pain - turned out it was an adverse reaction to a medication and it causes me to have crushing chest pain, have tried it once since to see if would repeat, it did

I do remember once being taken in for dehydration at age 5 or so . I used to get frequent vomiting due to milk and red meat intolerances , didnt really stop until I was 18 or so . I remember sitting on GP’s knee as he called 999 and then having a cannula in my foot and blood drawn from my heel and ankle . I had to get an xray of some sort that involved being strapped in to something . Parents spent the whole time arguing with each other 🤔 . I’ve no idea how necessary it was but stayed the night on a medical unit apparently .

With dh in an ambulance for chest pain (psychogenic). Stayed overnight for obs.

With tiny ds x2 when dh was panicking. Seen once, left once (telling them first obvs).

Failed to go with dh even though 111 suggested it - chose the other option they suggested involving planned specialist care later that day. He was dead less than 12 hours later.

@SD1978 I agree. However, there are some mindsets I will never understand. The time before last I was in a&e it was for me, I had trouble breathing and chest pain.

After triage when I was waiting to be seen, the waiting time was announced to be, 6, then 7 then 8 hours, at least 6/7 people got up and left, some chattering about seeing their GP in the morning. Why would you do that?

Why also, do triaging staff not have the right to send people home? 'Yes, your toe does look sore, but you can visit your pharmacy tomorrow for that. Off you go.'
Are you not allowed to do that? GPs do it all the time through their triaging system. One girl with a sore throat for 5 days and a guy with a bad thumb were some of the more ridiculous ones. They surely should be kicked out?

@ooItsAoBeautifulDayNow I think it was from one of the epilepsy charities? It’s very old and dog eared now! It has next of kin contact, the medication I am on, the nature of my seizures and my wishes I.e. please don’t take me to hospital! I agree it’s much better to be with your DP/ DH/ family rather than stuck on a hard bed in A&E. They can’t do anything exceptnlet you rest then send you home anyway.

Poor you re locked jaw and vomiting. That must be horrible. I’ve never had rhatvand have thankfully only lost control of my bladder during nocturnal seizures.

I have had one at work which was mortifying as they didn’t know. When I start a new job now I give thenoffice manager or HR or someone with empathy a handout on what to do if I have a seizure and talk it through with them. I have actually not had a seizure for many years but you never know, so I think it’s helpful to make sure there’s someone who knows what to do!

I've been once as a patient (HCP) I developed foot drop and sciatica, I would have gone to the gp but I have a tethered spinal cord and knew I would be sent there by the gp.

Ds1 has been a fair few times, all justified. The first was with a stridor and respiratory distress as a baby, he needed surgery. Second was a anaphylactic reavtion to peanuts and several times over the last few years with acute Asthma attacks.

Loads with ds2. He has a pacemaker. We get seen quickly!!! Thankfully all good
Ds for peanut allergy and asthma

@LondonHuffyPuffy thank you SO much for coming back to me it's always nice to hear from other people in similar situations especially those who have been seizure free for a while - ever hopeful one day I'll be writing the same thing

I work for myself so always worry if I go to meetings in case I have one (especially as adrenaline rushes don't help the sitch!) and god forbid wet myself of something as I don't have colleagues to explain / support. Also conscious as much as it's shit for us it's also scary and unnerving for those who witness seizures especially if they haven't seen them before. The first time I had one my mum thought I was legit dying and was pretty traumatised.

Anyway I'm banging on! Sorry to derail OP but thanks for starting a thread that's ended up giving us lots of food for thought

Twice, both after seizures but it was before my epilepsy diagnosis and it was in public so I think people just either panicked or automatically thought it the right thing to do ti call an ambulance. The first time it was justified as they didn't know whether hitting my head caused the seizure or vice versa but not the second time. I also took myself to a and e when I was 7 months pregnant and had a seizure and fell on my stomach but they transferred me straight to triage and luckily all was fine with me and baby

@TemporaryPermanent I am so very sorry

Smallest boy was blue lighted with a seizure.

Dd with a broken arm

Dh with a cut that needed stitches.

The second 2 would be better with a minor injuries unit but there isn't one so has to be A&E.

Forgot, dd has twice too once for a burn that needed dressing and was then overseen by the burns clinic and once for a dislocated elbow that was being very stubborn and didn't want to go back in. Again both would have been fine with minor injuries if there had been one but the main hospital has out of hours gp services or A&E.

We have used out of hours a lot. My children are excellent at serious symptoms at weekends. Often requiring admission.

Dc have been occasionally with breaks (pinky finger, scaphoid), dh hasn't been as an adult.

I was taken there (by dh) the day that I couldn't stand up, I was in for nearly 2 weeks with repeated admissions over several months until my neuro disability was diagnosed. Since then I've been twice in an ambulance, once with a complex open fracture/dislocation of my ankle (blue lights and sirens that time, I was losing a lot of blood) and once with sepsis.

I like to think that if I use casualty, I really use it!

When ds1 fractured (broke?) his little finger. It was swollen and sticking out at a weird angle and he was screaming in pain. He was about 10 at the time.

Yes it was the right call. They yanked it back into place and put it in a plaster cast

I’ve only been to A and E once in my life for myself and that was nearly 2 years ago, I fell down my stairs when I was 8 months pregnant (only the bottom four). I vomited from the pain in my ankle and I couldn’t put weight on one of my legs.

My husband took me to A and E in his car, and I was seen within 10 minutes of being there, my ankle was x rayed (it was broken), they put a temporary cast on, and then I was sent to the maternity ward to be monitored with one of those belt things. Baby was ok thankfully.

I never felt they were wasting my time, I couldn’t praise them enoug actually.

That should say ‘I never felt I was wasting their time’. They were definitely not wasting MY time.