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Original poster

Today I called an ambulance.... and was put on hold

162 replies

Crunchymum · 30/11/2019 22:39

About 4pm today I called an ambulance as my disabled almost 2yo had a severe allergic reaction (first time its happened)

I dialled 999, asked for ambulance, and got a recorded message telling me I was in a queue.

Hung up, called a cab instead.

Firstly, I was called back (approx 5 minutes later at most) and secondly whilst it was a severe reaction, breathing wasn't compromised. But what if it had been?

Maybe I'm part of the problem? I did make my own way to A&E (weren't admitted but needed steroids and more antihistamine) so should I have not called an ambulance to begin with?

A&E was as you would imagine. We were seen relatively quickly but took ages for meds and then discharge etc.

OP posts:
PigletJohn · 01/12/2019 01:11

Public services need public spending.

Some voters prefer tax cuts.

Allmyarseandpeggymartin · 01/12/2019 01:17

How frightening op, hope your little one is ok.

Such a crazy system my (idiot) younger bro managed to have his flat door kicked in by the police when he accidentally hit the panic button on his phone Why would the emergency services respond to him but not someone in need?

DeathStare · 01/12/2019 01:19

Why would the emergency services respond to him but not someone in need?

Because pressing the panic button suggested he was in real danger. And they can't respond to everyone at once.

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Redglitter · 01/12/2019 01:25

Very common to be put on hold. I work in a Police Control Room and phone for an ambulance pretty much every day for something or other. Sometimes we go the 999 route I was hold for so long once the operator told me shed pit me through to the police to see if they could help Hmm

Part of the problem is people phoning for minor things which dont need an ambulance

BoreOfWhabylon · 01/12/2019 01:38

Public services need public spending

Some voters prefer tax cuts

This.

I don't think people realise just how bad things are. There s no slack in the system. None.

And winter hasn't even started yet.

But OP, you were right to call - don't for one moment think otherwise.

clairethewitch70 · 01/12/2019 01:53

People also need to be educated what is appropriate for 999. Money can be thrown at the service but if it is misused there will still be issues.

Amiable · 01/12/2019 02:01

We had to call for an ambulance a month ago, had to wait a minute or so for an answer and were then told it would take 2 hours to get an ambulance to us.

safariboot · 01/12/2019 02:05

A toddler with an allergic reaction is absolutely not "part of the problem"!

It's gravely concerning if the emergency services are routinely unable to promptly answer calls. That should never be happening outside of major incidents, "a busy night" is no excuse. It indicates the service is not being provided and funded as it should be.

dontalltalkatonce · 01/12/2019 02:08

This is what happens when those in power who cut, cut, cut are voted in, sadly.

Original poster
Crunchymum · 01/12/2019 07:22

Just to clarify, phone was answered and I was asked what service I needed. I gave a one word answer and then got the recorded message.

Completely agree about the misuse of ambulances, as I say I was able to get us to A&E via other means but a severe allergic reaction (child was red raw from head to toe, very itchy - despite me giving Piriton - and shivering / distressed) so I think calling an ambulance was the right thing in this instance? I assume had I not got a recorded message there would have been a wait and I'd have got a cab anyway.

OP posts:
AppleKatie · 01/12/2019 07:32

It’s terrifying OP.

I was supervising 20 children in a park last summer and put on hold when I was being threatened with a metal pole right in front of them.
Despite an eventual promise too; the police did not attend.

GiveHerHellFromUs · 01/12/2019 07:52

If you'd tried to treat it before calling, and he wasn't in a life-threatening condition you didn't need to call 999, in my opinion.

The reason an ambulance is better than a taxi is because you can get treatment on the way to the hospital. If you can get to the hospital on your own without that immediate treatment, you don't need the ambulance.

BalloonDinosaur · 01/12/2019 07:54

I think you were right to call OP, and hope DC is much better now.

Unfortunately this is very common with the emergency services right now. We don't have a hold function in my area, it would just continually ring, and there certainly isn't an option for the operator to force the call though if it sounds serious.

Any call that hasn't connected still registers on the system and will be called back when someone is free. Call takers can also see when calls are queuing and will hang up on less serious calls to speak to people waiting. Unfortunately there's no way of knowing what the next call is going to be.

There is a case for people misusing the service (NOT talking about you here OP!) but also we are massively underfunded and pushed right to our limits and wait times are for a multitude of different reasons.

Getting through is just the start unfortunately, depending on what's wrong you may be asked if you can make your own way, have a callback from a clinician (nurse or paramedic) to triage further, be referred to 111, or simply have to wait for hours for a crew to get to you.

Ethelswith · 01/12/2019 07:59

Yes, it happened to us, late one evening, when trget an ambulance to someone who had been struck by a car and was lying in the road with an obviously displaced limb.

Even though it took what seemed like forever to get through, the ambulance arrived in 6 minutes from the call being answered.

Ambulance service always busy around that time of night. Alcohol related injuries from fights, falls and accidents.

Mlou32 · 01/12/2019 08:02

Maybe I'm part of the problem? I did make my own way to A&E (weren't admitted but needed steroids and more antihistamine) so should I have not called an ambulance to begin with?

I can't answer in regards to your specific scenario as I wasn't there but generally.if you're able to get a taxi to A&E then I would assume (in most cases) there is no need to call an ambulance. If lots of people are calling 999 for ambulances when they do not absolutely need one then the call queues are backed up...and emergencies get put on hold.

I'm.glad to hear your kid's ok though.

Stupiddriver1 · 01/12/2019 08:03

When I rang 999 a few weeks ago i went straight through to the call handler who asked me what service I wanted but they didn’t ask what the issue was. So when I asked for the fire brigade it could have been for a raging fire or a cat stuck up a tree. I’m fairly sure I didn’t say what was happening until I got put through to the next person.

Never heard of anyone being put on hold before but I know how stretched the ambulance service are. They’re queued up round a&e most of the time here, unable to offload patients and get back on the road.

Lucinda88 · 01/12/2019 08:04

I would only have called an ambulance for an allergic reaction if breathing was compromised. From what you've said this isn't the case so it doesnt sound as though an ambulance was necessary. That said , it's a difficult call to make and I dont think it's a black and white situation. Whereas someone calling an ambulance about a splinter in their thumb would clearly be wrong.

cdtaylornats · 01/12/2019 08:08

This is what happens when those in power who cut, cut, cut are voted in, sadly

So should you always have enough staff to answer any volume of calls 100% of the time?

What happens when the infrastructure can't cope?

No resource is infinite. If it is required to handle 100% of calls instantly the sensible way to do it is with a computer system.

Witchend · 01/12/2019 08:08

I had once we called 4 times. The first 3 times we were told that they system was busy and call back later then it went dead. The 4th time we got onto a queue.
We were then told a 3 hour wait.

We had an elderly lady with suspected stroke, but was now conscious.
We ended up taking her in a car.

Purplewithred · 01/12/2019 08:09

It does happen a lot but it’s not ok. Please comment on your ambulance trust’s website and to your local Healthwatch. Stories like yours bring the problems to life and help the services argue their case for better funding and management.

First time allergic reaction that’s still worsening in a 2 year old is definitely a 999 call, you did the right thing.

You also did the right thing taking her to a&e yourself rather than waiting for an ambulance when her breathing wasn’t compromised.

Unfortunately too many people don’t understand what an emergency is, and too many organisations are relying on the ambulance service to cover their arses.

m00rfarm · 01/12/2019 08:11

My elderly mother fell on Christmas day a few years ago in the night and broke her neck. She was left laying on a cold kitchen floor for four hours as the ambulance team that was sent to us had spent four hours with a drunk teenager whose parents would not accept she was drunk for religious reasons and insisted she was having a stroke. Until we said my mother was having breathing issues, she was not considered a priority. The operator managed to advise us what to say to get an ambulance more quickly in one of our many follow up calls without actually telling us what to say. It was urgent. If we had moved her ourselves she would now be dead.

GiveHerHellFromUs · 01/12/2019 08:13

This is what happens when those in power who cut, cut, cut are voted in, sadly.

No. This is what happens when the ambulance service buy back 111, which was being run by Care UK, and try to merge the two services.

EmmiJay · 01/12/2019 08:20

My Dad was having a massive stroke with seizures and they told the person with him, 'no one would be with him for at least an hour...' Luckily!!! His neighbour is a policeman (one of the high up ones) who heard the commotion, immediately got back on the phone and had an air ambulance sent immediately to them. Now he would be dead if that person with him had had to wait. Scares me everytime I think about it really.

Solasum · 01/12/2019 08:21

Hi OP. I appreciate it must have been very scary, and it is of course not ideal that you didn’t get to speak to an operator straight away. BUT what you describe is not a severe allergic reaction. Unpleasant yes, but in your case getting to A&E yourself was the right call. A severe allergic reaction is anaphylaxis, when airways shut and the body starts to shut down, plus everything else you describe. In this instance, without an ambulance able to administer adrenaline/oxygen within a very few minutes, someone having a reaction could die.

Nanasueathome · 01/12/2019 08:38

The initial call handler will put you through to whichever service you ask for. They do not ask the reason as they are not trained to do so, they simply answer the call and connect you through
I have worked on the 999 service years ago and have to agree that some of the calls are certainly not emergencies (think broken fingernail, toothache, dog unwell)
Once your call is answered by the service required then it will be prioritised then

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