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

[Crunchymum]

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.

This country is down the shitter.

Was slightly more than hives and a bit of itching . She needed more antihistamines and steroids to get it all under control (plus a course if steroids at home!!)

I did try to manage at home, Piriton didn't help and as I say my DC2 is disabled.

It will only get worst under the current government, this is why you must use your vote carefully. Under the current goverment we have lost 21,000 police officers, they want to give back 20,000 so they say, then why take them off us in the first place? Same with the Nhs.

Just to offer some reassurance. Whenever I've called about my son not breathing (lips turning blue after febrile conculsion) they sent ambulances straight away, ambulance was always there under 5 minutes. In fact once we had a paramedic on a bike within 2 mins!
We were in a very busy area on the edge of London.

That's awful! I didn't even know you could be put on hold.

Our ambulance control room used to manage one county, they knew every location and they answered the calls efficiently. Then the cuts kicked in, and to save money they merged with two other counties. The number of staff did not increase proportionately, and there's no way the staff can have detailed knowledge of such a wide area.

When you cut funding to a life saving service, lives are lost.

Hope your daughter is on the road to recovery soon Crunchy.

Same thing happened with me when I was having an epileptic seizure and I stopped breathing and didn’t come round . My Mum was put on hold for 5 mins whilst I was going grey . At the time we lived 30 mins drive from the hospital so she couldn’t even say fuck it and rush me there herself either . I was put on life support . That was about 7 years ago before I met DH.
DH and I now live a 5 minute walk from the Hospital so he’s said if that ever does happen again that severely , he’d get a taxi to speed us there . Awful for the person making the call . I hope your DC is ok now , and you x

That must have very scary OP. I hope she’s ok now.

It’s terrible that these things happen.

Calling an ambulance would not have been my first choice unless someone couldn’t last the length of my car journey as it’s much quicker sadly.

Back in the day people had no cars and bus or ambulance was really your only option (taxis were too dear)

Now many of us have cars but we still think like ambulances are the way to go. They are reassuring for us obviously but for the worst affected people only as there aren’t enough.

It’s like we think we’ll get into trouble for NOT calling one and driving instead! We can always ring for an ambulance on route if the casualty’s condition deteriorates rapidly and give the street name we are in.

Nhs24 is generally the way to go. They tell you right away if you need to go to a&e or the out of hours doctor. We had a recent accident (blood running everywhere, id have panicked alone but luckily my friend didn’t and the bleeding was horrible but not enough to be life threatening) and the nhs24 staff were quick and helpful about advice on tetanus jabs and things. We didn’t even have to go. Just wash and bandage up at home, much less stressful for the casualty.

This time last year a colleague of DH tripped at work (shoelaces) while carrying a glass vase. She sliced right up one arm and they couldn't stop the bleeding. They rang 999 and were put on hold. She passed out before the phone was answered so they wrapped her arm as tight as possible, and DH picked her up and ran the 20 minutes to the hospital. He was told if they'd waited another five minutes she'd have been dead from blood loss. It is terrifying what this government has done to essential services.

I think the problem about knowing when to call 999 is that you don't know what the sequale for the patient is going to be, especially for children where their condition can change so quickly. So while the OP's toddler was 'only' showing a rash when they made the call, the OP was presumably concerned that the rash was the initial symptom and breathing difficulties would quickly follow.

30 years ago, Sunday afternoon, Harrow Weald, I saw a cyclist badly injured in an RTA.

Rushed to the nearest phone box (ask your parents, under 30s ) and called 999 for an ambulance only to get a recorded message. Even the 999 operator couldn't believe it. Luckily they were professional and immediately called the police as it was a road accident with injuries, and asked the police to contact the ambulance service.

The policeman that attended said it "Wasn't unheard of ..." and suggested I contact my "elected representative" to take it further, which I did.

Cyclist was OK - he really landed badly on his shoulder and was unconscious. The van that clipped him stopped and the driver was in shock - never saw a thing.

I had the same recently late Friday early Saturday,I phoned answered straight away to say I was in a queue and not to hang up.
They arranged for help to be sent, it was a rapid respond car with a paramedic.
They gave some morphine which means that the paramedic couldn't leave as morphine can stop you breathing, but because they were in a car they couldn't take the person and had to wait for an ambulance.

Not all ambulances are staffed with paramedics some only have ambulance technician which aren't as qualified as paramedics so cant do some of the jobs, which would have meant that the paramedic would have had to travel in the ambulance then been dropped back at their car after.
This means that the paramedic and car weren't available for 2 .5 hours, terrible when there was only 3 ambulances and the car to cover 3 towns and one of the ambulances stopped at 2 am due to how the shifts were worked.

Vote Labour. It's the only chance of improvement.

Vote Labour. It's the only chance of improvement.

😂😂😂😂

It’s so sad that our government doesn’t invest in this vital service of paramedics, ambulances and the call centre dispatch staff that manage it all.
We also had an awful experience this time last year where my DS fell and had a serious leg break and when we called 999 at first we were out on hold, then they suggested it would be quicker to drive ourselves, but he was on the ground in the middle of a wood, 15 mins walk from the car and when we tried to lift him he screamed and passed out in pain. So we waited 3 hours for an ambulance, in the cold and with our youngest baby there too. The paramedics were amazing when they arrived and apologised for the wait (I was angry FOR them, it wasn’t their fault they are understaffed).

The same happened to me with my DS. Called an ambulance and was put on hold, ambulance arrived 60 minutes later. I agree with the poster who suggested the system is under terrible strain so I don’t bear them ill feeling, far from it. But it’s made me feel like if anything serious happened I couldn’t rely on the emergency services like I thought I could. I feel for them, I really do.

This is disgusting state of affairs

Last year my (then) 2 yr old with asthma woke up in the night with a virus, a temp of 40 degrees and couldn't breathe. She was going blue and floppy and inhalers weren't working. There is no way we could have safely strapped her in a car seat. I called 999 while DH kept trying to help her breathe with her inhalers. It rang for 30 minutes then rang out.
Thank God on this occasion the attack subsided with inhalers during that half an hour. It doesn't always. The next time it happened we had moved to a different area with a more reliable ambulance service who made it out to us in 30 minutes to administer steroids and nebuliser. 30 minutes is still a long time in those circumstances!
OP don't feel bad, a first allergic reaction you had no way of knowing it wouldn't turn to breathing difficulties. This is exactly the kind of thing we have an ambulance service for. It's a travesty that it is so underfunded people are actually questioning whether it's appropriate to call an ambulance for a disabled 2 yr old having a fairly major allergic reaction for the first time, which you had no way of knowing if it would get worse. It's just lucky it didn't progress to breathing difficulties en route. The fact they rushed you through when you got there and treated with steroids suggests it was urgent.

Was slightly more than hives and a bit of itching sad. She needed more antihistamines and steroids to get it all under control (plus a course if steroids at home!!)

I definately wouldn't have called an ambulance for that but I can understand it may be different for others. Glad all worked out OK OP.

You were right to call an ambulance. That was an allergic reaction which could have become anaphylactic shock.

You cannot know how an allergic reaction will progress.

I don’t think this is a new thing, sadly. I was put on hold when I rang for an ambulance after witnessing a crash in the road outside my house, twenty years ago. I forget how long I was on hold for, but it was shockingly long.

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

Our health services should be able to meet usual demand. Now if there's a major incident like a terrorist attack, riot, 20-car pile-up, that kind of thing, then it's acceptable if services are overstretched. (That said, sharing resources between areas would mitigate this). But if you can't give any reason other than "it's a busy night", no, that's not good enough. The 999 call centres should be able to handle a busy night.

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 think you are part of the problem. How many people called that day who were able to transport themselves? That's what prevents the real emergency calls getting though.

'Could have developed' isn't a reason to call an ambulance in this situation, you go by the symptoms in front of you not a list of possibilities.

I'm sorry OP but you yourself are the reason you were put on hold.

Sorry middle para was in response to pp saying 'it could have become...'

you go by the symptoms in front of you not a list of possibilities.

Are you medically trained?