How many times have you rang 999?

[TazzyDrunk]

Only once when I was about 8 for a bit of a joke.

Wow makes me realise that how often Ive had to call forma relative in life threatening situations isnt "normal" and unsurprisingly has affected my mental health.

Probably more, but at least four.

When my grandmother had a fit and fell.
When DH had what turned out to be his first ever migraine, but I thought at the time was a stroke. (In my defense they kept him in for days, so I wasn't the only suspicious one!)
When DH was unwell and turned out to have sepsis.
At least once for my own asthma attack.

Once when guy broke in and I woke to find him in my bedroom. Thank god he ran.
Once arriving home to find had been burgled.
Once as a young child when I thought my mum was dying as she couldn’t breathe. Turned out she was just hyperventilating badly and a paper bag did the trick. Ambulance guys reassured me I had nevertheless done the right thing.
Once when neighbouring offices were being burgled.
Once when young guy was stabbed.
Once really sadly when a homeless guy local and familiar to me was close to death in a doorway. I could see he was in trouble not just sleeping. That really affected me. He died in the ambulance I think.

I always think the call handlers do a tough tough job even if at the time it can all seem to take so long and you don’t i sweat and the (necessary) questions they are asking you.

‘Don’t understand’ not ‘don’t I sweat’ !!!

Once when I saw a bus driver being attacked by a group of teenagers.

Had 999 called for me twice. First when I was attacked coming home when I was a university, housemates took one look at me bursting through door and knew something had happened
Second (unconnected!) When I had a miscarriage and fainted in a large pool of 'blood' which kept growing

Numerous times. Once for the fire brigade and police when a couple of kids on a moped set our stack of straw bales alight during a very hot, dry summer. Fire brigade were brilliant, there for absolutely hours trying to get it out. Ended up making them biscuits and tea on repeat but they wouldn't accept any dinner. Police were useless.

Numerous times for police for hare coursers. Always a complete waste of time. There really needs to be more support/funding/training/whatever into rural crime. Half the time the call handler doesn't even know what hare coursing is, by the time you've explained it's too late.

Once when I was about 12 when I saw a fire about to start in a dress shop

Once to call an ambulance for dgf who was having a heart attack

And once when Dd has an accident at home when she was about 8

Probably around 200 times most likely more.

I worked in a residential unit for 8 years where most of the residents had severe health issues so calling 999 was pretty regular.
In my none work life 6 times.
3 for myself due to asthma and 3 for members of the public

1. man had an epileptic fit in the town centre and fell with such force he cracked his head open.
2. car full of joyriders middle of the afternoon driving on the wrong side of the road.
3. teenager stood on the wrong side of a motorway bridge at 6am just before Christmas saying he was going to jump.

Once for my Dad, he had a stroke. We had to wait 4 hours for the ambulance!

Just once, a man was found unconscious.

Once when my son couldn’t breathe properly. Central London and they were there within a few minutes.

Once I thought a bloke was about to jump off a motorway bridge. He was probably just having an evening stroll

Loads! About a bazillion times at work (HCP) and lots of times outside of work. Mostly ambulances as I seem to attract accidents / medical emergencies.

The most dramatic one was a helicopter crash years ago near Bury St Edmonds. I was with a friend who was an anaesthetist so he ran to the scene first while I called 999. When the call handler asked what service I wanted I said EVERYTHING. It crashed into a corn field and exploded setting the corn on fire. It was horrific and sadly there were no survivors.

Twice, both for fires.

Once when my partner got spiked on a night out, I came to pick him up and he was in a bad state, unresponsive and choking on his vomit, a friend told me to call 999 the second I got there so I did. Sadly the call operator was quite rude to me because I didn’t know the address and was struggling to find it on google, thankfully an ambulance was passing by while I was on the call and we flagged them down.

The initial check when you speak to the operator is that they are breathing and if they are conscious. Once that is established the patient is not a high priority

The prioritisation is much more complex than that. If someone is unconscious and not breathing they'll get the very first available ambulance in the area, as they are top priority. Then lots of questions will be asked to work out the priority of other calls where the patient is conscious and breathing. A heart attack is still high priority, just not as high as a cardiac arrest. A broken neck is high priority, a broken foot not so much (in the absence of any other symptoms or factors).

These are unqualified people working in a medical capacity who then try to berate people who call for ambulances

They aren't health care professionals (but then again, neither are many of the road staff bar paramedics and nurses) but they have intense medical dispstch training before they're allowed to take a call. It isn't like a call centre where you explain the rules and chuck them on the phones, the training is intense and they're regulated, monitored and subject to regular audits each month.

Four times for my DM after suicide attempts. The last time I was so upset and angry that she had done this again, knowing that I would be the one who would find her and knowing that her motivation, at least partly, was to punish me for not being a perfect daughter, that I seriously thought for a few minutes about leaving her to die. Of course, I did call for help and she was fine after treatment, but that night was one of the worst of my life.

I've also had to call a couple of times for DH when he was been taken ill. One of those times I really thought he was being ridiculous asking me to call an ambulance but it turned out he was very ill and needed emergency surgery. After that experience, I'm less worried about calling an ambulance if needed. My reluctance to waste the emergency services time could have seriously impacted DH's health.

Once when the fire alarm went off at work.
Weirdly I panicked and actually called the company maintenance manager first - ours wasn't a two room, two loo regional office and I genuinely couldn't see or smell flames or smoke in any of them.

A few times! Twice as a teenager - a friend got knocked over by a bike, and the second time a man walked past me with a knife concealed in his hand!

Since then I've called as I witnessed a car accident - turned out to be joy riders. The car flipped on its side and I watched all the men climb out through a window and run away.

I called 3 times due to an ex's behaviour- over a 3 week period

Last time was probably 4-5 years ago, DH and I came across a man lying on the side of the road... he was drunk

Twice for an ambulance. Once my husband had a seizure on the landing and knocked himself out on the wall. The other time he was having severe chest pains, and NHS Directed said to call for one.

Just to point out there are medically trained people in control rooms. They triage and assess calls through a telephone assessment, this isn't going to be perfect but what is!? Clinicians often listen in to 999 calls which come in as they come in if they flag up and take over, I've ended up assisting baby deliveries over the phone, supporting people through suicidal ideation and CPR.

999 call takers are very robustly trained and follow a programme and script which has been developed by medical teams. They aren't asking questions for the sake of it they are trying to triage. The amount of people who ring and scream for an ambulance but won't say why or who for or, in some cases, where they are is astounding. They cannot send one in those cases and they only get a rough idea of location, if they don't know where you are they aren't sending a crew to search for you for hours.

They have a massively difficult job and are heavily heavily audited but when you get a call to say a child has been hit by a car at speed and you deal with that then move onto a call where a 46 year old man has been vomiting for 2 hours with no concerns beyond it's not nice I can see why they get frustrated (real examples!).

BT operators are the first people you'll speak to and they direct to the appropriate service.

About 15 times for my daughter. She used to have febrile convulsions up until the age of 6. Sometimes I used say to the paramedics could I not just bring her in the car when the fit has finished? But they were always insistent I call 999.

Once - when my son was 14 months. He had a febrile convulsion. Paramedic arrived within 5 mins of us making the call and he was on his way to hospital in an ambulance with blue lights going within 10 mins. I'm forever grateful for the way they helped us as we were terrified as had no idea what a febrile convulsion was at the time.

A lot more than I thought until I was asked this question! First time was for a fire I was about 15, then police when I was 18 for a neighbour who was trying to drive his car when he was completely smashed and wouldn't listen to me, he was an alcoholic. When I was 24 I rang for a neighbour who was being attacked by her coked-up boyfriend, I ended up holding their 3 month old baby for about 2hrs while the police arrested him and questioned her!

I rang an ambulance for my sister when she collapsed and died from an ongoing heart condition.

I've rang a total of 3 ambulances for my son when he first started having anoxic seizures and we didn't know what they were yet.

And I've rang one ambulance for my DH who had accidentally poisoned himself and was projectile vomiting, struggling to breath and having heart palpitations, my out of hours gp told me to ring that one.

So altogether 8 times. I hope to never have to again because at least 6 of them were terrifying and I have bad nerves!