Chasing up ambulance

[Mariell]

My mother fell and my father couldn’t get her up. He called ambulance 9.30pm.

Called ambulance again at midnight. Ambulance came 5.30am!

This was a couple of days ago and My mother is in hospital.

I live over 300 miles away.

My dad has recently given the emergency cord alarm people my phone number.

He has fallen and cannot get up so cant get to his landline or mobile phone and is stuck on the floor. He pulled an emergency cord and was able to speak.

They have called an ambulance.

Given the time taken recently to get an ambulance to my mother do I call and chase it up?

My parents were doing great but in a very short space of time have their health has rapidly declined so all this is emergency stuff is new to us.

I don't think chasing up an ambulance will help. They can only send one when there is one free to send. Is there anyone else local to your Dad who can go round and help him up?

Sorry to hear and I hope both parents are OK. If you ring his landline and he presses his button it should put you on loudspeaker to check how he is? Is there anyone close by who you call in?

I don't think it would help either, but understand your urgency.
Sadly falls just don't come under highest need. It's a real shame, the NHS is under such strain at the moment.
Is there anyone close by who can dash round to your poor Dad?

No.
They ask that people don’t keep ringing as it clogs emergency lines up.
This is the norm now.
He is warm and safe in his home, the wait can be hours for a fall in the street. Even for obvious broken bones.
People are asked to make their own way to hospital if they can walk.
There are not enough vehicles. There are not enough staff.
There are too many calls, including a large percentage of time wasters.
It’s how it is now. Horrendous.

Might be worth (when this episode is sorted) ringing their local council and seeing if they have some sort of service to help elderly people who have falls - we have this in Norfolk, they’re called the Norfolk swift’s and you can ring them if someone falls over or has an acute care need. It takes the pressure off the ambulance service.

If your parents health has suddenly gone downhill you can also ask for a social services / carers assessment (also council related) to see if they would qualify for some help.

I’ve phoned 999 and given as much info as I can.

Data protection won’t allow them to say if an ambulance has been yet or what time they hope to get to him.

@Damnyoureyes

No. They ask that people don’t keep ringing as it clogs emergency lines up. This is the norm now. He is warm and safe in his home, the wait can be hours for a fall in the street. Even for obvious broken bones. People are asked to make their own way to hospital if they can walk. There are not enough vehicles. There are not enough staff. There are too many calls, including a large percentage of time wasters. It’s how it is now. Horrendous.

I had to call and report and am glad I did as it doesn’t sound like the emergency call line people had called an ambulance yet so I’ve had to give all the information for them to log.

@Stormyequine

I don't think chasing up an ambulance will help. They can only send one when there is one free to send. Is there anyone else local to your Dad who can go round and help him up?

No one.

@Newchances

Sorry to hear and I hope both parents are OK. If you ring his landline and he presses his button it should put you on loudspeaker to check how he is? Is there anyone close by who you call in?

He is on the floor. He can’t get up. He can’t access his landline or mobile phone as he is either in the bathroom or hall only able to pull the emergency cord. He may have passed out or be dead as I have no idea how long he’s been there for

I can’t call emergency cord people as I do not have their number as he phoned with the no caller ID.

All this has happened in the space of a couple of days and they were previously both well and this huge decline has happened rapidly.

@Bagelsandbrie

Might be worth (when this episode is sorted) ringing their local council and seeing if they have some sort of service to help elderly people who have falls - we have this in Norfolk, they’re called the Norfolk swift’s and you can ring them if someone falls over or has an acute care need. It takes the pressure off the ambulance service.

If your parents health has suddenly gone downhill you can also ask for a social services / carers assessment (also council related) to see if they would qualify for some help.

Ironically he was going to have his GP visit him this morning at 10.30 to arrange a carer for him.

It doesn't help you this time I know, but you can't rely on ambulances to pick him up. Waiting several hours for low priority case like this is quite usual these days. Sadly the NHS is in bits and we can't rely on it for anything much any more.
You need to have some helpful friends and neighbours nearby who are willing to be called on (yes, it's a big ask because it could be in the middle of the night). Capable people who are able to make a decision about how injured your parent is and strong enough to help them get up (if appropriate). My granny had three different people on her emergency list and the button people would only ring an ambulance if none of them were reachable.
You also need to organise keys for these people or a keysafe on the front of the house for emergency as your dad won't be able to answer the door if he's stuck on the floor.

@EmeraldGreenVelvet

It doesn't help you this time I know, but you can't rely on ambulances to pick him up. Waiting several hours for low priority case like this is quite usual these days. Sadly the NHS is in bits and we can't rely on it for anything much any more. You need to have some helpful friends and neighbours nearby who are willing to be called on (yes, it's a big ask because it could be in the middle of the night). Capable people who are able to make a decision about how injured your parent is and strong enough to help them get up (if appropriate). My granny had three different people on her emergency list and the button people would only ring an ambulance if none of them were reachable. You also need to organise keys for these people or a keysafe on the front of the house for emergency as your dad won't be able to answer the door if he's stuck on the floor.

There may well be a key safe as they live in a retirement flat. That’s why there is those emergency cord things in the flat.

There is no one by way of friends or relatives that live nearby that can help.

No family live near them.

Isn't there a warden who can help with emergencies? You dad may genuinely need an ambulance but he may also just need a hand off the floor.

Could you call the local police and see if they can go and check on him? Our local service have helped in similar circumstances when a neighbour was unwell and alone.

Ironically he was going to have his GP visit him this morning at 10.30 to arrange a carer for him
That's now only 4 hours away, but if the GP can't get in the flat it's not that helpful

@EmeraldGreenVelvet

Isn't there a warden who can help with emergencies? You dad may genuinely need an ambulance but he may also just need a hand off the floor.

No warden that I know of. You pull a cord and speak to a company.

He needs to be off the floor and taken to hospital to find out why he has suddenly started falling/collapsing and also has a loss of feeling in his hands, another symptom which has suddenly come on out of the blue.

@Pomegranita

Ironically he was going to have his GP visit him this morning at 10.30 to arrange a carer for him That's now only 4 hours away, but if the GP can't get in the flat it's not that helpful

I may be confused about that as I’m now not sure if it was going to be a phone ‘visit’ or an actual visit by the GP!

Would they consider moving near to you to a similar accommodation? If there's no one at all nearby then as their needs increase, I hate to say, it's only going to get harder for you all at such a distance. With both of them falling soc services should now do an assessment of needs.

does your dad not know someone who can go round to help?

No-one

Slight derail (agree with PP who say don’t keep calling back).

But how do your parents not know anyone who can help? Professionally I see this all the time, but personally have no experience of it and simply don’t understand how people end up in this situation. My DM lives 120 Miles away. She was ill pre covid and her whole village looked after her- food deliveries, laundry done, dog walked. We have 80 yr old neighbours and regularly help them.
How do you get to a situation where you basically have no one who can help?

@browneyesblue

Could you call the local police and see if they can go and check on him? Our local service have helped in similar circumstances when a neighbour was unwell and alone.

Thank you. The police station is a very short distance away.

Can you look into assisted living?

@SisforSarah

does your dad not know someone who can go round to help?

No-one

Slight derail (agree with PP who say don’t keep calling back).

But how do your parents not know anyone who can help? Professionally I see this all the time, but personally have no experience of it and simply don’t understand how people end up in this situation. My DM lives 120 Miles away. She was ill pre covid and her whole village looked after her- food deliveries, laundry done, dog walked. We have 80 yr old neighbours and regularly help them.
How do you get to a situation where you basically have no one who can help?

They live in a big town, they don’t have any friends as they have either died, moved away etc and my parents no longer socialise and all family live far away so it’s perfectly easy to not have anyone living close by who is familiar with them or can help them.

@tigerbreadandtea

Can you look into assisted living?

They bought a retirement flat. The idea being that should they become unwell they had the emergency cord to pull.

They have been well until a couple of days ago when suddenly they have both collapsed out of the blue and are now both physically very weak. This is an abrupt change in their circumstances.

@SisforSarah

does your dad not know someone who can go round to help?

No-one

Slight derail (agree with PP who say don’t keep calling back).

But how do your parents not know anyone who can help? Professionally I see this all the time, but personally have no experience of it and simply don’t understand how people end up in this situation. My DM lives 120 Miles away. She was ill pre covid and her whole village looked after her- food deliveries, laundry done, dog walked. We have 80 yr old neighbours and regularly help them.
How do you get to a situation where you basically have no one who can help?

Really easily.

Not everyone is social - I’m very introverted and I can imagine myself being very isolated as an older person. The stress of getting to know people is awful for me. My mum was the same and when she died of bowel cancer in 2019 I was the only relative / person she had visiting her.

Ok firstly you can ask for a police welfare check.

In the medium term, you need to have the details of the alarm company written down ready in case you need to contact them. And to introduce yourself to their neighbours and have one keep a spare key.

In the long term, you need to look at either you or your parents moving closer for support I think.

Unfortunately it will be a long wait for an ambulance - a slip and fall with no confirmed injury will be quite far down the list of priorities.