In an emergency...

[Starbuck999]

Call the emergency services.

Today someone called 999 for an ambulance because they got stung by a nettle and their foot was itching. An adult man with no other symptoms, just an itchy foot - 2 mins after being stung by one stray garden nettle.

Yesterday a school receptionist called NHS Direct and not 999 because a 4 year old reception child was having severe difficulty breathing and had forgotten his asthma pump! They put her through to 999 after assessing him and realising it was very life threatening!

AIBU in thinking some people really need to engage their brain?!?

My son (14 months old at the time) had a fit due to a high temp at 1am and it was the most scarest thing ever. We called 999 and a guy was here in less than 3 mins and they were all great.

I'm not sure if it was an emergency but i'm glad the service was there when my son needed them.

I'm a clinician, yet rang NHS Direct when DD was unwell as a small baby (and I was so sleep deprived I didn't trust my own judgement). They were fab. The nurse was thorough and a GP rang me back immediately. The next day my own GP called to check DD was ok (NHS Direct had alerted them for follow up). I was impressed.

I called an ambulance when I was in labour - otherwise I would have had dd on the floor. She was born just as they wheeled me into the hospital. My labour lasted 45 minutes in total. I was so grateful they came as quickly as they did.

NHS Direct saved me a trip to A&E when my son ate a toilet duck disk. They were able to look it up on their poisons database and then tell me how to deal with any of the minor side effects he may get.

I was in a state (convinced he was going to die!) the lady calmed me down and saved me a morning waiting at A&E. She also ressured me that these things happen to even the most vigilant parents (I was 3o secs behind ds2 when he went in the bathroom).

So I was glad to have the option to call someone for advice as to whether I should be going to A&E as I was worried about wasting their time.

In have only ever called an ambulance once, and that was after NHS direct told me they would call back in 12hrs
I was admitted and needed MRI then a procedure on my back. They never even called back to do any further checks either, thats what I call a crap service.
I felt terribly guilty for calling 999 ,but the ambulance crew said I was their 1st patient that night who actually needed to go into hospital.

Oh it's definitely acceptable to call an abulance when you're in labour. I think I have to be careful on here as of course what i write is only my opinion and often tongue in cheek, it's obviously not the view of the emergency services.

When I went into labour, I got a taxi. No complications, no bleeding, I had a long time between contractions - 1st delivery etc. But often an ambulance is needed, for the above reasons and many other reasons.

Witchcat- febrile convulsions are definitely an emergency! Ringing 999 was definitely the right thing to do.

Also, I'd like to point out about the book that someone mentioned "neenaw"... I haven't read it all but have flicked through it and although some of it is spot on alot of it is FAR from the truth! Don't believe everything you read.

I've read a number of 999-type blogs over the years, and at least now I do have some idea of how the emergency services work and when they should be called out.

Sure, there are a lot of numpties out there, but I think one thing that's missing is any kind of public information to inform people how best to use the 999 service, or even how it works. For instance, I wonder how many visitors to the seaside know that on dialling 999 they'll get four options, rather than the usual three. Or that the first person they talk to is a BT operator.

Although there are documentaries on TV that follow ambulance crew and so on, not many people are watching those. Perhaps the government should use some of their health awareness money to fund some adverts.

However, there is a TV show (drama) in the pipeline which is based on another paramedical blog: randomreality.blogware.com/, which if it gets made and is factual enough, might spread the word.

I've had mixed experiences with NHS direct. Most of the time I've rung up with things not THAT serious they've said 'go to A&E' I think purely because they couldnt rule out anything more serious and to cover themselves.
I've used them a couple of times for more serious things, the first time DS1 was about 1yo and I was home on my own with him. He'd got a really high temp and was not responsive. I was on the phone to the Dr who had called baack from NHS direct when DS started convulsing. I was cleaarly distressed and crying and telling the DR that he was having a fit and the DR just calmly told me to get a taxi to A&E with him.
It was the middle of the night and I had to knock on my neighbours door to borrow money to get a taxi to hospital. I was in a right state and DS ended up in hoospital for several days.
With hindsight I clearly should have called an ambulance and I'm cross that the DR on NHS direct didnt say that or even call one himself!

The second serious thing I had was when DS aged 2 swalowed something poisonous, the lady on NHS direct looked it up immediately instead of saying she'd get a nurse to call me back and then when it was inconclusive shhe called an ambulance for me. DS had to stay in hospital for 24hrs for observations but was fine in the end. I think they responded well in that instance.

fel1x -

to clarify the doctor who called you doesn't work at NHS Direct, they are an out of hours GP, same as any GP from any medical practice. NHS Direct aren't in any way responsible for the GP's diagnosis/outcome.

i agree it sounds like they were complacent about yout child's health which is inexcusable.

Riven, that unfortunately does not surprise me.

Although I can confirm when it's very very busy lots of less urgent injuries are called by a clinical advisor and told to make their own way to A&E or a minor injuries unit, meaning more resources available to go to life threatening emergencies such as the one your daughter had.

Riven it doesn't surprise me. We once called one for a pupil having a seizure when emrgency meds failed and we were giving the 2nd dose. arrived after 10 minutes (15mins after seizure started) and they waited 20 minutes whilst deciding if it was a seizure, if she should have more valium and if they needed to go to hospital

btw she was borderline status for 3 weeks after.

I've always been quite impressed with NHS 24 in Scotland.

I have phoned because DS ate a dishwasher tablet, thankfully they looked it up on their database and it wasn't poisonous.

Also when DS had an allergic reaction, we were seen by an out of hous gp.

Mumbar - They got there within 10 minutes- a known epileptic patient over 2 yrs of age having a single seizure usually gets a "within 18 mins" response time.

Are you saying the paramedics that attended were wrong in waiting 20 minutes? Sometimes known epileptic patients do not need to go to hospital, we often stay on scene a little longer to monitor and re-assess the patient to determine the right course of action or the appropriate place of treatment. Paramedics/ambulances don't always take patients to the nearest A&E, they have lots of options.

Did anyonefollow Great Manchester Police's tweets the other week when the tweeted every 999 call the received for 24 hours. Utterly amazing what people call for. People should be made to pay for emergency services that are called out when there isn't any emergency.

Sorry starbuck I didn't make myself clear. Firstly can I just say I think the ambulance service is fab and we have always had a quick responce when called to school.

It was just one occassion. The siezure had been going on for 15 minutes when ambulance was called and this was stated. They were 10 minutes turning up and 10 assessing. They got patient into the ambulance and then spent 20 minutes after debating if this was a seizure. Patient has amber card as seizures are serious. I understand it is hard to know as there are hundreds of ways seizures prevent but we knew and had seen this before numourous times. Eventually the patient was blue lighted and as I say very ill and borderine status for 3 weeks. I have to add this probably would have occured regardless of the time spent debating as pupils has serious and unstable epilepsy.

Choufleur- Did they? How on Earth did they manage that? Must have been thousands of calls in a 24 hr period?

Yes - they got tweet banned and had to start new user names to follow during the day. Was interesting.