To think an ambulance should have been sent in this situation?

[ikeaismylocal]

We had some friends over for dinner with their toddlers, all our children are nearly 2. My friend'a little boy was playing a game where he ran and jumped on a cushion but after a while he tripped and banged his head on the radiator, it's an old fashioned radiator with multiple separate bits which have fairly sharp edges (we had never thought to cover them despite covering the sharp corners ) my friends little boy was bleeding a huge amount and it wasn't seeming to stop, they have a family history of blood clotting disorders although the child hasn't been diagnosed with anything as of yet.

Another friend called the emergency number and requested an ambulance, they spoke to her for about 10 minutes my friend told the operator the child could possibly have a clotting disorder my friend assumed they had sent an ambulance but they then said there was no need to an ambulance.

It doesn't sound like it should do much damage tripping over and hitting a radiator but I have never seen so much blood. In the end the child was driven to the nearest hospital, he started to sleep on the way which is a worry, that hospital sent them to the main children's hospital where they will probably have to stay overnight.

I'm not in the uk, but it's s similarly developed country.

Aibu to think they should have sent an ambulance?

ikea, did they tell you to bring the child in, though? What instructions for the child's care did they give you over the phone?

Phantom makes a good point about it being a crime to make those sort of calls!

I disagree actually. I'm a paeds A&E nurse and in that scenario (possible blood clotting disorder) an ambulance would be appropriate IMO. Heads DO bleed a lot and thus could be a real problem if there is a blood clotting disorder present. No one in A&E would have blamed you for calling an ambulance in that situation but your friend really does need to request blood tests to see if he has an underlying condition for the future.

They said after 10 minutes to take him in, but didn't ask about car ownership, there was lots of confusion because it was assumed an ambulance was on it's way, I think they should have told us ASAP that they were not going to send an ambulance so he could have been taken in the car right away.

The friend on the phone was so angry that they didn't send an ambulance that she said that if anything went wrong with the child on the way to the hospital the responsibility would be down to the phone operator at which point the operator said they would send an ambulance but the child was already in the car by that point so they went in the car.

The wider issue here is people not knowing basic first aid and what to do in an emergency. And this is NOT intended as a criticism of the OP or her friends - if you have never dealt with a situation like this or had any training, it is not always clear what the best solution is.

Perhaps there ought to be some first aid training included in PHSE at schools?

Not being sarcastic but I think you and the parents should think about some basic first aid lessons. Parents of young children would always find this useful. Definitely no ambulance unless the child was drifting in and out of consciousness.

That's the part I'm talking about doobie, that would change things.

Doobie, do you disagree that OP shouldn't have called an ambulance, or that the hospital didn't have to automatically send an ambulance?

I was thinking that it would depend a lot on each individual situation: how many ambulances available, how far the hospital was, etc. So the triage person who answers the call has to weigh all those things up, and without being privy to all that info, we can't know whether an ambulance should have been sent in this particular case or not.

(I'm not health care professional myself - just speculating!)

Perhaps there ought to be some first aid training included in PHSE at schools?

^ excellent idea, some schools do it but it should be compulsory

We have all been to first aid courses, there were 5 adults there 2 of which had worked with small children and had the appropriate training, we were applying pressure but the blood was just poring through towels, it felt like the first aid we could do at home wasn't enough.

That does sound very scary. Especially when it's a young child.

I have reasonable first aid training, but the 'possible clotting disorder' factor takes it well out of the realm of the well-intentioned amateur.

That's why I think first aid courses should also include what to do in addition to your basic first aid - when an ambulance is the best call, when just getting in the car is the best idea, and when you can treat at home, and contact your GP when the surgery is open, if you need more help/advice, ikeaismylocal.

Slightly different scenario, but someone I know in the US took a friend who'd became very unwell on a lunch date to hospital in their car as they thought it would be quicker than calling 911. The friend suffered a heart attack en route and although she pulled over and tried to administer first aid at the side of the road, it was too late. The woman died.

Are you in Sweden? Our health authority charges approx £15 for a necessary ambulance call out and the full cost of the call out (several hundred quid) for any they subsequently deem unnecessary. The local taxi firms are contracted by the health authority to act as hospital transport so the fare is a heck of a lot less if you tell them it's a hospital trip. I don't know if this is just how ours do it or if it's a national thing.

Sorry, to clarify, I meant I disagree with PP, I think an ambulance in this situation would be appropriate.

Yep we are in Sweden, as far as I know there is no fee for ambulance call our, I have been in one once with ds but that was because the a+e we took him to felt he was too ill for them to care for so they transferred us to a bigger hospital. We didn't have to pay, but it was quite a scary situation so maybe they don't charge if it's a very serious situation.

I am an ex A&E nurse and if blood was soaking through towels and simple first aid wasn't stopping the flow then I would say that is a reasonable to call an ambulance and in this country it would have attended. Severe blood loss is also life threatening (which is the main criteria for calling an ambulance).

Btw when people apply pressure to a wound they often don't apply in long enough or hard enough. I am sure in the absence of a clotting disorder (I'm sure this would have been discovered by now) a 3 cm pad secured with an elasticted bandage wrapped very very firmly round the head like a turban would have stopped the bleeding. Even if the wound is bleeding through direct pressure don't remove it for a clean one but place the clean towel over the top and continue pressing hard. And a mean very hard.