To Think They should have sent an ambulance

[waxmytash]

I work in a large teaching Hospital and got the bus after work today along with myself there were 6 other passengers.

Approaching the city center & journeys end the young Guy in front of suddenly vomitted, fell off his seat into the asile,another passenger went to his aid as the bus driver pulled over.

Poorly Bloke was clearly not well and couldn't at that point speak. I telephoned 999 and explained the situation as he drifted in and out of consciousness ( he was breathing ok)
I tried asking him his name etc and all he could manage to say was "ID in bag" I looked in his bag (got covered in puke)and found a staff ID badge so it quickly became apparent that he'd just finished work at the hospital and not had too much to drink etc.
Poor bloke was showing no signs of recovery but did manage to answer when I asked his date of birth.
999 operator asked "where's his injury ?" I explained I couldn't see any obvious ones but he was wedged between rows of seats, at that point she proceeded to tell me that as he was 'responsive' ie able to tell me his DOB he was to go to his own GP or walk in center.

I quite clearly explained that a) he was lying on a bus floor b) looked very unwell c) was covered in vomit d) was probably unable to actually stand up without collapsing again. I made it quite clear that he'd obviously not been drinking and had just finished work. Again I was told she would not dispatch an ambulance and that she would now be terminating the call.

Bus driver contemplated taking him to A&E himself just as a Police van happened to pull up alongside, Police came to assist and agreed he needed an ambulance, luckily they had more success than I did and he duly dispatched to A & E.

I know that the NHS is on its knees ( I bloody work for them) and he wasn't in a life threatening condition, but surely common sense says that if a random member of the public is concerned enough to dial 999 for a complete stranger,laying unable to move on a bus floor,clearly unwell then perhaps they should have indeed sent an ambulance or at least a solo paramedic.

It's awful isn't it?

A few years ago, I had to attempt to call for ambulance help for myself when I woke in severe pain, could barely breathe or talk, and kept vomiting. They were extremely reluctant, even when I said I was scared and was home alone with two very young children. Turned out my gall bladder was severely inflamed and I needed immediate medical care.

How do you know he hadn't been drinking? I carry my work pass in my bag all the time. Also if it was norovirus or similar he wouldn't need an ambulance.

I think you should complain at the 'now terminating the call' - this needs to be followed up for retraining.

Ive never seen someone with a sickness bug slip in and out of consciousness

It's fair to say that if someone is in and out of consciousness then they cannot seek emergency treatment themselves and therefore require an ambulance. Hopefully the police will lodge a complaint.

How do you know he hadn't been drinking? I carry my work pass in my bag all the time. Also if it was norovirus or similar he wouldn't need an ambulance

At a good guess,No smell of alcohol and he got on the bus outside his place of work at the end of the working day and as per his job title he'd have been facing instant dismissal , a ruined career and wasted many years study should he had had a few @ lunchtime.

I agree that norovirus doesn't warrant an ambulance,but anybody,drifting in & out of consciousness, unable to move is hardly medically safe enough to turf off a bus and dump at the side of the road are they ?

Not even remotely safe to leave alone. There's a decent chance of inhaling and choking on vomit for a start.

I'd make a complaint if I were you. Organisations can learn from their mistakes, but the mistakes need to be brought to their attention.

It's awful :(

Did you read about the poor woman who was heavily pregnant and attacked by being kicked in the stomach? She had to wait over an hour for an ambulance and lost the baby.

That is terrible. Poor man.
Definitely think the call handler needs reporting.

He could easily have appendicitis with those kind of symptoms (going by how mine presented before it burst!) I'd be fuming and making a complaint. Hope he's OK and got the right care.

Yanbu. Unfortunately as the cuts to NHS funding really kick in we will see more of this. As a GP I have spent over an hour waiting for an ambulance after seeing an unwell child in my surgery. As the child was with a doctor it was deemed to be less urgent regardless of the fact that I could only offer treatments limited to those available in a GP surgery. It is a scene that has been replicated across the country. This is the government the public have voted in.

The NHS has been in trouble since before the tories came to power. It's a bottomless pit. The more money you throw at it the more it swallows

The NHS certainly had problems under Labour too but things are significantly worse than they have been (in general practice at least) now. The impact of cuts to social services is having a huge effect.

Someone drifting in and out of consciousness does. It have just a sickness bug! Sounds like he absolutely needed an ambulance.

Piss poor

My DM 83 was staying with my sister and started feeling very unwell. Early morning they tried to call an ambulance. The call handler suggested she go to a drop in centre.. My bil insisted someone come and she spent the next 2 weeks in hospital.

If an ambulance isn't for this who on earth is using the service and why?

Your ambulance trust will have a complaints link on their website. Use it, report the day and time and location of the call, and ask for the call to be reviewed telling them you were the original caller. It will have been recorded, and someone will listen to the tape and see if the right decision was made (based on the information that was given).

An ambulance is for someone who needs on-the-spot lifesaving care, or for someone who needs to be in hospital but is too fragile or poorly to make their own way there. Ambulance crews frequently find themselves with patients who don't need any of the above which is intensely frustrating given the pressure on the service - the result is that some really poorly people don't get their ambulances quickly enough.

I recently called an ambulance as my elderly neighbour fell over and cut his head on some stones. I could see at least an inch or two square section of his skull, to the bone. I was told to apply frozen peas and give him paracetamol.

After a lot of convincing shouting the person sent a paramedic. Paramedic took one look, said something along the lines of 'oh my god' and called for an ambulance. It appears I was too calm so they thought I must have lied mistaken what I saw. Sorry but an elderly man doesn't need me to be losing my calm at that moment, although sadly it appears he did

So, who are these ambulances going to?

My darling father (52) was on his bathroom floor having a seizure as the result of a severe stroke with an off duty policeman (his neighbour) and an ebayer (she happened to be there collecting her purchase as he collapsed with the stroke) and the ambulance dispatcher said 60-90 minutes. 60-90 minutes!!!!!! What the fuck is that?! The man could have died and he wasn't a high priority?! Just thinking about it again makes me feel this absolute rage!!

Luckily the policeman was having none of it and demanded they send someone immediately and they sent a helicopter 15 minutes later. Absolutely disgusting. If he had died I don't know what I would have done.

My 7 year old daughter fell off her bike on Monday evening. Her leg was twisted the wrong way when I jumped off my bike and got to her.

She was writhing in pain, I called 999 and after some questions was told it wasn't an emergency and they wouldn't send an ambulance.

My brother had to come and get us and transfer her to my car and I had to take her myself.

We waited 5 hours to be seen, she has a bad break and she was admitted as they thought she needed surgery.

Thankfully she didn't, she has a full leg cast for six weeks. She's still smiling, but I keep having flashbacks of seeing her leg twisted the wrong way, truly horrific.

The staff nurse at A&E couldn't believe they didn't send one out, admitting that some of the things people get brought in for are a waste of time.

But the doctors, nurses and staff were amazing to her. Sadly, there is a problem with how they triage ambulances though and it is shocking the way it's gone/going.

My BIL fell from a height which shattered his pelvis and damaged his bladder. He had to wait HOURS for an ambulance.

Yes he did complain, but "we were busy" is of little comfort really

Please tell me the stuff I read in the book Blood Sweat and Tears published a number of years ago, where ambulance staff spend large amounts of time and effort on a few repeat callers who are vulnerable but not in fact in need of an ambulance is now out of date? Because if people in genuine emergency situations are missing out because call handlers are not allowed to say no to anyone at all, that is appalling.

On the other hand it seems some are saying no, but to the wrong people. I'm horrified about what austerity is doing to essential services.