Did I do the right thing? 111 related

[flibflob]

I've suffered from recurrent kidney infections for a while, have been hospitalised in the past. Most recent one was diagnosed Tuesday, on antibiotics at the moment and symptoms have been under control.

At about 7:30, I noticed I was shivering, didn't stop when wrapped up warm, followed by palpitations, faster breathing than normal, clammy and mottled skin, and feeling disorientated. Rang 111. The lady I spoke to said she was going to call an ambulance. 20 mins later, emergency ambulance arrives and declares all is normal and I am fine. In and out in about 15 mins. I felt very bad and apologised for wasting their time, but they seemed nonplussed.

My DM (who I rang because I thought I might be taken to hospital) is now ranting and raving at me saying I shouldn't have called 111 and should have rung her first instead (because she was a nurse 40 years ago and ergo knows much more than the paramedics ). I understand that the ambulance could have been avoided, but the way that I see it, I felt unwell, rang 111, and the rest ensued. Thanks to her (and partially my embarrassment) I am now convinced that I did the wrong thing by calling 111 in the first place. Did I?

No you didn't do the wrong thing. Sepsis is really high profile just now and the symptoms you described could have indicated this. You needed up to date medical personnel to look at you with the correct equipment. Obviously you were ok but the retrospectascope is a wonderful thing and your DM doesn't posess one. Hope you're feeling better.

Well, no, you didn't do the wrong thing if you felt unwell. It sounds like you were hyperventilating. That gets rid of too much carbon dioxide, which makes you feel disorientated.

But from your description, if you were shivering, that could indicate a fever or hypothermia. A high respiratory rate is a marker for illness, and you're feeling disorientated with mottled skin. You've ticked 3 or 4 boxes for sepsis...ambulance. So the 111 handler did the right thing.

Your mother was such an outstanding nurse that she'd feel comfortable diagnosing you over the phone? Ignore. Don't feel bad.

Your DM is BU; you were honest about your symptoms and they believed that sending out a paramedic was the right thing to do. What would your DM have preferred, you sit there becoming more and more unwell because "in the olden days we just grinned and bore it"? Yes, and in the olden days more people died from minor ailments because they weren't treated quickly or efficiently enough.

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Of course not. You did the sensible thing

You absolutely did the right thing!

I've suffered from recurrent kidney infections for a while, have been hospitalised in the past. Most recent one was diagnosed Tuesday, on antibiotics at the moment and symptoms have been under control.

At about 7:30, I noticed I was shivering, didn't stop when wrapped up warm, followed by palpitations, faster breathing than normal, clammy and mottled skin, and feeling disorientated.

I decided not to call 111 and assume that because I was on antibiotics I would be fine, as I'm sure my DM would have said if I'd called her. I was going to write more but then I developed sepsis and died.

OK, slightly hyperbolic there, but no health professional worth their salt is going to dismiss you given symptoms such as fever, palpitations and disorientation. Regardless of their cause, they have to be ruled out physically, in person by a qualified health professional, before they can be dismissed as non serious.

You did the right thing OP. The correct response should be relief by all involved. Hope you feel better soon.

You did the right thing.
There's an argument that HCP's assessing the calls, rather than lesser trained people following a script, might result in better phone advice and fewer paramedic/ambulance call outs. But you can't control that.

Situations like yours are exactly what 111 is for. You used the service correctly and it functioned as it's supposed to. All hail the NHS.

And your DM, though well-meaning, is not well informed on the way things work now. She practiced in an era when you could call your own GP at any time of day or night and they would come to your house to treat you.

The closest thing we have to that now is 111. You did the right thing.

I work for 111, of course you did the right thing. That's why we are here