why didnt they just drive her?

[NormaSmuff]

www.shorehamherald.co.uk/news/health/gran-waits-an-hour-for-ambulance-with-broken-wrist-1-7987356

I cant believe this story. Unless they are missing the part where her relatives have perhaps been drinking. Otherwise the scandal is absolutely on them.
Do you really need an ambulance for a broken wrist?

How odd. They could have called a taxi even.

Maybe with a head injury they worried that she needed to be checked over before moving her. Or if there was any neck pain that they don't mention they may have been worried about a spinal injury.

Maybe they don't drive/don't have a car or maybe they didn't have any money for a taxi?

Presumably with the bruised hip, they were concerned she might have fractured it? Although on the face of it, I do agree that an ambulance for a broken wrist seems a tad unnecessary.

I also don't think an hour is that long to wait for a conscious person with a non life threatening injury.

An hour seems pretty good for non life threatening condition. Agree that they should have driven her - or got a taxi

I expect they didn't know at this point she had only broken her wrist, mentioned she also bruised her hip I suspect they were more concerned she had broken that, hence calling an ambulance.

Agree or a taxi or maybe a friend. Ambulance was needed in this case and quite rightly been sent to patients with life threatening conditions eg heart attack, car accident.

It doesn't look from the picture like sure 'just' broke her wrist. She is elderly and had a fall. Her face is very bruised and the article said she had bad bruising on her hip too. It was sensible not to move her in case of more serious injuries and call an ambulance. I would have done.

they obviously dont read mumsnet where people are flamed for calling ambulances.
probably bad journalism doesnt help either but tbh should they really have gone to the press for this?

She only waited an hour. The ambulance dispatcher priority is to preserve live. Not provide a taxi service. Her life was not hanging in the balance

perhaps she was in to much pain, sounds like she hurt her hip as well, which could have made a car or taxi ride too difficult without pain relief or she had mobility issues and they were worried about making the injury worse transporting her themselves.

Yes, but look at the state of her! She must have really hit her head to have incurred bruising like that. I would have felt worry over bundling her into the car.

i think you are probably right notanotheruser

We waited almost an hour for an ambulance when my DD fell out of a tree and had hurt her back so she could be stabilised before being moved. I thought that was a pretty good time given she wasn't in any danger. Conscious patients who don't have life-threatening injuries have to go lower down the list, that's just the way it goes.

The daughter in law works for the fire service so you would think she would understand.

So was she left in a heap in the garden for an hour as they didn't want to move her? It says she was treated in the living room.

Seems like a government bashing piece underneath it all anyway.

meh

With any traumatic injuries the advice is not to splint any injuries and not to move the patient, which may be why they didn't put her in a car or taxi.

But they moved her to the living room.

It says in the article that the son "even considered driving her himself" as if that were a shocking concept!

This will sound hash but she's only 74, I was expectng to see a frail 90 year old. I know she could have other health problems but I don't consider 74 elderly. We have a TA at my school still working full time at 72.

Also it says the son considered driving her himself. Well why didn't he then? Her life wasn't in danger so unfortunately they had to prioritise other cases above her.

You have to love local newspaper articles. Always a joy.

If the son considered driving her, perhaps she wasn't in a bad enough way to warrant an ambulance. We don't know the details. Shock and pain can do strange things. Perhaps they carried her into the living room so going the car would have been very difficult.

Perhaps the son considered driving her but was worried about moving her as suggested, or he had been drinking was my thought. the journalist is not giving the full story no doubt. the lesson is dont go to the local press, or any press in fact, unless you want to risk being misquoted/half quoted