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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

why didnt they just drive her?

140 replies

NormaSmuff · 01/06/2017 07:25

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?

OP posts:
Notso · 01/06/2017 07:52

Would she have been seen straight away if they'd driven her in though?

Sparklingbrook · 01/06/2017 07:52

Must have been an exceedingly slow news day.

OvariesForgotHerPassword · 01/06/2017 07:53

Going to the press to complain about the ambulance service doesn't seem fair. Another stick for the media to beat the NHS with.

Spikeyball · 01/06/2017 07:53

I think it depends upon her general health and how likely it looked like she had done something more serious than damaging her wrist. It does mention she has a care line alarm.

Spikeyball · 01/06/2017 07:54

But not something to go to the press about.

QueenOfRubovia · 01/06/2017 07:56

As others have said, it's only with hindsight that we know she only broke her wrist. Looks like she had a nasty bang on the head and her hip obviously was painful. I would have called an ambulance.
Also, to a pp, some 74 year olds are quite chipper, but others rather frail.

OvariesForgotHerPassword · 01/06/2017 07:57

Notso travelling by ambulance doesn't get you seen any quicker.

Beeziekn33ze · 01/06/2017 07:59

'where her thumb joins her arm'?!

BarbaraofSeville · 01/06/2017 08:01

Sounds like a candidate for Angry People in Local Newspapers where people either get worked up about non issues or overly angry about actual issues.

An hour doesn't sound too terrible for a non life threatening injury. They did say it was a very busy day and who knows what other cases they had to deal with? Strokes, heart attacks, road accidents, people choking etc would obviously take priority.

diddl · 01/06/2017 08:09

It says that they pressed the personal alarm & you'd hope for a pretty swift response to that, wouldn't you?

I guess though it was realised that she wasn't alone & was conscious?

MrsBobDylan · 01/06/2017 08:11

The operators assess the urgency of each call, she was breathing, conscious, in a safe, warm place with responsible people. If her state had changed at any point her family would have called again and she would have been bumped up the priority list.

An hour seems pretty speedy to me and I would rather they took an hour in this case than five minutes more for a more acute patient.

OvariesForgotHerPassword · 01/06/2017 08:13

diddl the community alarm doesn't just dispatch an ambulance. They'll speak to the person from the community alarm company, who'll speak to the ambulance service, who will then speak to the patient and dispatch an ambulance according to the priority of the call.

Tink06 · 01/06/2017 08:13

I am so angry at some of the responses on here. She has obviously had a bad fall looking at the bruising and luckily only has a broken wrist. They had no way of knowing this at the time as she was presenting with pain elsewhere (possible hip/ pelvis injury) where the advise is definitely not to move them. No one knows her health background to pass comment.
My mil who was also only 74 had to live with us due to ill health (ironically starting with a broken hip at 71) , was housebound and amongst many other things had osteoporosis. She had a very similar fall a couple of months ago and, banged her head. My instinct was to get her up and check her over as she seemed to be okay but just couldn't get herself up. She was screaming in agony when I tried so I called 999. She ended up dying in hospital a few weeks later.
I also remember another incident when I asked for a gp to visit her at home as she was very Ill and could not have managed the car journey. The receptionist comment was "but she is housebound , she's only 74". I replied " yes imagine how soul destroying that is". My point being you don't have to be a frail 90 year old to need an ambulance as a pp suggested.

kmc1111 · 01/06/2017 08:16

I can understand calling an ambulance, but why complain about the wait? An hour isn't that long, and it wasn't an 'emergency' emergency, her wrist wasn't going to get more broken and nothing suggests her condition deteriorated at any point.

It's just one of those things. Have a minor accident at the right moment and you might get an ambulance to show up in a few minutes. Have a minor accident at the same time as people are calling about car crashes and heart attacks and strokes and kids not breathing, and you can expect a wait. An hour is actually pretty short if it was a busy day for them.

Original poster
NormaSmuff · 01/06/2017 08:18

i am sorry you are angry about some posters and I am sorry about your MIL Tink Flowers but it isnt the same

OP posts:
diddl · 01/06/2017 08:28

"diddl the community alarm doesn't just dispatch an ambulance."

No, I know-which is why I'm thinking that they knew that she wasn't alone & was conscious.

NancyWake · 01/06/2017 08:32

Generally with old people you're told not to move them after falls as you don't know what they have broken. If she'd broken her hip bundling her into a car would have been a terrible idea. They didn't know upfront that it was only her wrist that was broken.

Having said that one hour isn't unusual for an ambulance for something that's not an emergency.

NancyWake · 01/06/2017 08:33

They had no way of knowing this at the time as she was presenting with pain elsewhere (possible hip/ pelvis injury) where the advise is definitely not to move them.

Yes I agree everyone's being naive.

ifonly4 · 01/06/2017 08:38

Giving her family the benefit of the doubt, maybe that don't drive.

If they don't, then they were in the same situation as me a few years ago. I had to call an ambulance for my 18 month DD after she had an accident. DH had our one car at work, and I couldn't contact him, I ran with her in my arms to both neighbours who weren't in, sat with her trying to comfort/work out what to and realising she needed more than a doctor, phoned for an ambulance. At the time there wasn't enough cash in the house for a taxi. The ambulance crew luckily arrived within 5 minutes, I apologised in case they had life threatening calls to deal with but I was told I did the right thing, they couldn't actually help her so needed to get her to hospital ASAP for help. You just never know how bad something is, I never anticipated she needed an operation.

BluePeppers · 01/06/2017 08:42

I agree with Tink no one has no idea what she actually had, what is her health in general etc...
Easy to say AFTERWARDS 'oh it was just a broken wrist.' But actually until she has been seen by a doctor, no one knew.

Re the wait of an hour long.....
The fact that most people think it's not long and really normal shows how used we now are to have to wait for hours for an ambulance.
If people were winding back a few years, they would remember this didn't used to be the case. And would never have been considered 'normal'

123MothergotafleA · 01/06/2017 08:49

What a load of bollocks!
If people think an hours wait for an ambulance for a non life threatening event is a long time then they're in for a big reality check.
Four hours or more would be about the normal wait time for this sort of case these days.
So yes, a very very slow news day indeed.

TestTubeTeen · 01/06/2017 08:51

If a 73 year old falls from a height, has cuts and bruises to their head, is experiencing pain in hip, arm and hand, I think it completely reasonable to call for experienced help rather than start hauling her about.

BeyondThePage · 01/06/2017 08:51

DD14 dislocated her knee cap and damaged her ankle - was on the floor unable to move in severe agony. We rang for an ambulance - one of the first things they said was DO NOT MOVE HER, we will send an ambulance. It took 4 hours to get there (Saturday afternoon) - we would not dream of complaining about it though - because her injuries, although NEEDING an ambulance crew to move her and provide pain relief, and a doctor to correct it, were not life threatening.

stopfuckingshoutingatme · 01/06/2017 08:54

agreed 100000% . people like this (sorry) is why we have so many challenges with the NHS. for a fall and hurt wrist they want a fucking ambulance|?

entitled fuckers

Spikeyball · 01/06/2017 08:57

My fil falls over a lot doing the sort of thing this lady was doing. When he has gone down sometimes it can be impossible for two people to safely move him and an ambulance has been called. Calling the ambulance was probably not unreasonable. The wait was not desirable and I would hope it wouldn't be generally this long.

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