Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To think some people waste the ambulance service time

237 replies

hannah1992 · 25/07/2017 07:37

So last night I drove my dd who's 19 months to the out of hours doctor which is located at our hospital. You have to wait at a&e reception and speak to reception etc. Anyway three ambulances came in and obviously they get first priority in booking people in. We had been waiting in line for 25 minutes while these ambulances were sorted and my dd was screaming the whole time (she has an ear infection). In the three ambulances was a man that was sent to the gp part so didn't even need a hospital doctor. Another had a teenage boy and his mum. He had a bandage around his hand/wrist BUT his dad had followed the ambulance in the car. He was walking around didn't seem to be in very much pain aibu in the fact that his dad had drove behind the ambulance, why couldn't he have just drove him in the car?

I was just stood there thinking the ambulance certainly in my area (not sure about others) are very stretched and people should stop calling ambulances when a) they can go to hospital in the car ie: it's not a life threatening emergency and let the ambulance service deal with people who are seriously ill. I just kept thinking while they have been dealing with someone who needed a gp rather than the hospital and someone who's parents could have drove him to hospital somebody could have been dying of a heart attack.

OP posts:
hannah1992 · 03/08/2017 14:03

She went into hospital with my dad saw the reception was told to sit and wait and it was just over an hour before she was seen by the nurse. The nurse then went to find a doctor. In February this year she passed away of the same thing because she went to the doctors who said she had a virus she said she had a virus and to go home and rest that was on the Monday she died during Wednesday night we found her Thursday morning.

I'm sorry but unless you are experiencing sever chest pains or other sever illness that needs immediate attention or had a serious accident etc then don't phone one either take yourself there or see a gp/nurse!

Minor burns are easily treated at home. It really annoys me that people think it's acceptable to call an ambulance over the stupidest of things while people are dying/ need immediate help but the ambulance got held up because some twat fell over or whatever

OP posts:
lostinaseaofbubbles · 03/08/2017 21:35

What about if you don't know if what you're experiencing is a "severe illness" or not? When I had my first stroke I wouldn't let my husband call an ambulance. He called 111 who sent one anyway (unsurprisingly)!

Why wouldn't I let him? Because of people who think like this. My face hadn't fallen and I was in my mid 30s so it couldn't possibly be a stroke. No idea why I couldn't talk or move half my body but my face hadn't fallen so it couldn't be that serious and I didn't want to waste their time.

According to your post above, as I wasn't sure that it was a "severe illness" I should indeed not have called an ambulance.

whereismyparachute · 03/08/2017 21:38

I have waited for over an hour to be triaged on three occasions.

AwaywiththePixies27 · 03/08/2017 23:54

An ambulance never gets held up because 'some twat fell over' Confused . They'd be very way down the list of callouts as my Mum so rightly was that time, however crass that sounds.

That's why there's a triage system.

I'm sorry to hear about your gran. I hope you put a complaint in when you are ready about the obvious misdiagnosis's.

AwaywiththePixies27 · 03/08/2017 23:56

lostinaseaofbubbles please don't feel bad about your DH ringing one.

As you were clearly suffering from a severe illness at the time, even unaware, he was right to call one!

As my Nurse said to me. It's Their job to decide if the illness is severe or not.

chips4teaplease · 04/08/2017 00:12

I rang 111 last night for advice because I'd had some symptoms and knew the medication I was due to take might make the symptoms worse. They insisted on sending an ambulance. A big ambulance, two paramedics, and an ambulance car with a further paramedic in it. So three of them and one of me. I had to go to hospital, and be pushed in strapped to a wheeled stretcher/bed even though I was perfectly capable of walking. The crew had to stay with me for a couple of hours until a cubicle was available because until then they couldn't get their bed back (I did offer to sit in a chair) and I was still officially in their care.

When I originally spoke to 111 I told them that I'd get a taxi in. The 'clinician' insisted I needed the paramedics. I didn't want the ambulance, I didn't want the neighbourhood to know anything about my illness and I don't ever like a fuss. But, much against my will, I tied up three paramedics for two hours, and two of them for a further hour. We were all trying to do the right thing. Me by checking before I opted for the meds, 111 by making sure someone with my symptoms wasn't overlooked even if they said they didn't want the fuss, the paramedics who stuck with me, the hospital who did all the checks as soon as they could but were busy.

After four and a half hours and some courteous, efficient attention, they let me go home. By taxi.

AwaywiththePixies27 · 04/08/2017 00:26

chips that's because they're not allowed to let you go until you have been officially 'handed over'.

I once got placed in a dayroom whilst the ward found me a bed. Because I'd been beouhjt in by ambulance as I needed the oxygen and the nebulisers, they had to stay with me until my bottom was parked on a bed and was assigned a nurse too.

I remember all I kept thinking was they'd been kept away from at least three calls in the time they had to wait with me. I was stable. They're just not allowed to leave in case you become unstable. Which I have a habit of suddenly doing. Blush

AwaywiththePixies27 · 04/08/2017 00:27

P.s chips I hope you're feeling better today. Flowers

Genghi · 04/08/2017 06:56

I had silent pneumonia. My only symptoms were a slight tightness in my chest and dizziness. I was able to walk out of my ambulance (where I received urgent medical treatment that I don't even remember), walk into the waiting room, and walk to my bed. If you saw me you'd wonder what I was doing there. I didn't leave the hospital then for 2 weeks and my condition was very serious.

VinIsGroot · 04/08/2017 10:10

@Treesinbloom rural area so would take just as long to get a taxi ...we can't even get takeaway delivered!

chips4teaplease · 04/08/2017 12:56

chips that's because they're not allowed to let you go until you have been officially 'handed over'.
I got that. We were all doing the right thing as far as we could, but it tied them up for hours.

chips4teaplease · 04/08/2017 12:58

AwaywiththePixies27 P.s chips I hope you're feeling better today
A bit better and much less scared - thank you! Grin

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread