To think this was a gross misuse of the emergency services

[retainertrainer]

DSis phoned me this morning. I missed the call as I was in work. I couldn’t talk but was able to send her a text asking if she was ok (she knew I was working so I thought something must be wrong for her to ring). She messed back saying she’d fallen down the stairs and couldn’t get up. I obviously called her straight back. She was crying but calmed down enough to explain that she’d actually missed the bottom step and landed at an awkward angle,her ankle was in a lot of pain. In the time it’d taken me to ring her back she’d also called 999 for an ambulance,her DP and our Dad (who lives a street away). By the end of our phone call her partner had arrived home and my Dad followed shortly.

The 3 of them then sat and waited 30 minutes for an ambulance. They all drive, 3 cars were at the house. No attempt made to get sis on her feet and into the car. They could have been to a&e themselves in 15! I understand she panicked when it first happened and for all she knew it could have been broken but for none of them to even attempt to get her on her feet and drive her themselves astounds me! Turns out it’s a bad sprain. I’m so cross with them all!

My DF is in his 80’s, is frail, on various medication and suffers from vertigo. He falls and as one of his medications is wolferine, is susceptible to losing a lot of blood plus breaking bones. Despite falling 11 times in the past 18months, the ambulance has only come once when my mother called. They’re overstreched and asked if a neighbour could drive him or to pop in a taxi. Your DSis panicked originally but was U when they didn’t bother to use one of the 3 cars

It seems barely more than a few weeks since we had the OP who basically hopped her own way to hospital for a sore foot, only to find out it was a nasty spiral fracture and she would have been better to have called an ambulance.

Or did I completely hallucinate that thread?

Ollivander, you're very lucky if your father's insistence on taking you by car when you had a very serious injury didn't result in exacerbating the injury wholly unnecessarily. As people have pointed out, it's not unknown for apparently straightforward fractures to be aggravated by that sort of thing leaving the injured person with permanent disability or worse.

“999 should only be called for conditions including cardiac arrest, choking, severe chest pain, suspected stroke, serious blood loss and unconsciousness."
www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/ambulance-service-apology-patients-face-992664

deep - it wasn't insisting, it just didn't cross his mind. In his mind, ambulances are there for sort of last resort or you are dying and need intervention on the way. It was a few steps to the car, I sat with my leg across the back seat and the staff brought a wheelchair to the car so probably the same amount of movement as an ambulance. It wasn't particularly serious, I didn't need pins or plates, just a few breaks and then the ligament damage.

Would I do it again? Yes. I can get to my local hospital in 5 minutes or wait hours for an ambulance as it's not a life threatening emergency. The only time I have rung for myself (and I refused to ring 999 and instead rang work!) was when I was stuck on the floor for an hour with a herniated disc. I physically couldn't get up, and they needed gas and air to move me so there was no way I could get in a car

Ollivander, it's unlikely to have been the same amount of movement as with an ambulance, because you would have been carried into the ambulance rather than taking those "few steps", and your leg would have been stabilised with something like a temporary splint.

I get that. But it really wasn't a life or limb threatening scenario. If it was a broken femur or I was losing blood or had a back/neck injury then he would have rung. An injury like I had and with me being inside could have been up to 2hrs wait if not more
If ambulances went to every broken ankle/wrist we wouldn't have any to attend jobs. If it's a busy period, you will be told to make your own way if it's a distal injury

Even the NHS site advises get a friend or relative to drive you and support your weight as you walk on the other foot

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/broken-ankle/

If this thread shows us anything, it shows us exactly why the Ambulance service is in crisis; and who is ok with that.

(yes I agree there are bigger structural problems that need sorting out; but for now we have to work with the system we have. And the OP's sister's specific case [without all the possible what if embellishments added by pp] was not a 999 emergency requiring an Ambulance)

No wonder our Ambulance service is in crisis with the entitled attitude of around 60% of posters here.

I strongly believe most would benefit from doing a first aid course and buying a first aid box, then you would be better informed when making a decision to call one or not.

You may even be able to save a relative or friends life at some point in the future.

A simple fracture in an otherwise healthy person does not require an ambulance transfer to hospital, if she can hop with assistance, whilst uncomfortable, you wouldn’t damage it further. At the other end will most likely be out straight in to the waiting room as it’s not a serious injury. Unless bone is on display, or the person is elderly, if you can walk with assistance, you should. I agree this was a waste of resources, but many ambulance trips are sadly. And the ones utilising the service unnecessarily will continue to do so, as no amount of education will change their expectations that they are not the problem with the system, everyone else is.

@SD1978 And the ones utilising the service unnecessarily will continue to do so, as no amount of education will change their expectations that they are not the problem with the system, everyone else is.

Perfectly sums up so many pp on this thread

I tripped and broke the fibula just above the ankle, DH drove me to hospital but couldn't help me as he is disabled. In A & E they sent me to xray, I was holding onto the wall to walk. The xray was sent to them on a computer and they came running down the corridor with a wheelchair. Medical people don't always get it right but if the same thing happened again I would call an ambulance and not move. I was in agony and not taken seriously, presumably because I walked in using my DHs two walking sticks.

A stint working as an ambulance call taker has made me despise people who misuse the service! Being on the phone to parents who have found their child not breathing and watching the dispatchers panic as the nearest available ambulance to send is 30 miles away will stay with me forever. The dad who was screaming at his wife to get out because he couldn’t hear my cpr advice over her anguished wailing will stay with me. Forever.

So the next time you dial 999 for a hurt ankle or a fractured wrist just imagine there is a nearby family like the one above who may not get one for their child in cardiac arrest.

Ach. I abhor misuse of ambulances, but having sprained both ankles in a similar way, the pain in the first instance was indescribable. Had mobiles been invented I might have done the same. As it was I went to the GP after a week of not being able to walk. (I was a child with parents who didn't like to bother the doctor.)

If I did the same now I'd probably wait a while to see how it panned out.
Having been at the scene of quite a few emergencies where the paramedics took an age to arrrive, I'd always try to get a lift or drive now.

I broke an ankle at home and my partner took me to hospital in the car. I broke my arm a few years later at the ice rink and an ambulance was called. I don't think a suspected broken bone is misuse of the ambulance service.

Hadenough - that is truly horrendous. Were you offered any sort of counselling to help you deal with things like that?

The ice rink probably has its own protocol of calling an ambulance.

In Ds1’s case once he was dx’d with epilepsy rather than calling an ambulance for every tonic clonic we were told to call only if it last more than 5 mins or there is clustering.

However, School and respite said they would still call an ambulance for every tonic clonic because that’s their protocol for any tonic clonics.

Likewise when I fell off the horse and landed on my back I would probably have given it ten minutes and said not to call the paramedic, but the Riding school protocol was to call a paramedic because the fall involved the back and I wasn’t immediately obviously okay.

I’ve broken bones and sprained things and it feels distinctly different.

I've broken my ankle and had a bad sprain and I couldn't tell that the sprain wasn't a break. In fact it was so painful, swollen and stuck at a funny angle I was convinced it was broken much worse than when I'd actually broken it. It took longer to recover from too!

My dd (12) broke her collarbone- it was clear to see that it was broken. There is no way I would have called an ambulance. We put her in a car and drove to A&E.

I worked as a call handier fir OOH and know that the wait fir an ambulance can be hours and hours.

The dad who was screaming at his wife to get out because he couldn’t hear my cpr advice over her anguished wailing will stay with me. Forever.

Yes I had similar

So the next time you dial 999 for a hurt ankle or a fractured wrist just imagine there is a nearby family like the one above who may not get one for their child in cardiac arrest. That is very sad but you can't plan everything. How about if an ambulance had been sent to that family's road for a non urgent matter and could have diverted to that family in 30 seconds whereas if it had been sitting at base it would have taken 10 minutes?

Don't blame the people calling the ambulances. They don't have control over who gets one sent out or not. Plus call handlers can divert ambulances so if there were none available on that day, as harrowing as it was, then that's partly dispatches fault

YANBU. Ambulances aren’t taxis to hospital.

Plus call handlers can divert ambulances so if there were none available on that day, as harrowing as it was, then that's partly dispatches fault

Are you being serious Bumpowder? You can’t be. There’s no way you can be. Have you ever spent time in an Ambulance control room?? The only way the closest ambulance was 30 miles away was because all other ambulances closer than that were all at a job (that they are then stuck on). Call handlers can’t divert ambulances, dispatchers can but unfortunately not when they’ve arrived at scene. So when people ring because they’ve hurt their arm or they’ve got a chest infection or toothache (yes that does happen!) they are taking ambulances away from dying people. Seriously get a grip.

@Bumpowder - no, that's really not the case at all