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!

Older people falling can often have severe consequences.

A young otherwise healthy person with an injured ankle is unlikely to suffer a higher risk of death in the ensuing a fall.

Bum-she knew that she was then able to phone me,her DP (who was 5 minutes away) and my dad who lives around the corner and she hadn’t fallen down the stairs-she’d missed the bottom step.

I guess I don't get slagging family off for a choice they made in a stressful situation when they were worried, and possibly worried about doing more damage.

I save my anger for the people who call 999 because they want a lift somewhere, or they have cut their finger, or all of the other stupid wasteful reasons people call. They thought she needed help with moving her, they got it wrong.

You don't really sound like you like your sister? Even if I thought my sister did make a silly decision I wouldn't want to post about her here so MN posters can talk about how selfish and stupid she was.

Threads like this are why people don't seek treatment until it's almost too late. They feel judged and persecuted for calling for help.

I agree entirely. We spend hours every shift doing things like this. We arrive to find a house full of family members, each one of whom has a car. We taxi the patient into hospital and they are triaged into the waiting room or Minor Injuries, exactly as they would be if they'd been driven there by the family. It's a dreadful waste of time, money and resources, and cumulatively the attitude that lies behind it has been a contributory factor in bringing the NHS to its knees.

It sounds as though she panicked badly; which is understandable as falling can give you a shock, but I'm kind of with you on this op.

I've broken and sprained the same ankle on different occasions by falling down stairs and it never occurred to me to call an ambulance. On both occasions my DH threw me on his back like a sack of potatoes and drove me to a & e, and this is in a country where the health service is adequately funded.

I'm terrified of misusing the emergency services, so would not have called an ambulance. I think unless it is a broken neck, it is fine to move the person- the ambulance people will have to move them!

Mind you, when my house went on fire in the middle of the night I called my dad (next door) who had to persuade me to call the fire service (I didn't want to waste their time- took them 2 hours to put the fire out

Yanbu.
It would be nice if she made a payment of £250 somehow. (As per memo above).

fair enough if the back was involved (you shouldn't try moving anyone without medical training with back pain after a fall).
legs/feet - yep try to get up. get in a car, if possible.

YANBU
When something like this happens to me or a family member and they're breathing, talking and there's no limbs pointing in the opposite direction or bones breaking skin, then no ambulance.

The ambulance wouldn't have come out if they didn't think there was a possibility they were genuinely needed

The OPs sister told her she'd fallen down the stairs, which then transpired to be missing the last step. If she told the controller she fell down the stairs then they'd send an ambulance as standard because actually falling down a flight of stairs could cause several other not as obvious at the time injuries. Missing the last step massively reduces the risk of other injuries.

And elderly people (among other vulnerable groups) are generally more frail, have higher risk of breaking bones from smaller impacts and often other health conditions that can impact negatively on the injury sustained. For example a fractured neck of femur is a common injury for an elderly person following a fall, that is an emergency as the femoral artery can have been damaged and causing internal bleeding. And an elderly person is more likely to sustain a fractured neck of femur than a younger person from the same type of fall.

Bum-I clearly do care about her hence me dropping everything as soon as she phoned me.

After the ‘shock’ of missing one step had warn off and 2 of her loved ones had arrived then could have cancelled the ambulance.

I’m having a rant here instead of creating arguments within the family.

Even if she had told them someone was with her, they would still have sent an ambulance because she had fallen and couldn't move.
You're mistaken if you think everyone can tell the difference between a break and a sprain . . . actually you're deluded - even medical staff can sometimes make mistakes. My DH had an accident a few years ago. Hospital focused on his leg injury although he kept telling them he also had pain at his ankle. A few weeks later, an x-ray revealed he had damaged his ankle too.
imo she was correct to call. I don't understand why you're so angry about it? Do you generally have a bad relationship with her? Or were you worried by the call and are misdirecting your upset and fright into anger?

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

I've broken my foot and torn my ligaments by missing the bottom step and was completely non weight bearing on it despite people trying to get me up and out the house so perhaps am more on your sisters side here. Even if I hadn't had a similar injury I would still be on her side as she was in pain in shock and had frightened herself silly. Be a bit more sympathetic.

Ridiculoue.
2 grown men could have got her into a car no problem.
What a waste of resources.
I went to gp with my suspected broken ankle and she sent me for xray with a lift in car from a friend. She didnt phone me an ambulance!

There was a sad daily mail face story on front page of our local paper recently. Little girl fell in playground at school and hurt her leg. There was a huge hoo haa how they waited 4 hours for ambulance to come. 4 bloody hours and little girl was still lying on playground, in the dark, wrapped up in a blanket. Dad had driven to the school fgs. Anyone with any sense would have scooped her up and got her there in the back of their car.
Risk of back or neck injury. Keep em still. Otherwise. Ship em out asap!!

I think unless it is a broken neck, it is fine to move the person- the ambulance people will have to move them! have you ever broke your leg or seen a broken femur?

bump do you really need to have the difference between an old person and a young person falling explained to you?! of course its completely different.

many old people cannot get themselves up, young people can.
OPs sister didnt have a “suspected broken bone” - she missed a step and twister her ankle.
many old people fall due to underlying health conditions, often undiagnosed
old people can die from being left alone lying on the floor
OPs sister was not alone, she had TWO adults who can both drive

are you telling me they couldnt carry her to a car and lay her down in the back seat,
instead of taking the time of two paramedics for a sprained ankle?

meanwhile someone is waiting an extra 30 mins for a suspected heart attack, or an RTC, or a stroke.m, because she was being a princess about a sprained ankle. she said she “fell down the stairs” fgs, she missed one step

YANBU. If she was alone with literally no way of getting up and no-one to call then ringing an ambulance would have been the option. But she rang two other people so they all sat and waited for an Ambulance for a sprained ankle.

She discovered it was sprained after treatment. Last I checked no one has xray vision

The thing is she didn;t know if she;d broken it. And neither did her partner - I;d have thought manhandling someone into an ambulance with abroken bone would be a bad idea. A friend of mine slipped and broke her ankle at toddlers club years ago - there was a room full of people there with cars who could have taken her to hospital but we got an ambulance - if we'd started pulling her around we'd have seriously messed up her leg. (Although it was quite obvious she had broken it - I was standing near her and I heard the snap)

It's easy to look back with hindsight and say it was only a sprain, but if you aren't a medical professional it can sometimes be hard to make the call. Did the ambulance people say she shouldn;t have called them? - they are usually the ones who can tell you if you judged it right or wrong.

I think in the big picture where people ring 999 because they've lost a packet of mince, your sister isn't the worst offender I've heard of - she was at least injured.

Having done this myself, with my husband in the house, we called 111 and they sent an ambulance. They wanted to check I hadn't hurt my back or banged my head.

I was told mine was a bad sprain too, though turns out it was a missed break !

YANBU. I was non weight bearing after breaking my ankle and foot and tearing the ligaments. I hopped a few steps to the car and was driven to hospital. This was after falling down approx 40 stairs

I actually broke the other ankle and foot a year later and didn't know I had so drove myself to a&e

yes, but unless her ankle was flopping in a different direction, or a bone sticking out, then im sure she would have survived being carried to a car and not putting weight on the injured ankle

YANBU, my son fractured his knee playing football. Heard it crack and pop. Referee wanted to call an ambulance-no way! I had my car, I wasn't injured so perfectly able to drive him to A&E. Ambulances are for people who have no options.

I think the people saying it's fine have never known anyone who has had a complicated break from an awkward fall. I know more than one. In fact one of my colleagues still needs a walking stick years later. She was young when she fell and she fell from standing (not a height). She was just very unlucky, it was an awkward fall and caused lots of damage.