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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To think this was a gross misuse of the emergency services

300 replies

retainertrainer · 29/12/2017 14:20

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!

OP posts:

HermionesRightHook · 29/12/2017 15:09

I don't think calling an ambulance was unreasonable. I think not phoning them back after she'd calmed down and had people there with her was a bit; they may well have sent someone anyway.

It's a hard call - falling even a short way can cause incredible pain and I've had sprains that have been more painful than a simple break was, and if you don't know the difference then erring on the side of caution is ok.

I'm on the fence here - I think I would have got in the car with people to help in these circumstances, and thanked the ambulance, but equally if you're alone and can't move calling the ambulance when you can't get hold of anyone else is not an abuse of the system.

(I did have a bad fall in a public place once and someone who saw me go called an ambulance - one of those response cars came and we worked out it was almost certainly a bad sprain, but the EMT would not let me just get a cab to the nearby hospital, he insisted I had to go in the ambulance. So there's that situation too.)

Sallystyle · 29/12/2017 15:10

I think it is so sad how your austerity measures in the uk have got you all squabbling over whether or not an injured woman should ask for assistance from your medical services.

It's disgusting.

I have known people who needed 999 not call them because they didn't want to be labelled as a time waster.

The NHS is on its knees but people misusing the service is a tiny percentage of the reason for this. We all judge each other and how we use these services and it takes away from the real issues we have with the NHS.

Some people take the utter piss and call them for the most stupid of things for sure. If I was OP's sister I would probably have asked my family to lift me, but I wouldn't want the responsibility of moving someone else now knowing if I was going to fuck their injury up even worse, unless it was really obvious that it was ok to move them.

People aren't perfect, people get scared. Those people I can't judge as they are genuinely doing what they think is needed at the time.

Save your judgment for the piss takers who call for lifts because they can't get a taxi etc. A family ringing 999 because they thought it was the best thing to do because they were worried don't deserve to be judged harshly for it. It isn't their fault the NHS is on its knees.

HermionesRightHook · 29/12/2017 15:11

SO TRUE @liminality. A person scared and alone and in pain should be able to call for help.

Notreallyarsed · 29/12/2017 15:11

I again ask why can elderly people who fall over (often only needing to be picked up and put back in their chair or bed) call an ambulance but a younger person who had a suspected broken bone can't

Bone density decreases with age, particularly post menopause in females, and a broken pelvis/hip could result in far more serious complications to an elderly person.

Angrybird345 · 29/12/2017 15:11

Calling an ambulance was excessive and a waste of resources.

Oxcheeks · 29/12/2017 15:11

Ambulances are for life threatening emergencies only, not because you've missed one step and hurt your ankle. And don't get me started on the numpties who think you get seen faster at A&E if you arrive by ambulance, that's a total myth, and the reason why there are usually so many ambulances waiting outside A&E departments.

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 29/12/2017 15:12

Yes but if they have someone who's life is in immediate danger then they're (hopefully) going to send an ambulance to them before sending it to somebody who's had a fall.

Of course but like I said once they're on the sprain ankle then they're out of action till the job is over. They can't just drop a job in the middle because something more important has come up.
It took 45 minutes for an ambulance to get to my grandad after a stroke because all the ambulances in our area were already on jobs so the crew came for another area. Obviously they all were hopefully dealing with genuine emergencies but quite possibly they weren't.

SoupDragon · 29/12/2017 15:12

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

I wonder why medical professionals were unable to be certain from an X-ray whether DS had broken his ankle then. He hadn’t as it turned out, it was sprained. Perhaps they should just have asked him if it felt broken and saved some money.

QuestionableMouse · 29/12/2017 15:13

Eh, it's hardly the crime of the century, is it? She fell, was hurt and probably panicking a bit, didn't get a reply from the first person she contacted for help and then decided to call 999.

OP, you are being a bit unreasonable by having this attitude to your sister.

Mumof56 · 29/12/2017 15:14

Hopefully she'll be as quick to pay for their services.

SoupDragon · 29/12/2017 15:15

Ambulances are for life threatening emergencies only

They aren’t. They are also for people like the man who fell over on ice outside my house and broke his ankle (visibly!). Not life threatening but there was no way he was getting to hospital without an ambulance.

Ifitquackslikeaduck · 29/12/2017 15:16

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

KurriKurri · 29/12/2017 15:16

I'm not 999 happy - I've only every once called an ambulance and that was for someone else (a punctured lung as it turned out after a car accident outside my house). I have twice called a doctor out when very ill and the GP has immediately called me an ambulance. It is sometimes hard to judge for yourself whether you are seriously or not so seriously hurt. And some people panic. And they don;t know what to do. People dash in to medical situation and do things that can be fatal - trying to move people who shouldn't be moved, giving unnecessary CPR etc.

It's a judgement call - probably the sister got it wrong here, but not maliciously and she was injured. An enormous amount of time is wasted by truly ludicrous ambulance calls, and a lot of hospital time is wasted by people wiht non hospital worthy conditions - often because they can't get a GP appointment. THose are things taht need addressing.

And frankly I find all the 'I refused all help when I was injured, instead I trekked from Lands End to John O'Groats with my leg hanging off, with only half beetroot to eat for the seven week journey and still had change out of a farthing' stories even more irritating than the ambulance wasting ones. Grow up and stop showing off.

MaidOfStars · 29/12/2017 15:16

I think from what the OP says, her sister didn’t actually fall, rather landed awkwardly but remained on her feet?

FormerlyFrikadela01 · 29/12/2017 15:17

did have a bad fall in a public place once and someone who saw me go called an ambulance - one of those response cars came and we worked out it was almost certainly a bad sprain, but the EMT would not let me just get a cab to the nearby hospital, he insisted I had to go in the ambulance. So there's that situation too.

Surely that's because once he'd identified that you did indeed need to goto hospital he had a duty of care to ensure you got there although I could be wrong about that.

Phalenopsisgirl · 29/12/2017 15:17

People saying an ambulance was necessary need to get a grip. I broke an ankle skiing, I managed to ski myself (in incredible pain) to a place out of the way of others before catching a gondola down to where an ambulance picked me up, the 5 minute ambulance transfer cost me £400.

BumpowderSneezeonAndSnot · 29/12/2017 15:18

@maidofstars

Having fallen in a similar manner (as I said earlier) you can do a lot of very serious damage to your foot and ankle from a simple slip off one step and landing awkwardly.

Sallystyle · 29/12/2017 15:19

OP, you are being a bit unreasonable by having this attitude to your sister.

I just can't imagine wanting to post this on AIBU. OP wants people to pile in and agree that her sister was stupid and wasted resources. I genuinely don't get it. I would be really hurt if my sister started a thread about me so others could talk about what a shit thing I did.

OP obviously doesn't like her sister much.

gingergenius · 29/12/2017 15:20

^^this

FrancisCrawford · 29/12/2017 15:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

LakieLady · 29/12/2017 15:21

YANBU.

Despite being stupidly accident-prone (aka clumsy), I have only ever called an ambulance once. That was only because my shit of an ex wouldn't take me to minor injuries, because he had to go to work (had to pass the hospital entrance on the way, too!) and no taxis would come to my house because it's on a steep hill and they weren't prepared to come up it in the snow.

I'd broken my wrist and knew it was a Colles fracture, so would need plastering. In the end, I had to get a taxi from minor injuries to A&E, as it needed to be reduced before they could plaster it.

Mind you, that doesn't make me as cross as the people who waste ambulance time because they're pissed out of their heads. That makes me livid!

MaidOfStars · 29/12/2017 15:21

Bumpowder Understood. Just noting (if I’ve understood correctly) that other injuries like a banged head are likely not a possibility.

Notreallyarsed · 29/12/2017 15:21

@SoupDragon according to the NHS England site, they are.

www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/AboutNHSservices/Emergencyandurgentcareservices/Pages/responding-to-emergencies-FAQ.aspx

IAmLucy · 29/12/2017 15:21

My toddler broke her leg although we didn't realise it was broken at the time just thought it was a bad sprain. We immediately put her in the car and drove to a & e as it was the fastest, most sensible option.

Turned out it was quite a nasty break but if it happened again I would probably still do the same. Made not a jot of difference to the outcome and got her to the hospital potentially much quicker than an ambulance would have under the circumstances.

Fairly certain a grown adult wouldn't need an ambulance if other transport available

IAmLucy · 29/12/2017 15:23

I'm not saying that being a martyr is in anyway impressive by the way. But that a ambulance for a broken bone isn't necessary

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