What, in your opinion, deserves an ambulance call out?

[Drizzledrozzle]

Inspired by another thread, what level of pain / injury / personal circumstances deserves an ambulance call out?

In my own recent experience I'm aware of my gran who calls an ambulance most days because she's confused and gets some shortness of breath.
IMO she should not be calling an ambulance, but she's alone and frightened and clearly calls them as a safety mechanism. She also calls police, fire and the gas board most days, as well as my dad x30 a day and myself once or twice. She's shortly being moved into residential care which will be a great relief to her local emergency services. However if she didn't have family / resources to pay for the care what is the answer?

My partner had a virus and while walking across the kitchen he suddenly collapsed. He didn't lose consciousness but was unable to get up, and I had two small children I was looking after so couldn't give him much care or attention or time, so I called 999. I think the shock of him collapsing made me unable to think straight.
They triaged him by phone, told him to get himself to a sofa as soon as he could, and they'd drop by when they had a moment but they wouldn't consider him a priority.
He ended up being taken in that night when they arrived with suspected meningitis. Thankfully he didn't have it and recovered soon after

When pregnant with DC1 I had a single drop of blood appear and again I freaked out and called 999. They kindly told me I didn't need an ambulance and to keep an eye, stay comfortable and get to an EPU in the morning. All was luckily fine.
I very clearly shouldn't have called 999, but no ambulance came and I only wasted 5 mins of phone time.

I don't want a critique of all my experiences, I'm sure it would be searing! But given some posters seem to think you need to be actually in cardiac arrest before you can even consider calling 999, where is your line?

I’ve had an ambulance called twice. Once for my son who was having shocking febrile convulsions and we didn’t know what was going on, and once for myself when I collapsed.

@zukiecat I wouldn't be too cross, low blood sugar can be both very scary and affect your judgement and cognition. It can also get out of control pretty quickly.

I once genuinely broke my back in a fall and knew I’d done it as I heard and obviously felt a very loud snap. Pain was immense. In shock I decided to walk home a mile away. Was screaming in pain when I got there and even then didn’t call an ambulance but rang a taxi! The a&e receptionist looked a bit dubious when I stood there sobbing and told her I’d broken my back.

I obviously should have called an ambulance. Never called one for me or a family member. Years ago at uni I called one for a housemate because she had some form of seizure.....looking back I think it was a panic attack but she fell to the floor and was unresponsive and twitching,

When DM was having what turned out to be a TIA (and I'd thought was a full stroke). By the time the paramedics arrived she was "fine", they did all the checks and as they were about to leave when she had a second. They took her to hospital and she had a massive stroke shortly after.

I could tell when they were initially checking her that the paramedics thought we were time-wasting, I remember wishing I'd videoed her while it was happening. They were still professional, but you could tell.

It was a bit of blessing (odd as it sounds) that the second attack did happen while they were still there as I doubt I'd have convinced her to go to the hospital after she'd been checked out and told no need.

DH called 999 when I had my first seizure, the dispatcher was great at talking him through while I was fitting and turning blue

The paramedics said he was right to call and took me into hospital - where after further tests I was discharged with a follow up with neurology

I tell colleagues NOT to call an ambulance if I have another seizure (thankfully several years seizure free, touch wood), unless it lasts for 5 mins or more

I call 999 in emergencies when I am concerned for someone's life. DS has fell down the stairs when he was 18months and I drove him to the GP. I've also had to insist 111 not send an ambulance when he's had an asthma attack and took him myself instead. OH also passed out a few times when ill. I put him in the recovery position and help him up when he comes round.

The only time I've needed 999 is when OH had a severe hypo in the middle of the night and his glucogen didnt have much effect.

I tend not to overreact.

A life-threatening emergency - anything else call 111, or your GP practice. I can’t remember who said that your gran had no choice but to call as GP’s don’t do home visits - that is incorrect, they do, but for patients who are medically housebound, i.e. very elderly, the disabled. Many patients confuse this with not having a car and it being more convenient for the doctor to come to you.

It's so hard to know, though, isn't it. I mean there's the panic when an event happens. I'd call for something massively broken, heart attack, stroke, bleeding everywhere etc.

But then again, I called 111 over the Christmas period for my then 6 week old who was lethargic and sucking his ribcage in while breathing, just wanting to make an OOH appt and I clearly triggered something as they sent an ambulance which arrived within 15 minutes. The parademics were lovely but while DS was clearly poorly and needed to go the children's assessment unit, he absoluely did not need an ambulance They took as anyway as it can't have been busy. The only time I have been in an ambulance and we didn't even call it!

300e for an ambulance call out where I live. Makes you think twice about calling one for a small break or something non life threatening like a little cut

Unless you think what you have requires immediate medical attention and is life threatening (heart attack, breathing difficulties etc) or you can't physically move eg badly broken leg/back severe burns, in the advanced stages of childbirth etc I don't personally think it warrants a call.

That program "ambulance" is it? Where they follow the phone operators and paramedics makes me really mad, the number of pointless call outs is ridiculous!

So if the nhs is so stretched, why are we criticising old ladies, but making it acceptable for horse riding and other risky sport injuries to use an ambulance? Or overdoses and other self inflicted stuff? What about alcohol and drugs?

Really interesting to read all the replies. It seems we're mostly in agreement, though some differing views on the slightly less immediate life threatening things

My own view (if not operating on autopilot under shock) is that if it seems like the person needs to be seen ASAP or they will deteriorate. I should add to my list DD having a high fever and red blotches appearing on her chest in the middle of the night. Thankfully by the time the ambulance appeared they'd disappeared, but we were scared for a few minutes and ambulance were really happy to check over a clearly healthy baby and reassured us we hadn't made the wrong call.
However when she's had a high temp (40) for 2-3 days running, calmed by calpol but showing no signs of disappearing I wouldn't call an ambulance as there weren't enough red flags

I don't drive so always have to fa tor that in to my decision, plus the time it would take to gather DC to be ready to get in a taxi with DP on the example when he collapsed - getting the both up, packing nappy and snack bag, getting myself dressed, getting overnight bag, calling cab and finding my purse, keys, charger and locking the house and closing all windows all would have taken me quite a long time. I didn't know if DP was about to start fitting in front of my eyes as he'd been ill for three days deteriorating at that point, so ambulance felt the safest bet

Re those who asked about my gran - the situation is not ideal I'll agree. She suddenly went downhill about 5 weeks ago. She lives alone, 200 miles away. We've tried to get her to move down to where the rest of us live many time but she always refused.
Since she's been going downhill we've visited her three times, and have a move in date for the residential care next week, so all things considered whilst not perfect I think we've done the best we could. We all work full or nearly full time and have young children to look after too, except her son dad who runs his own business and had some serious anxiety issues around leaving the ship unmanned there, plus huge issues around his mum who essentially abandoned him in favour of her abusive husband. It is being resolved, but things can't always happen overnight, and it takes time to realise it had moved into a situation with no hope of improvement rather than a situation that could be resolved with a daily carer visit.
Thanks to posters who were generous enough to understand sometimes life is complicated

DH is a paramedic, I am an ambulance volunteer.

Ambulances should be called where

• there is need for on the spot treatment of a life-threatening symptom
• where the patient needs hospital treatment and is so fragile/ill/likely to deteriorate they need to be taken in an ambulance and looked after by ambulance crew on the way.

Unfortunately, pain in itself isn’t life threatening, nor is being on the floor and unhurt but unable to get up by yourself.

I think it's dangerous to tell people they are wrong to dial 999 if they are genuinely scared for someone's life (I mean generically).

My little boy had a minor condition as a baby. It needed surgery and caused constant pain but wasn't life threatening EXCEPT in a small percentage of cases which develop into a surgical emergency. The only warning sign was inconsolable crying - which you can imagine was pretty frequent in a 2 month old in constant pain. The doctors were very firm with us that it was not our job to decide that it was definitely life threatening, it was our job to get him to A&E if he was showing those symptoms.

As the daughter of a nurse & having worked in the NHS for years I hate using resources unnecessarily. I remember sitting in reception A&E on a Friday night and someone genuinely rang to ask if they needed an ambulance for a verruca. There are obviously limits. But not every life threatening emergency fits a neat profile.

Years ago, my MIL went to the GP with pain and swelling. He sent her away. We saw her that evening and I just knew something was wrong. I couldn't explain it in a list. We dragged her to A&E, she spent 9 days in ICU and we were told she would have died if we hadn't brought her in.

Now I'd always call 111 instead of 999 (though they've three times sent ambulances to me and each time has led to a hospital trip, once with blue lights).

A life-threatening emergency - anything else call 111, or your GP practice

I call 999 in emergencies when I am concerned for someone's life

Yes, but judging this, is the difficulty. When ds was little his breathing was a little ragged and we called OOH and waited for an appointment in the night at a cottage hospital, as soon as the dr saw him, he called for an ambulance and said this is what we should have done. Ds's sats were very low and he needed oxygen in the ambulance.

There are also occasions where it is not life threatening, but an accident that needs immediate attention, sometimes combined with difficulties moving.

When ds burnt his leg recently there was no way we could have moved him without a paramedic assistance.

It would be really good to see proper stats on number of call outs which were completely pointless (broken nail, minor burn when cooking toast etc) vs proper injury but not ambulance-deserving (eg broken elbow, spreading skin infection?) vs quite vs very serious

Is the ambulance service really being overstretched by broken finger nails or is it completely overstretched because of years and years of cuts so it is a postcode lottery whether a heart attack or unresponsive baby will get attention?
Would it be fine if not for elderly and alone patients calling it as they don't know what else to do?

A bit more impartial information of this sort might stop people being so worried about calling an ambulance that they end up making their own situation ten times worse due to not seeking help until its too late

Anyone who works in this area know if this sort of analysis is available?

I called an ambulance for my husband on Sunday as he had an asthma attack. Very glad I did as by the time I got off the phone he could no longer speak and was starting to turn blue. They arrived just as he lost consciousness and I hate to think what would have happened if I had hesitated even for a few minutes.

I'm a community nurse and have called 999 for patients countless times, the most common reasons are suspected sepsis/falls/sudden onset confusion.

I've called 999 twice for my dd, she was very unwell and I wasn't happy with her breathing. The first paramedic saw her in the early hours of the morning and said yes she is very unwell but doesn't need hospital admission. The second paramedics (called 10 hours later) also were hesitant about taking her but did as I insisted. It turned out her throat was so swollen she needed ventilating for 3 days. I think sometimes they see so many time wasters they can't always judge the genuine patients.

The first time my first port of call was 111, but they then sent a first responder paramedic, then a doctor arrived, then an ambulance. I was blue lighted to hospital straight to acute admissions, by passing A and E then on ti a ward. The second time was also via 111 who sent an ambulance and was bluelighted, with A and E on standby. brought straight to resusc. The A and E doctors and subsequently the cardioligist said next time dial 999. So that's what I do - or my daughter does as I can't normally breathe or speak properly. My issues were cardiac related or lung related.

I would call for something like a major broken bone, bad burns, unconscious person etc too.

Emergency’s

And what fucks me off loads is people who will sit for a hour with a sick child or relative waiting for an ambulance when they have a car outside we live next door to a hospital and was horrified to find my neighbor had called and ambulance then moaned it took 20 minutes it would of been quicker for her to put him in his brothers pray and run round

Witch shows me it was not life or death

I wouldn’t call a ambulance for a broken bone unless it’s a back or a skull

You can sit in a car with a broken arm and be taken to hospital

Drizzledrozzle

Actually clear you have no clue 70% of people who go to a&e don’t need to be their

Prime example drunks

Drunk people are not ill their drunk if you get rid of people who are not supposed to be their you lighten staffs work load decreases the abuse they get

And they can get fecking home on time

If people really think that time wasters are not part of the ambulance services woes the. Your mistaken

We have all seen the documentary’s were the callers spend the night dealing with CF

People ring up because their sad

Or lonely

It’s not nice but it’s not and emergency people ring because their drunk or because they see a homeless drunk

Or because they want to see the blue lights

I think some people are uneducated about how serious some illnesses are, and these do require an ambulance even though they don’t fit a neat box of being unconscious/unresponsive or haemorrhaging blood etc. As an example, I phoned for an emergency appointment at my gp. Took kids to school then walked to the surgery. Felt more poorly than I’ve ever felt. The dr called an ambulance. No question of if I could drive myself or if anyone else could come & fetch me to hospital. I was able to walk and talk and breathe. I wasn’t bleeding and had no broken bones. Sometimes drs just know how swiftly a condition can deteriorate and an ambulance is essential. And threads like this can actually deter people who need one, which is a shame. But I totally agree the service is misused by people who really don’t need ambulances, which is also a shame.

I called an ambulance when I witnessed a drunk man collapse in the street after being punched in the face - he couldn’t move and I couldn’t tell how bad his injury was as he was flat on his face with blood on the paving stones. Leaving him there wasn’t an option even though I doubted he would have died in situ. That’s the only time I’ve ever done it.