To think they shouldn't have called an ambulance

[Andyetanothernamechange]

DD, aged 2, was having breathing difficulties. This is the third time in 2 months. I took her to the local urgent care centre where she was seen quickly and put on a nebuliser. Half way through the nebuliser she perked up massively and started singing! After the neb her sats were fine, but by that point the doctor had called 999 for her to be blue lighted to A&E. When the paramedics arrived, DD was singing baa baa black sheep. At this point the doctor said she had previously suspected sepsis but not anymore and the blue light wasn't needed. DD sang for the entire journey in the ambulance. At A&E we waited a while, gave her her inhaler (which I had already) and were given a course of steroids. I know that breathing problems are not to be dismissed, but after one nebuliser she was markedly better and UCC could have prescribed the steroids without needing to use an ambulance or A&E time. Of course it's better to be cautious with small children, but it just seemed as though they made an initial decision and then couldn't go back on it. Ultimately, I felt like it was a waste of resources for her to be sent my ambulance to another hospital when she could have been treated where she was.

Yep, agreed Bobbiepin
If I'm struggling to breathe I know I need A&E with access to HDU plus magnesium, hydrocortisone, constant monitoring etc.
Asthma kills 3 people every day.

Actually where I am they send the first response car with ambulance as back up.

Presumably you've changed your name again because you're proper embarrassed at starting this thread, OP, as you should be.

Children unfortunately can go down hill very quickly. It can be hard to gage either way sometimes. I would be happy that your child did improve quickly which is great.
I agree with others that yabu with the need to even moan about it on here (or anywhere). What a strange reaction.

My daughter once had breathing difficulties and the doc sent an ambulance, I was mortified and said I could drive her myself (she didn't seem that bad, chest infection. Not asthma) but by the time the ambulance arrived she was so much worse and nearly went into cardiac arrest. Her heart rate was so high and her heart rate was super fast. We spent four hours in resus.

Doctor knows best. Be grateful the ambulance wasn't really needed.

This is not a waste of resources. This is what the resources are for. Children can recover quickly and go down hill v quickly too. My 2 year old was in hospital for 3 days with similar in Sept. It was suspected sepsis, thankfully not but she had a severe wheeze (more.serious than it sounds). She needed a nebuliser every few hours and would go downhill after the initial improvement and steroid high had worn off. You need to trust that the doctor knew what she was doing. She will know what is a waste of resources and what is not.

Wow are you really complaining about the medics being thorough?? You do realise how quickly children deteriorate right?? I'm speechless!!!!

I am always amazed when someone who has watched a few episodes of casualty thinks they have more knowledge and can make betterdecision than someone who has had at least 7 years of medical training.

This seem to mostly apply to public sector jobs.

She may well have crashed suddenly again after the neb.

Some meds including asthma meds can make them hyper as hell. It's why they wake up with blue lips wheezing like crazy then be running around a &e laughing as soon as you get there.

An ambulance was absolutely the right thing. Even with sepsis ruled out there are no garuntee ffs. Gps can't do blood tests on the premises they have to send them off.

Can't believe you would object to medical.professionals doing what was clearky the right thing.

You know kids have died of meningitis having been sent home with a "cold" right?!

I’m assuming your a qualified dr and know better than the professionals op. YABVU

A doctor called an ambulance for my daughter as well but she died before getting a chance to be transferred to the hospital they planned to take her to (she was already in a hospital). You’re right; it’s such a stupid waste of resources to call an ambulance when you have an ill child. What are these medically qualified doctors thinking?!

i would imagine they called because sometimes it takes more than one neb treatment to get under control, I went in to a after hours doctor, i couldn't speak, i was blue, they naturally called a ambulance , while waiting they put me on a bottle of oxygen, a neb with two different tubes of drugs, a shot of something, then after that didn't work, while still waiting for the ambulance to arrive, a second neb with 3 different things and another shot, still with the oxygen running too, by the end of that i was under control and my breathing almost back to normal, the ambulance arrived then and they still took me in for monitoring, just in case i wasn't fully out of danger, annoying but i was pretty close to asthmatic coma... we know what comes after that.. so instead of worrying about wasting resources remember that is precisely what the resources are actually for, your child could have gone backwards very quickly and the doctors might not have had anything stronger to hand, by calling right away the minimize the chance that she could die because they cant stop the attack... be thankful... donate to the local ambulance service if you want to make a difference

Slightly off the point, but three visits in two months to Urgent Care for breathing difficulties is a lot. Can you talk to the doctor about something like having a nebuliser at home?

OP honestly count your blessings that your daughter is fine and everything was okay. You're focusing on the wrong thing here, I would want them always to be over cautious with my child.

@SpottingTheZebras so sorry for your loss

The call was made by a qualified GP who examined your daughter in person, they seemed to think an ambulance was necessary. Asking strangers on the internet to second guess this decision with far less medical training and knowledge of the specific situation is frankly odd.

I've lost count of the number of times mine has been ambulanced to hospital with asthma related breathing difficulties. There have been occasions where he markedly perked up once the ambulance crew arrived but I absolutely trust their judgement. If they say they need to go, they go.

We lost a child recently in our family, who became unwell very quickly. Unfortunately so passed away before the team could transfer her.

Please be grateful the medics were on the ball and over cautious, little ones deteriorate so quickly.

Op, this is the most unreasonable thread I've seen on Aibu. You should be extremely grateful and thanking them not moaning.

This is routine in our walk in centre for anything serious and. Child related because the on call paediatrician is based at A&E, not walk in.

You definitely did the right thing.

You don't take even the finest fraction of chance with children. Praise the Lord that she did but How were you to know she'd perk up so quickly.
It doesn't bare thinking about the other way had you not called an ambulance and heaven forbid something had happened.

Doctors don't call an ambulance for a slight wheeze, plus they've trained for bloody years, I'm sure they didn't call 999 for shits & giggles OP, they're more than aware that it costs money. Rather that than your LO being severely unwell though eh

I'm pretty sure that you would be asking "AIBU?" Had the nebulizer not worked as well as it did and your LO's health hadn't improved as quickly as it did.
That's the thing about kids - they can come around really quickly. But likewise for going downhill - that too happens in the blink of an eye.

I'd much rather have been blue-lighted and had her checked over than be discharged and something a lot more serious happen. You hear regularly about people waiting for hours after they've had a stroke / heart attack / seizure / etc...... I honestly think this is the first time I've heard someone complaining that an ambulance was called and arrived in a timely manner - there is literally no pleasing some people

YABVU - you got amazing care from the NHS, be grateful for it, please

I was once blue lighted to hospital with suspected sepsis. The OOH Dr said ‘it’s probably not but better safe than sorry’. Guess what? I was septic and spent the next 4 days in intensive care. I was talking/joking and could probably have sang a song if asked!
They followed their protocol. They have considerably more experience and knowledge than you. I’m glad our dr’s are so thorough.

I obviously wasn't very clear in my post. Of course I am incredibly grateful that she was treated promptly and I have no end of gratitude for the NHS. I'm not complaining about the fact an ambulance was called, I'm not saying that I was in anyway inconvenienced, or anything other than grateful. Just on the ambulance journey I did feel that perhaps we were taking an ambulance away from someone who really needed it at that moment.

I'm not a doctor, no, but my other child has spent many months in hospital previously with breathing problems. I do know what to look for which is exactly why I took my youngest to UCC. But I also know, based on all of signs following the neb - good sats, no signs of respiratory distress - that at that point she wasn't an emergency. What she needed, and what was done, was to monitor for 4 hours after the neb to see if she could maintain her sats. I just wondered if this could have been done in UCC without the need to use an ambulance and without the need for her to be seen in A&E, who were incredibly stretched at that time with other, sicker children.

Again, I'm sorry if this read as a complaint. That was not my intention at all.