AIBU to think ambulances aren’t taxis and she could have taken a taxi to the hospital?

[12FreeRangeEggs]

Friend fell over whilst out walking her dog, she was in a country park car park when the accident happened. Good samaritans in the vicinity helped her. Her leg was sore, but not obviously broken. Unable to drive back home, she called her sister to come and collect her.

Sister drove her to sister’s house, gave her tea and cake and they watched an episode of The Crown together before Googling the leg injury and realising Friend’s leg was possibly broken.

They called 999 and asked for an ambulance to take Friend to hospital. They were told the wait was 2.5 hours. They waited an hour, then realised they didn’t want to be in A&E too late at night so Sister drove Friend to A&E.

Leg was broken. Leg was plastered. Friend was home 5 hours later.

All is good BUT i am wondering why they rang for an ambulance. I have lived all over the world, including Switzerland, which offers arguably some of the best health care. Yet i would never have called an ambulance for a broken leg. Even in Switzerland, unless you need a Dr / paramedic on site, for example car crash, unable to breathe, heart problems, or an injured child, you take yourself to hospital.

DH had a motorbike accident in Switzerland and broke his arm. The police dropped him off at the hospital as they were driving back in a similar direction. There was no question of calling an ambulance, DH was conscious and his injuries were not life threatening. But in the UK people treat ambulances like taxis for the sick and injured.

AIBU to think this?

Surely we should change the way we use the NHS in order to save it? Ambulances should not be A&E taxis.

YANBU, but unfortunately people's expectations of the NHS are pretty much what is taking it beyond breaking point.

My brother’s wife called an ambulance to take her to an ante-natal appointment because she said driving was “uncomfortable”.

A distant cousin of mine had a bad back and was prescribed co codamol which made her constipated. She rang the paramedics!
Apparently they were very polite and explained it was her medication and were just about to leave when they noticed her legs were very swollen so called an ambulance to take her to A&E.
I am still shocked that anyone would call emergency services for constipation!

I don't think you are being unreasonable.

A few years ago I came across a child on the road, fallen off bike, unconscious with what looked like serious head injuries, rural so no-one else around. I called 999 for an ambulance and it took an hour and 10 mins!!!!! We were no more than 20 mins from the ambulance station. Is there anything more urgent than a child with serious head injuries?

I kept being told all the ambulances were busy...... no doubt some of them with people who could manage without an ambulance.

If you can get in a car , go home, drink tea , eat cake and watch TV before deciding whether you need to go to A and E you do not require an ambulance.

I have to agree. I waited 45 minutes with half my calf hanging off, unable to walk. I was losing enough blood to almost lose consciousness. Paramedic apologised when he saw the injury, he’d thought it wasn’t serious, despite the caller screaming down the phone as all the adipose/blood falling out as I (initially) speed walked up the lane.

Re drunk idiots who’ve been in fights in A&E causing ‘real’ emergencies to have to wait, I’m torn. I sometimes think they should have huge fines for ‘wasting’ NHS resources, then I think about people getting injured through dangerous sports, going up ladders when they shouldn’t and think maybe I’m just being a bitch. 🤷‍♀️ When I had a bleed in my skull (the pain was crazy), the drunk bloke with a torn ear delayed me getting treatment at 3am. Bit annoying.

Some time ago I was walking in woods with 18 6 to 8 year old (Beavers) when I slipped and broke my ankle (in 3 places). Fortunately there were a number of others adults around who took the children back to the meeting point while others rang 999. Although the ankle was badly broken it didn’t hurt after the initial crack.

I had to be carried out of the woods with my ankle I’m immobilised in an inflatable boot. There was no way I could have gone to hospital in a car rather than an ambulance so suggesting that everyone with a broken leg can get to A & E by car is not true.

My brother's friend got in a fight and got his nose broken. He phoned and ambulance 4 days afterwards as none of them drive.

For sure some breaks require an ambulance if you're somewhere really inaccessible or it's a particularly bad break. I've had 15 breaks and not one of the necessitated an ambulance. Pain on its own isn't an emergency.

Given that she didn't even get a bloody ambulance I fail to see why she's responsible for the NHS being on its knees.

My brother's friend got in a fight and got his nose broken. He phoned and ambulance 4 days afterwards as none of them drive.

So clearly not an emergency and he could have called a taxi or got on public transport? I think that is a waste of an ambo call. 4 days later?!

Been in the back of an ambulance twice. Both times head injury to child (same child as well ).

First time we were sent as a precaution. We had called an ambulance and as DC was under 2, they had to take us (despite giving him the all clear). I offered to call a cab but they said no.

Second time was day after a nasty head bang, same DC (a year older) didn't seem "with it" and just wasn't right. A bicycle paramedic attended and then an actual ambulance came. Due to issue with blood sugar, we had to go in. Again I offered to take DC in, but they were going back to replenish ambulance / finish shift etc so took us. They really appreciated my offer to take a taxi.

Neither time ended in being admitted.

Only hospital admission has been when I've gone to a&e on Dr advice.

There was another time I called an ambulance (can you believe for the same child). He had a febrile convulsion due to illness / high temp and it was a 4 hour wait for ambulance. I didn't take the ambulance, and DC actually perked up enough for me to not go to a&e (went to ooh instead)

So my experience is

• they come for little ones (if they can)
• they have to take you in even if all is ok, if child is under a certain age
• they are wonderful people and prefer to err on side of caution when kids are involved.

They had tea and cakes and watched the crown.
We don’t need the ins out of a bleeding ducks arse. .

So clearly not an emergency and he could have called a taxi or got on public transport? I think that is a waste of an ambo call. 4 days later?!

Correct. He's a wanker.

There’s some dangerous information being given on here - ambulances often don’t come from the hospital so you are not “closer to help” if your condition deteriorates in the taxi on the way to hospital. Often the paramedics can give life saving treatment such as oxygen etc on site so would be quicker than getting to hospital.

As for thinking a stroke or defibrillator use isn’t worthy of an ambulance... words fail me.

There’s a massive difference between “can wander around and have a cup of tea so can self transport to hospital” and “making people feel like they can’t call an ambulance under any circumstances”; and some people on here appear to not know where to make that distinction.

Oh you don't want to know the amount of money and resources wasted on unnecessary ambulances journeys, and NHS funded taxis. The NHS should be a health organisation, not a social care organisation but it seems impossible to draw the line these days. And lots of cheeky fuckers readily take advantage of it.

I think an ambulance was warranted. Unless you're medically trained you have no way of judging how bad a break is. It's recommended to call an ambulance for broken legs.

I've had to call dozens of ambulances because of DS2's health and the stories the paramedics can tell you about ridiculous reasons for calling them out are breathtaking. People with broken legs don't qualify as abuse of the service.

My argument was that my friend was BU in her circumstances. And that ambulances shouldn’t be seen as taxis they should be for people who need emergency care at the scene or can’t get to hospital without the assistance that an ambulance offers.

Lots of very nasty injuries have been described on this thread. I’m not saying that the ambulance in those cases wasn’t required.

FWIW i have had a look on Google maps and the car park where she fell is 13 min drive from the hospital she went to, her sister’s house is a 23 min drive. They virtually drove past the hospital to get to her sister’s house.

Anyway, thanks for your thoughts.

Ambulances are for people who need on the spot treatment for a serious emergency, or who are too ill to safely get to hospital any other way (ie may deteriorate en route).

A broken leg can vary hugely from a little crack somewhere minor to an open fracture of your femur: it might qualify as needing on the spot treatment/too fragile to go in a car, or it might not. Your friend's didn't.

If they tell you you are low priority (category 3 or 4) and you can get yourself to hospital then you should do that.

Ambulances are prioritised. If there is little or no risk you will always be at the bottom of the queue, serious injury/illness will always get priority, even if the ambulance was on its way to you first. 'The ambulance is on its way' means very little really as it can change minute by minute.

As others have said, people panic and don't know what to do for the best, but the ambulance service asks questions that helps them prioritise your needs.

When I was 11 (a hundred years ago) I got hit by a car on a main road. I got up and walked to the pavement and sat down on the curb crying. A passer by called an ambulance. I had 6 broken bones (3 in my legs and foot), needed 25 stitches in my head and was hospitalised for over 2 months. Witnesses said I was thrown 20ft into the air before hitting the road. Adrenaline definitely plays a part in the immediate aftermath of a serious trauma.

I've called an ambulance a few times. Once when my 5yr old cut an artery and was minutes away from death - they were there in minutes (although it felt like hours). once my 96yr old MIL had a fall, hit her head on a radiator (was bleeding) and I was alone and couldn't lift her. The ambulance was about 3 hours and she just had to stay where she was until they arrived. And once at the end of her life when she was very sick and needed medical help, the ambulance came within half an hour but stayed with her at home for almost 4 hours because they couldn't get hold of her doctor and wouldn't leave until they had.

The general public don't only need educating in when to call an ambulance but also to recognise that they will have to wait if there are other emergencies of greater need. However, I do have to say that paramedic friends of mine all say that they totally understand people's reactions to unexpected events and inabilities to cope under stress and allow for that even when the 'emergency' turns out not to be.

According to paramedic friends the reason for delays is that crew can't go off on other jobs until they've handed a patient over and often there just isn't anyone to hand over to. This was certainly my experience when I went to hospital by ambulance a couple of years ago as well. It's not caused by OP's friend ringing for an ambulance and then not using one.

A broken arm and a broken leg are very different. You can walk with a broken arm you should not stand on a broken leg as the bone could damage an artery. So yes calling an ambulance is fine for a broken leg. However when she got picked up she should have gone straight to the hospital.

@theEnglishInPatient so you don't feel the pain that others felt.. good for you.

You have missed the point entirely. My point was that I WAS in terrible pain in that labour. no build up or breaks to my contractions. Just full on permanent ones at peak pain level. I just didn’t feel the need to scream and shout as it wouldn’t have helped anyone. And I was very conscious, despite my own pain, of other labouring women in nearby rooms who would have been terrified by me screaming. I certainly don’t think I deserved a medal as I had an epidural in the end and a ventouse delivery to get him out alive. I “failed” in my birth if you want to come at it from the “competition angle.” Which I certainly wasn’t.

My point was that some patients just seem to like to want everyone else to know that they are in pain. Others may be in the same amount of, or more severe, pain and just sit there and deal with it with a grimace on their face or the odd moan now and again.

I do think it’s part of your upbringing sometimes, how your family deals with situations like that. how else can you explain whole families on a trip to A and E treating it like a day out?

My point was that some patients just seem to like to want everyone else to know that they are in pain. Others may be in the same amount of, or more severe, pain and just sit there and deal with it with a grimace on their face or the odd moan now and again.
Good for you? Some people completely panic, some lose control with the pain.

ambulances often don’t come from the hospital so you are not “closer to help” if your condition deteriorates in the taxi on the way to hospital. Often the paramedics can give life saving treatment such as oxygen etc on site so would be quicker than getting

Depends where your house is in relation to the hospital, how long a taxi journey is and the type of roads the taxi would take, surely. For me personally a taxi ride to the hospital would be along the main through route in my city which all the ambulances use anyway. If a taxi driver had to call an ambulance en route to the city hospital then he would be easily accessible to most ambulances in the city, which may not be the case if an emergency happened in my house.

It’s a judgement call, all of this. You have to consider many factors, surely. You weigh up all sorts of things if you’re considering whether someone might need an ambulance. My mum called one when my elderly dad collapsed at home and was not conscious. She thought he had literally dropped dead. They were there so quick. Same when he had a stroke. I took him myself when he had abdo pain. You just have to try and judge each case and use some common sense and a bit of whatever first aid training you have.

Someone who had ALREADY been in a car but did not go to hospital was surely able to get back in it based on what OP is telling us (ie we don’t know the type of break or if there was any major swelling or discolouration or loss of feeling or dizziness etc)

@SheOfManyNames: come on, you know the type of people I’m talking about. The types who come into work making a big deal about their bad cold. Or who DON’T come into work because they’ve got a cold. There are others who just quietly get on wirh it, take their paracetamol and lemsip and don’t make a lot of fuss. Until they really NEED to, in which case colleagues would know that they really DID feel bad and needed to go home.