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.

CurlyhairedAssassin do you want a medal or something?

Well done you; you are the most stoic person out there.

Some people lose control when they are in pain. It’s a recognised symptom and one that medical professionals are trained to recognise and deal with. In fact sometimes it’s better that someone is groaning in pain from a trauma as then at least you know they’re still breathing!

Hush, now. Curlyhairedassassin is clearly a clinical expert on pain/trauma response as can be seen from her knowledgeable take on the matter, backed up by her relevant and robust anecdotes about women in her office who have colds.

Please don't go to work if you have a cold. My sister can't work because she has an immune condition that mean things like colds leave her in hospital. When she did work,she drove to avoid public transport and germs and did everything to stay healthy but her colleagues would come in with flu and diarrhoea. 2 days of illness for them. 3 weeks off of work and possibly a hospital stay for her.

Eyezswideshut I get what you’re saying, however if people didn’t go into work every time they had a cold this country would cease to function. It’s awful for people like your sister but expecting people to have weeks off work every time they have a sniffle is completely unrealistic.

Plus, it would require a complete culture change in business. I would get a disciplinary after 3 absences from work - I easily get 3 colds a year. I’m not risking my job staying off every time I feel a bit rubbish.

Not weeks at a time but a few days when you're coughing and sneezing over everyone. I do think the employer has to be more reasonable too. The whole culture has to change.

Unfortunately that's not reasonable to expect people to do that (wrongly), 3 absences a year in many places and you can lose your job. The amount of colds that go around in the winter, as has been said, unless employers overhaul their procedures (which would be ridiculously expensive), people can't risk their jobs. A lack of hygiene doesn't help though, so many people just sneeze into the air, cough into their hands and don't bother using hand gel or washing them.

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.

I've lived and worked all over, too, and I'd have no issues calling an ambulance for a broken leg in the US/Canada. I find the UK emergency system bizarre and dangerous to patient safety. What's the point of them if they take hours to show up?

breakfastpizza “the point” of ambulances is to deliver immediate care and treatment, including transfer to hospital if appropriate.

If an ambulance takes hours to show up, it’s because your condition has been assessed as low risk and other emergencies take higher priority. If it was an open fracture or a femur fracture, an ambulance (or first responder) would be there in minutes.

If an ambulance says it’s going to take hours, it’s because you are in a safe place, able to keep the patient stable and comfortable, and they are not in immediate danger. You are told when calling the ambulance to call back if the condition deteriorates so you can be reprioritised if necessary.

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.

They didn't realise it was broken then!

@LaurieFairyCake has been the most sensible person on this thread.

OP, your story is that a woman fell over pretty badly, but obviously assumed that whatever it was couldn't be that bad, and called her sis for a lift home. Let us note that it's not as if she called Mountain Rescue!

Couple of hours later, broken leg still hurts, so they google and work out it's broken and probably panic a bit about having damaged her leg through heaving her in and out of Sis's runabout.

So they follow the official NHS recommendation to call an ambulance. Fair enough.

Over the next hour of waiting, they calm down a lot, and conclude that it's not one of those breaks that kills you if a non-medic picks you up, and it'll be fine if she gets back in her sister's car for another journey. So they cancel the ambulance, and make their way to the hospital under their own steam.

All in all, a wonderful non-waste of resources.

I thought she was your friend
She didn’t even use the ambulance
But so what if she had?

I slipped one night in the garden and broke my leg. I live alone so got myself back up and into the house. Thought it was just a bad sprain so was going to leave it until the next day. I started feeling cold so called 111 and they suggested I go to a hospital. I didnt want to wake anyone up so booked a taxi (£26) to the nearest A&E. Xray showed it was broken in 3 places so I was plastered up and 4 hours later ready to go home. Booked another taxi for the same amount and went home. Despite being alone I never for a moment considered it was worthy of an ambulance.

@Dyrne I know how the UK system works, thanks. I was contrasting to the more efficient services available in the US/Canada. It can be done.

Personally i feel that an intelligent adult who is happy to eat cake and join in on her sister’s Netflix bing afternoon could not have been in that much pain if the cake and Netflix was prioritised over seeking medical help

Oh boy love you're wrong here. I broke my leg once and tried to ride it out for 8 hours before we realised it was serious. When I broke the other foot 6 months later it took a month before it was diagnosed. Some people have a high pain tolerance and don't want to be a trouble to others. I definitely sat and watched tv and socialised when I should have been going to hospital (realised in hindsight).

You don't know how serious it was if you weren't there and you weren't the person in pain. Breaks can be very serious and it can be difficult to make that call sometimes. I'll nearly always put off going to see the doctor or to A&E, the only times I haven't hesitated to call an ambulance were for people other than myself. I'm glad she's okay.