To be annoyed watching Ambulance tonight

[Sooperdooper19]

So..this is a programme on BBC1 tonight but have watched many series and it frustrates me. Almost every single ‘emergency’ patient is pissed. Or needs picking up off the floor which their relative it turns out, is perfectly able to do but apparently can’t be arsed...until the emergency services turn up. And this includes our older generation who in the ambulance seemed to think it completely hilarious they were taking up vital resources. The NHS is completely abused.

Totally agree but my god it was a very sad episode in other aspects 😭

YABU a bit - both the falls the relatives where told not to move them

The first drunk woman who fell was an alcoholic as a result of her two children dying and deserves some compassion

The 70 year old out for her birthday had had a few but was far from pissed

Alcohol is a factor in lots of ambulance calls- so is drug use, bike riding, smoking, horse riding, driving ...

Maybe if we had well funded mental health and addiction services it might help. 🤷‍♀️

The boring cases don't make for good TV.

I refuse to watch it as I end up getting so annoyed.

Seriously, compassion lacking at best.

I regularly have to call 999 for assistance with falls. Its not about strength but to minimise risks to an individual with moving and handling. It will regularly a 5 hour wait on the floor for an ambulance. I'm sure if people could manage it they would sort out falls.

The lady in her 70s who said of the paramedic ‘he’s got a nice arse, I bet he’s got a nice cock’ annoyed me. Imagine if that had been a 70 year old man and a young female paramedic. Would that be acceptable entertainment? Works both ways. The lady who had lost her children was completely broken, I was very sad for her

Remember that they only film a small proportion of the overall caseload and then choose which ones to put in the programme. They're going to select the ones they think have most audience appeal, and watching the various series they often give each episode two or three particular themes.

If you're referring to the lady called Nuala and her mate, I don't think they were laughing because they were taking up vital resources, but because they were a bit pissed and because they were trying to make light of a shitty situation. They were a long way away from being paralytic and were just having a bit of banter with the paramedic, who seemed to be enjoying it just as much as they were.

Unless you ban alcohol, there will always be people falling over when pissed. Do you think they should refuse to treat them and just let their broken bones heal naturally?

As for the (very) drunk young man, the person to blame for his trip to A&E was the fucker who stabbed him in the leg, not the lad himself.

Is it really any more of an abuse of the system than the people who rock up with really minor injuries that just need bathing and an elastoplast, or who drive/ride bikes like dickheads or injure themselves doing DIY because they can't be arsed to take appropriate safety measures?

Last time I looked, judging people wasn't in the ambulance service's remit, and long may it remain that way.

You’re advised not to move someone off the floor if they’ve fallen, unless trained . If they’re not able to support themselves properly it’s incredibly difficult without manual handling equipment .

DM used to fall to the floor (seizures of a sort) every few days . She’d be down there 2 hours if you left her . GP said not to attempt to pick her up at all . Was advised 999 every time we were outdoors (home less of a problem, she’d be able to get up eventually) and as a result I think I’ve phoned 999 dozens and dozens of times - an absolute nightmare for all concerned, but one to which there seemed no solution .

Agree very sad, poor poor parents. It made me cry. They deserve every bit of support available. But still think SOME people need to not be such a drain on the NHS limited resources. I like a drink tbf by the way 😉

Love this program. And Ambulance Australia as well. But some of the jobs they are sent too are ridiculous. The patient could easily be taken to hospital in a car.

Did everyone else breathe a huge sigh of relief when the 10 year old boy successfully resuscitated his dad?

I almost cheered.

My DH is a paramedic. You would not beleive the number of calls like this he deals with in a 12/14 hour shift knowing full well while he's dealing with these idiots there are genuine cases waiting hours for help.
At the start of lockdown it all calmed down but all these calls are starting again. It totally grinds them down and morale is at an all time low

@ghostyslovesheets, a few years ago there was an item on R4 saying how Easter weekend was usually the busiest weekend of the year for minor injuries, because so many people hurt themselves doing DIY and gardening.

And that's exactly when my friend had to call an ambulance, after falling out of a tree while holding a chainsaw, the twat. He only broke his wrists, but his wife was away and he couldn't drive himself to hospital with 2 broken wrists, so ambulance it was.

My ex was an ambulance technician. He routinely had people call for an ambulance with "chest pains" on a night out. Once at hospital they'd discharge themselves because they live around the corner. Essentially, using them as a free taxi.
Known offenders quite often found themselves taken to a hospital in the opposite direction, which they had to get themselves back from.

Use to work in the emergency services and left for this reason. If people saw the sheer numbers of unnecessary callouts to both the ambulance and police service they'd be shocked.

I left because I was so demoralised, meeting the same people once a week and rarely helping anybody who actually needed it. A HUGE amount of resources are wasted for the sake of 'arse covering'. If somebody died (God forbid) because a unit wasn't sent everybody would be thrown over the coals/blamed and potentially lose their jobs