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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To buy a stretcher and keep it at home in case of emergency?

287 replies

Summersoon8 · 03/01/2023 14:54

I had the thought of doing this and then a few days later I read the story of an elderly man with a broken hip with no ambulances available (not even given a long wait time, just told none available at all) and his family took him to hospital strapped to a plank of wood in the back of a van.

AIBU to consider buying some sort of emergency/folding stretcher online and storing it at home in case we're ever in the same sort of situation?

OP posts:
Original poster
Summersoon8 · 03/01/2023 17:15

BabyFour2023 · 03/01/2023 17:12

So what’s the plan when you get hypothetical injured person to A&E in a friends van on your stretcher?
Are you going to sit outside in the car and wait, potentially for hours, like the paramedics have to?
Transport them into a&e on your stretcher and safely(?) move them into a chair to wait for hours without support as the staff won’t be there to help move them?
keep them on your stretcher in A&E, stay with them whilst they are triaged, on your stretcher, then return to the waiting room with them still on it to potentially wait hours for them to be seen?

So a better option would be to leave them at home after being told no one would be coming out and that they should put the patient (with broken hip) into a back of a taxi? That's what happened in the incident I mentioned.

OP posts:
Dryandirriatble · 03/01/2023 17:15

On a survival course in Finland we were shown how to make a stretcher out of two brooms and a coat. If that helps 😆

Dryandirriatble · 03/01/2023 17:17

Dryandirriatble · 03/01/2023 17:15

On a survival course in Finland we were shown how to make a stretcher out of two brooms and a coat. If that helps 😆

Actually, I think it was two coats

CarbyLite · 03/01/2023 17:17

I also think it’s very important to point out that the biggest cause of MAJOR trauma in the elderly and frail is a fall from standing indoors. Cervical spine injuries and pelvic injuries are a very real possibility from what you might consider low energy falls.

LlynTegid · 03/01/2023 17:19

The one thing you can do whether you buy a stretcher or not is to never vote Tory again.

I don't know how much one that would do the job costs, looked online and some did not fill me with confidence.

thirdtimeluckyorwhat · 03/01/2023 17:19

Hahahahahaha

IncessantNameChanger · 03/01/2023 17:21

I reckon I could get someone onto a sheet and into the back of my zaria. If I really had too. You could put them onto a sheet, on top of a small internal door, then a sheet under that to hold and stop them falling off. Slide into the back of the mpv then drive up to A&E doors and slide them out. If it was that or wait two days for an ambulance? Depends on many times like suspected injury and ambulance wait times. I wouldn't want to do it, but I wouldn't rule it completely out either. Of it was my family with a broken leg and I could strap it up or wait 24 hours, I wouldn't wait tbh.

dworky · 03/01/2023 17:21

MrsTerryPratchett · 03/01/2023 14:59

Why not build an operating theatre?

I'm all in favour of prepping but why that specifically?

Train as a doctor

limitedperiodonly · 03/01/2023 17:27

Dryandirriatble · 03/01/2023 17:15

On a survival course in Finland we were shown how to make a stretcher out of two brooms and a coat. If that helps 😆

@Dryandirriatble I got a swimming badge for tying knots in the legs of my pyjamas and flinging them over my head to make a flotation device. Whenever people bring up the question of whether Jack could have lived if Rose had budged up on the piano lid in the middle of the Atlantic I think of that.

Of course an improvised nightwear-based flotation device wouldn't have been much use on the USS Indianapolis. Skip to the bit about the sinking. But not if you're still scared of Jaws.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Indianapolis_(CA-35)

I expect the OP means well but I also think gallows humour is a reasonable response.

PS there are plenty of cases where trained medical professionals drop people. Stretchers are trickier than you think.

Wingedharpy · 03/01/2023 17:28

It is truly terrifying to stand by and watch your nearest and dearest fading before your eyes while you wait for an ambulance to respond to your call.
I've been there and it is heartbreaking.

Lolliesareonme · 03/01/2023 17:31

My DH had an ambulance out yesterday.

Is anyone interested in the story?

saleorbouy · 03/01/2023 17:32

Yes buy one. Along with a blue flashing light, fire extinguisher and a pair of handcuffs and with your stretcher you'll have all bases covered....😂
No seriously I could think of better things to buy, a first aid kit perhaps.

ClangingBell · 03/01/2023 17:33

It’s all very well to say you need someone trained to move them, but sadly this country has reached the stage where no one is coming. Not for a long, long time, not until they have additional problems from lying in a bad position for too long, maybe not at all.

harrassedmumto3 · 03/01/2023 17:34

Where do you stop? Buy a ventilator in case someone stops breathing? Confused

OdeToBarney · 03/01/2023 17:35

Lolliesareonme · 03/01/2023 17:31

My DH had an ambulance out yesterday.

Is anyone interested in the story?

Is like to know Lollies. I hope he's okay.

OhBeAFineGuyKissMe · 03/01/2023 17:38

Lallybroch · 03/01/2023 17:14

We've always had a comprehensive first-aid kit at home but recently have upgraded it to include SAM Splints and are seriously considering buying an emergency portable stretcher in view of the length of time it is now taking ambulances to arrive. We are not prone to catastrophising, my husband was a police officer for 30 years and now works in the NHS, I have first aid qualifications and yes, we have a vehicle suitable for moving an adult in a prone position. I just feel it is something I would rather be prepared for now, than find myself in a position regretting the fact that for £50 I am unable to help someone should the situation arise. www.amazon.co.uk/LTG-PRO%C2%AE-Portable-Stretcher-Emergency/dp/B07CKM32Z1/ref=asc_df_B07CKM32Z1/?tag=googshopuk-21&linkCode=df0&hvadid=218118815255&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=15643996208329977056&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9046873&hvtargid=pla-682206190

I don't want yo think about the pain you would cause someone with a broken hip in a sling type stretcher without rigid sides.

They risk of further injury is really high, especially if you have to go downstairs

pinkpotatoez · 03/01/2023 17:44

Well with that mindset you also need an operating theatre in your basement... seriously, there's so many situations that could happen, you can't be prepared for everything

Wishawisha · 03/01/2023 17:47

I’m still a bit confused on who this would be used for? Immediate family? Or do you run a business and want to keep on the site for any accidents.. that sort of thing?

It’s not that it’s a laughing matter but I kind of can’t wrap my head around it. Needing to go to A&E in an ambulance is obviously pretty rare and of the myriad of reasons you might need to go to A&E, not all would require a stretcher at all? There are so many (each individually very rare) scenarios to prep for. Wouldn’t there be a list of things to get before a stretcher?

And then if there is a situation that requires a stretcher I think personally I’d be more worried about putting someone on the stretcher unsecured or badly secured in the back of a car with the seats down or in a van, and driving them to the hospital.

Namechange58 · 03/01/2023 17:54

No point as you'll still be waiting at the hospital, just on your own stretcher with potentially worse injuries.

FourTeaFallOut · 03/01/2023 17:58

Namechange58 · 03/01/2023 17:54

No point as you'll still be waiting at the hospital, just on your own stretcher with potentially worse injuries.

Not necessarily, it's not first come first served. If they are in danger they will have immediate help.

MajorCarolDanvers · 03/01/2023 17:59

Its good to have a first aid kit in the house but I think a stretcher is above and beyond.

MugginsOverEre · 03/01/2023 18:09

I work in care and am professionally trained and certified in moving and handling. Still wouldn't try to move an injured person. Silly idea.

Toddlerteaplease · 03/01/2023 18:14

Exactly what would you do with it?!!

Notyouyetagain · 03/01/2023 18:15

Sorry OP but this made me laugh. It’s extreme prepping!

Toddlerteaplease · 03/01/2023 18:16

Do people realise that a defibrillator is only used to if the heart is in a shockable rhythm. Of course they save lives but a first aid/ BLS course is more useful.