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

[Summersoon8]

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?

I have arrived via both means. With paramedics, I was straight into A&E and they handed me over to nurses. By car, I had to see the waiting room receptionists and then wait hours to even see the triage nurse.
By the way, on many occasions it was for the exact same reasons.

As xenobitch says, everyone trips over them, creating even longer queues, because now instead of waiting with the patient, you become a patient yourself with a broken leg.

I could maybe see why you might ask this if you had a poorly person in your house but you havnt so I think you need to think about how irrational and quite frankly bonkers your post is. Yes it's happened to someone somewhere but the chance of that ever happening to you is nil. Probably More chance of winning the lottery than needing a stretcher. It's insane.

@XenoBitch

Sounds like a super precise controlled experiment to me.

Maybe she could buy a pop up one that folds away neatly for next time it's needed

This one folds up easy storage

I’ve just had a look on Amazon and they don’t look great. Bit like the ones they use to get dramatic footballers off the pitch. And you’d still need some muscle to be the ones lifting it.

Great, so they get to A&E, check in, and then what? Put them on the floor?

That’s the one I was looking at. Not very supported ☹️

@Summersoon8 I think you are getting a hard time for just trying to think what you can do if bad things happen

As other people have said maybe doing a first aid/carers course might help you prep for the future

an elderly relative recently slipped out of bed. Not hurt but I couldn’t get him off the floor. A neighbour on the street had done course and knew how to safely get him off the floor. Obviously this wouldnt work if any injury but made me think I need to know this stuff

😂I don’t know maybe take a sleeping bag and set up camp in A&E

Are we really at the stage where people are considering turning their homes into field hospitals? 😬

Maybe a tent for privacy.

That looks heavy to move if the person is heavy, watch the backs

Next to the vending machine 👍🏼

The patient is totally unsupported too. It’s really not great.

To be honest I wish we could know more about basic things that can stop us seeing Doc's..
For instance DM had breathing issues and we always had to access a doctor to put that thing ln her fingers to measure oxygen levels
. of course with COVID it became apparent we could just buy one for under 20 quid.
??

All that stress and time wasted getting to Doc's? We could buy one and read it??
Why didn't they tell us.

Lots of things like that.

Can you imagine being hauled about in that with a suspected neck of femur/spinal fracture in that? It would be absolutely catastrophic.

To be fair the Amazon stretcher has good reviews

My relative had one of those finger things given to them by a district nurse but it regularly read 5 below what the oxygen level was. 🙁

We bought an oximeter and loads of painkillers, hand gel and all that at the beginning - it’s actually what’s stopped me reacting to each media furore with buying more stuff.

She could go round the drive thru to stock up on the way though.

Oh no.

Even the ones the docs use shouldn't be 100 relied on. .
Did they take it back?

It should be used with all sorts of common sense caveats.

Sprained ankle then might be ok I suppose but not an unknown injury back/neck etc related.

😂