How far are you from your nearest A&E and could you get your husband there quickly if you had to?

[verdantverdure]

And what would you do with the children?

One of my neighbours had to get her husband to hospital recently in the absence of an ambulance and it took a borrowed wheelchair and several neighbours.

Am I being unreasonable to think most of us don't have a plan for this?

Could most of us get our partners to hospital fast enough in the event of a stroke or heart attack?

What's your plan?

I'd call an ambulance. Strokes and heart attacks still get iman immediate response here. A&E is a 35 minute drive on a good day.

I could drive him there in 2 minutes. I could push him in a wheelchair but don’t have one. Unfortunately the hospital is in crisis and there are queues of ambulances lined up outside so I doubt we’d be seen in a hurry. It is really worrying.

15 minutes. Had to do it a couple of years ago but only because he was still orientated enough to walk to the car.

20 minute drive, friends would help.

5 min drive neighbours would help

I’m 30 min drive from the nearest A and E. I’d call an ambulance and take their advice.

I assume he had to be Carried to the car? I guess if that was needed I’d amhave to knock on doors and get someone to help me.

Car outside the house. Get him in the car, ask neighbours for help if he needs lifting. Kids come with us. It's a 20 min drive but recently someone in my family had a heart attack and the ambulance took 30 mins to arrive.

50 minute drive! Yes, I could get him there I think.

One of the downsides of 'escape to the country'...

Half an hour from our stroke/heart attack unit; 15 mins from our district general; yes I could (and have) as no children to worry about.

An hour away and no, when I needed to I couldn't get DH there without an ambulance. He'd had a stroke and was unable to walk and he was so agitated he would've been a real risk in the car. The ambulance took over an hour to get to us as it had to come from the next county so don't count on an immediate response even for the most serious of reasons.

Yup.. same. 48 minutes here. I could drive him but he’d have to be able to get himself into the car!

I’m confident I could.

also I’ve taught him CPR (adult and paediatric) and suggest others familiarise themselves too just in case

Well I use a wheelchair, so the issue of needing a stretcher is hopefully covered (and yes, in recent history I have already had people borrow my chair to get someone to A&E). Don't drive, but have quite a few friends and family nearby who do, and could do in an emergency.

Distance wise, it's about 10-15mins drive if roads are clear. It's actually easier to get to our new "super hospital" in a car/ambulance - in an emergency - than my old city hospital. Unfortunately the public transport there is dire, so in the less urgent scenarios (and I'm a frequent flier 🙄 - immunosuppressants plus general disability shit mean I'm sent to MAU fairly often) it's a bastard to get to.

We're at least 10 miles from A&E and as neither of us drive we can't get there after public transport stops mid evening. I needed an ambulance last week but ended up in a taxi. Apparently long queues in the ambulance bags .I was triaged within about 10 minutes and had a number of tests before being sent home .

I wouldn't normally go to a&e but I was a candidate for sepsis

8 miles (though 25 to the one that you wouldn't be waiting for 18 hours at), and yes. When I had to take DH late one night as a surgical wound opened and the bleeding wouldn't stop (soaking through bath towels) my neighbour took ds who was under 6 at the time in and kept him till 1am (DH admitted for emergency surgery) even though we weren't that close

I physically would struggle to lift him but would do my best to drag him to the car and would ask kids / neighbours for help, although next door is a paramedic so probably would seek help from them anyway. It is 12 minutes drive to A&E, kids are adults so no need to sort them out.

I would look after neighbour's kids / drive them to A&E if they needed help.

About a mile away I don't drive though there's a taxi rank across the road so if I could get him there we would be ok.

Fortunately I don’t have a husband so that’s one less stress

Im a 15-20min drive to nearest a&e and would do my absolute best to get my nearest and dearest there asap without waiting on an ambulance.

Strokes and heart attacks may very well be an immediate graded call but if there's no ambulance available you won't be getting one in a hurry.

Ten minutes away but currently I can’t drive or walk due to an injury. In normal circumstances I would bung the kids in the car and knock next door if I needed to get him in the car. We have family within 20 minutes from us but that would feel like a lifetime in an emergency

There's 3 a&e departments within 30 minutes of where I am by car. I don't drive so I would have to use a taxi. If he was immobile, my mum and her partner live about 10 minutes away by car so would probably call them for help with transporting him.

Depends on time of day cos of traffic, I reckon it could take up to 30 mins if the roads are busy, which they often are at peak times (inner city hospital). Luckily I live very close to my DF and my DB and one or both would assist me with taking DH to hospital if necessary, they both drive and have their own cars and are both HCPs too. One would take us to A&E and the other would look after the kids with some help from my DM. My DF does sometimes work away but in that case just DB would help us and I'd get one of DH's relatives or one of my friends to have the kids. We get very little support as a family with the kids etc day to day BUT in a crisis situation I'm totally confident people would step up. I know they would because our DS was admitted to hospital for a few days a few months ago which was very scary and we had a fair bit of assistance for childcare, lifts, shopping and things during that time from both sides of our families plus offers from friends. We are very lucky in that respect.

I couldnt lift him. He is 22st. I have a few friends/neighbours who i could ask for help moving him. Im a 15 min drive.

That said, I couldn't personally get my DW into my chair, so I'd need someone to help.

DC are big enough that they could be left in an emergency, or I'd send them to my mums/aunties/friends/neighbours/whoever. Luckily they are big enough to occupy themselves and used to dealing with me being ill.

I have a car and would take the kids. We are about 15 mins on clear roads but peak traffic could be an hour.

my DH is a cyclist (MAMIL) and I have said to him to really think about his rides now as if he comes off there isn't going to be an ambulance. He usually rides with a friend now.