Would you make a complaint about these paramedics?

[WatermelonWaveclub]

I went to my GP the other day as I kept fainting when coughing. The GP said my HR was sky high. Then I coughed and fainted in front of the GP. Afterwards I couldn't move my legs properly. She phoned the hospital who said I need an ambulance. The GP got someone to get me in a wheelchair and take me to the nurse's room where I was put on a bed in a cubicle.

Anyway a few minutes later the ambulance crew turn up (3 of them). They did an ECG - ok but tachycardic. I said my legs were feeling ok by then. They did a lying and standing BP and checked I could feel both sides of my face, could hold both arms up, checked pupils etc. So they say they need to take me to hospital. They start heading off and so I follow them on foot. They're all walking ahead of me, chatting away, not one seeing if I'm ok. So consequently we get into the car park - I have a coughing fit and next thing I know I'm waking up on the car park floor.

I can't stop thinking about it. Were they at fault? Should they have used a wheelchair or at least someone walked with me? At the hospital they wouldn't even let me go to my scans etc in a wheelchair, I had to be taken in my bed. So if GP and nurse wouldn't let me walk was it right that the paramedics did?

What was the point of that? As the OP has no such wish

Or do you not think people should be held accountable for their actions?

She doesn't want to sue

Then why do sick people need to be told what is best for their condition by medical staff?

I highly doubt she was thinking straight

I agree, they sound careless. I have a family member who is a paramedic and no way would they have not walked very closely by a fainter!

They don’t employ techs and don’t have many paramedics (charitable sector can’t match NHS pensions) so majority of workforce (paid and unpaid) are EACs.

As a carer walking with anyone at risk of a fall I'd walk alongside or behind. That's fairly basic in training for working in any sort of care or health setting. I'd probably encourage you to use the wheelchair as clearly you were at risk.

Oh my god! Complaining that the surgeon didn’t operate just because you randomly chose to bleed out in front of them?! The nerve!

How did you get to GP? I hope you didn't drive.

Because “there but for the grace of god go I”. What working person on here has never made a mistake in their job? It’s horrible to go through a complaints procedure - I think people on here are recognising that a formal complaint would have real consequences for what are most probably hard working and conscientious individuals trying to feed their families.

As someone who has had a reasonable number of dealings with paramedics, it does sound like they were being careless.

They should have been escorting you, not ignoring you. You could have ended up with a serious head injury.

@FriedGold That is a horribly childish way if looking at things—and so damaging for the health care system and the safety of patients. These are supposedly trained professionals. If they don’t know how to do their job they need more training.

Many EMTs- techs- do their paramedic training part time while working full time. So he's a qualified tech and learning extra as he goes.

If its not too personal, if you tell me your condition and meds I can tell you if I have much knowledge of them. Its worth knowing that we tend to have a little knowledge about a lot of things, apart from things that are very ambulance specific, which we are expert in.

Walking wise: again, this is just based off what I've read so please don't take is as gospel.

High BP is not an indicator not to walk and neither is tachycardia.

It's good to assess your level of mobility and what effect walking has.

It's sometimes just quicker and easier. My goal is to get the patient in the ambulance quickly.

Using our chair isn't ideal (in your case, I'd use the GP own)

Saying all that, I wasn't there and I don't know your history, didn't get a handover from the GP. And, most importantly, haven't made a visual and physical assessment of you.

Also if you said you didn't want to walk, I wouldn't force you.

I would. They knew how you fainted and that it could easily happen again but didn't act accordingly.

As someone involved in education this is pretty much what happens, to be honest. I'm not suggesting you should be grateful - but it is the norm in many schools.

I don't think parents are aware that many academies are taking what they can get, and not able to recruit qualified teachers in that subject.

Many of your kids' lessons are being 'taught' by 'cover supervisors' who are simply babysitting kids chatting.

@Nanny0gg Not all people all of the time but in this case yes, the crew cannot decide how she feels on her legs, only she can.

That is exactly what it means, yes.

They definitely should have put you in a wheelchair! Very dangerous!

Why did your GP phone the hospital before 999? Are you already under a certain dept there which they needed to speak to?

I’m guessing from the way you use medical jargon that you are suffering from a long standing condition, I know you mentioned meds that the crew hadn’t heard of. I hope there’s something they can do to help you manage any ongoing symptoms.

On a brighter note - great to hear response times are so good in your area. Let’s hope that continues. A few weeks back my neighbour was struggling to breathe and they called an ambulance at 10pm. When it didn’t arrive, they went to A and E at midnight. A and E didn’t cancel the ambulance and it arrived at 8am the next morning! The crew were about to break the door down until I came out and told them the neighbour had gone to A and E the night before.

"I think people on here are recognising that a formal complaint would have real consequences for what are most probably hard working and conscientious individuals trying to feed their families."

The OP could have fractured her skull when she fell on concrete. It would just have been common sense to accompany her rather than walk ahead.

No one is disputing the staffing of SJA.

You are implying that the majority of calls are answered by ECA crews. That is just not true. SJA are there as back up or to arrive first, backed up by a frontline crew. It clearly states that in the article you linked to.

The vast majority of ambulance crews on the road are NHS.

A non emergency crew will never be sent alone to a cat 1 2 or 3 call, whether its an SJA crew or an NHS one.

Your username is very apt.

For those surprised by the quick ambulance response. Unfortunately, GPs have the ability to bypass all the triage questions when they call 999 and just request a Category 1 ambulance response. They always do this as it gets the patient out of their door faster even (usually) when it's not life threatening. In all my years with the ambulance service I have attended GP surgeries many, many, many times, ALL have come in a C1s and NONE have been life-threatening. GPs are not usually great with emergencies (or fainting). It figures they would keep OP laying down but she has to get up at some point, whether that is to walk out or just to transfer to the wheelchair. This decision would have been made considering various factors. It's not perfect.
Also, not saying this is the case with the OP but you would be amazed at the number of patients who put themselves on the floor when they think nobody is watching. Unsurprisingly they are usually uninjured. That is not to say we would 'test' somebody in this way but when it does happen it is clinically relevant as it can help to form a differential diagnosis.

Oh, that sounds awful! I don't think they know much about medications based on the lot I had so why that particular one thought he knew more about your own medications than you?

That was a good result, though.

OP, your responses to this thread suggest you are already secure in your decision that you’re not being unreasonable. It looks a bit like you were just hoping for everyone to agree and start a pile-on for the paramedics. I can’t imagine getting and remaining worked up about this, days later and when you’re recovering. I’d just be focussing on getting better, personally.

Tbh, it was the scariest day of my life. I was so vulnerable and did not feel looked after atall. I've had contact with ambulance crew in the past and they've always been amazing so not sure exactly what went wrong this time.

I'm sorry to hear about your sister 😞