Was I unreasonable to call an ambulance / was it my fault.

[Sweetandsour11]

anbir of background : DD12 has a long standing medical history and has spent a lot of time in hospital. Although chronically ill she has done really well the last few years and avoided critical situations for a substantial time. We have a protocol that if she spikes a fever she has to attend A&E and be put on IVabs and bloods taken etc

on Sunday DD was fine her usual self and we had been out during the day. Nothing out of the character. Sunday evening she spiked a fever and as I always do I booked an uber to go to a&e which is around a 10 minute drive away.
DD started vomiting pretty severely and the uber refused to take her. I called 999 as she was rigouring vomiting a lot and was clearly not well at all. I explained to them about the situation and that she had an IV Hickman line in situ. They said that they would have to get a clinical person to call back who will then decided on clinical emergency.
40 minutes later they rang and sent an ambulance fast at this point.
when the paramedic arrived one of them seemed annoyed that they were sent to us. Kept repeating how close we were to the hospital but the issue is she couldn’t stand - he was soo rude and uninterested the entire time.
they took her obs and I knew they were bad. We were in the ambulance and the paramedic in the front asked the one in back if they do a pre alert to recuss and he said no.
he then said to me that “ when we have situations like this usually they would pre alert the hospital for recuss but because she was known there they will just turn up “
whrn we got there they just turned up with her in to normal treatment area. They know her but there wasn’t any indication given that she more poorly than previous times with a spiked fever as the paramedics didn’t do a pre alert and rolled her in to a normal cubicle asked the nurse who saw us if they knew her she said yes and they basically rushed off.
there was no indication she needed more help and it took a bit of time for it to be realised once in a&e. She deteriorated quite quickly and ended up in picu ventilated for 4 days.

surely the was the correct use of an ambulance ? 🥹

have you go the link to obtain that information?

A link for what where i live thats weird 🤔

@SleepingStandingUp I at no point suggested that the OP should be driving her .

no, sorry a link to get the information on how many ambulances in each trust?

I don't want to know where you live

I wanted to see the information you put up but for the area I live in

Google it its all online i did it individually there wasn't one site

I’ve had to take DD in several times, all but once I’ve driven. I only wish you could actually drop off outside A&E, it’s all ambulance bays so I’ve had to support her from the car park.

It's difficult, isn't it?

At my local hospital, the car park is at the back and A&E is at the front. It's a huge site, so a long walk from the car park to A&E, and you often have to queue for a good while to get in the car park anyway. I've dropped people at the door of A&E a few times, and no-one seems to mind despite it being ambulance bays, but you can't do that if you're on your own with a child. It must be very difficult.

Tbh, if any of my friends or neighbours needed a lift to A&E with a sick child, I wouldn't hesitate to drive them rather than have them wait for an ambulance. If you've got decent neighbours, it might be worth asking them if it happens again.

If a friend asked for a lift in this situation I would be there in a heartbeat. So do ask for help another time.

I would complain about the paramedic though

I contracted bacterial meningitis and septicemia many years, and was only given a 30% chance of survival. I did recover after being in ICU for 10 days and hospital for 3 weeks. Afterwards I was told, that if I had similar symptoms again, and if in doubt, to go to A&E, and if that meant by ambulance, then so be it.

I did first before asking but wasn't able to find the information as you had - thus my question.

I did find out category 2 cases are down form 39 minutes to 24
that this new years eve was the quietest on record

but not how many ambulances work out of the local depot

Apart from it's not safe to drive alone in a car with a vomiting child likely to choke
. Parking at our local hospital is impossible it would take a lot longer than 10 minutes to find somewhere to park and then there would be a walk to get to A&E which would be impossible with a seriously ill child

I would contact the ambulance services’ complaints team asap. Explain what you have said here and make it a formal complaint. Absolutely disgraceful attitude of the paramedic.

Your situation sounds similar to mine @SapphireSeptember . It's 3 buses or 2 buses and a train from my house to the hospital in the city 9 miles away. Last time I tried using public transport to get to an outpatient appointment, it took nearly 90 minutes. Also, the bus that gets me to the 2nd bus or station only runs from 8.30 to 6pm, 6 days a week. Outside of those times, I'd have no choice but to get a lift or a taxi if I couldn't drive myself, and the taxi fare is £30-40.

Sometimes, I think that people who live in urban areas have no idea how poor public transport is once you get away from cities. And this is in the SE, I can't imagine how difficult it is in somewhere like North Yorkshire or the lakes.

Think it depends on where you live. I would certainly feel comfortable asking any one of several neighbours for help and would be more than happy to help a neighbour in need.

Does it not have a pull up bit for taxis in an emergency i would literally abandon my car its your child

I would put in a complaint. It sounds like the paramedic misjudged the situation and didn't follow correct procedure. Plus their bedside manner was appalling. They need further training.

Just google how many ambulances in and write where you live

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

OP you did the right thing.

As in any profession there is always someone who thinks they are and know better than ever other living human.

I agree that making a formal complaint and wanting a resolution through further training is appropriate.

My ds has a rare neurological condition that many GPs don’t know about. Far enough they are “G” Ps. But they are honest and ask me about things so we can get a plan in place.

Am I a medic? No!!!!! But I’ve had to be an expert in his condition.

I also drive - in fat I drive his adapted car that could drive himself. But no way in a medical emergency could I get him in his wheelchair and to the car let alone drive him to the hospital.

yeah i'd that on google first

this is the answer that comes up

Specific, real-time numbers for the exact amount of ambulances stationed in the town I live at any given moment are not publicly disclosed, as the fleet operates flexibly across the region

@Sweetandsour11 OP so sorry you even feel you have to post about this. What a disgrace the NHS and we are all supposed to just accept it! I hope you and your Dd are ok. Of course you are not in the wrong.

Complain. It’s not the paramedics place to be criticising where their ambulance was sent by the clinical overseer.

You'd have been pretty useless if the op's daughter had experienced a medical emergency on the way though, unless you would drive someone in your fully kitted out ambulance. Ambulances aren't just glorified taxis.

I live in a rural area, a long drive from the hospital and there is literally no public transport to get there so hopefully that wasn't aimed at me. My point wasn't whether it's easy to get to hospital, it was about the laughable predictability of loads of posters taking any opportunity whatsoever to berate people who they imagine can't drive. The weirdness of Mumsnet posters who treat people who can't or don't want to drive in any given circumstance as some kind of subspecies.

For all those banging on about driving -Unless your child is small enough to be carried, it's very likely in the event of a collapse that you can't get them to the car. And when you get to A&E you can't get anywhere near the entrance in the car - ours has bollards to prevent it.

I had this experience with a teen who had sepsis. I was told by 111 to drive as there were no ambulances available. Luckily he could still walk a short distance with help and I had his 13 yr old sibling to help us. I don't know what I would have done otherwise. He was definitely very ill - as soon as he was triaged in A&E he was rushed through, on IV & oxygen.

Agreed. I am " lucky" in that I need to use a wheelchair some of the time so we have one at home and I was able to use this when DS needed to go to A& E and was unable to walk. There's nowhere to park for even a moment outside the entrance nevermind spaces you can park for long enough to get a child checked in and know that they will be supervised

. When my husband took me recently and we were away so did not have the wheelchair and I was unable to walk he had to disappear for almost 20 minutes to find a wheelchair before he could take me to A&E

I hope with new hospitals they are designed with this brought into consideration. In fact one we visited last year did have a decent drop-off lane for A and E where you could leave the car for long enough to get a child or relative checked in before having to move it to the car park

I don't know why you would think you were unreasonable, of course you weren't.
Probably a good idea to have the protocol laminated so you can simply show it to people, as a pp suggested. It will be really helpful for the health care professionals who do not know your dd too.
Do you have any other support for if similar happens in the future? I'd really try to get that in place if it's possible. Everyone knows that the nhs is crumbling under pressure ( whilst central government do little to solve it). There is no guarantee that an ambulance will be with you in minutes in the future.