that there are sometimes too many emergency services folk at accidents

[brimfull]

ime and from watching reality emergency shows it seems that there are always way too many people than needed.
I can understand the need to send a few vehicles but shouldn't the excess ones depart when it's obvious they aren't needed.

and this is your considered opinion as a crisis/accident management expert?

Or just an ill-informed supposition you decided to share with us....?

Try thinking about the logistics of dealing with an accident before you say this kind of thing.

Yes, because I'm sure they deliberately send extra along just to stand and gawp.

ggirl ...

....

Sorry. Finding it hard to compute.

OK. As an example. My next door neighbour was ill a while back. 2 paramedics arrived. They didn't have all the equipment necessary to lift him/treat him in the one ambulance OR, crucially, enough people to do that. They had to call another. So perhaps it did look like overkill.

I think they're quite careful about this sort of thing. As soupdragon points out.

Honestly, ggirl - I would actually be too superstitious to post something like this! You're made of less superstitious stuff than me!

ime of two incidents there were excess people/ engines / ambulances standing around for ages and ages

clearly not needed

I love these shows. Thanks to them, I'm now an expert on law (in the Judge Judy courtroom in the USA), mountain rescue, beach patrols, emergency rescues, how to catch motorists who flout the law, and immigration control.

Ask me anything you like about any of the above, and I'll be happy to advise

Sometimes 2 vehicles are despatched when 1 is enough , but it is unaviodable as 999 gets multiple callers say, on the same accident. my dbil is old bill and he loves an emergency and doing the blues and twos he says it is a rush. Elf an safety is a issue too as they all have to talk to each other as what their various roles will be it is a bit pc sometimes but if it saves 1 life. It is the bloody highway cops who get my goat when they do unecessary and badly thought out rolling road blocks for less serious situations they love the "power trip",

I'm thining of more than 2 vehicles , don't think 2 is overkill
but recently there were atleast 7 at one incident , great at the beginning when situation being assessed but jeez after a few hrs ??

and i am an expert aksherly

arf

Wonder how these things are coordinated?

Last week, a woman drove into the brick wall that borders the pub down the street. No other cars involved. No injuries, although no one could have known this at the time.

There were 3 ambulances and 3 police cars in attendance.

I think the old saying goes 'There is more to this than meets the eye'. Ie. I don't think it is possible to KNOW whether they are there when they need not be, if you are not fully appraised of situation and response criteria of the forces involved.

I'd worry when there is a lack of response, that's worth getting bothered about. Example: 2 officers attending a violent domestic because they are so over stretched there is no one else to back them up, leaving them open to being assaulted whilst trying to effect an arrest.

If lots of officers hang round for 'hours' they must have been no other incidents to pull them away (not likely) or they must have been needed.

ilovemydogandmrobama - The problem is, it is the witness who describes the incident to the call taker who sends a log to dispatch officers/ambulances - sometimes, witnesses get a bit carried away - sometimes, if there are a lot of officers free, a few respond in the hope that they will arrive quickly and be able to respond to what ever meets them.

A woman crashing into a wall, could turn into a stolen vehicle with 3 suspects to look for, for example.

Again, surely, it is better to get more than too little?

Well bust my buttons, YABVVVU!

3 Vs !!! wow

Yes I did go a bit mad with the Vs there..!

Honestly, every vehicle attending an incident is there with good reason.

Emergency services are also in constant contact with control rooms who are co-ordinating the whole thing, and making sure that resources are well spread. They don't just send a radio message out saying "There's been a traffic collision on the high steet, let's all muck in"

I watched Road Wars the other night (yy, I know but it's filmed near me and I people spot ) and someone crashed into a signpost and there was about 8 police officers just standing around her window. I guess they have to, but it seemed abit silly at the time. Love the American ones when the criminal is obviously caught but the lardy cop comes running in 30 seconds late and whips out his gun and gets his two pence in

I'll admit to being a bit alarmed at having 5 paramedics traipse up my stairs when I required emergency medical attention and hospital admission.

The thought did cross my mind that my DP had told them I was "large" (I'm not!) and they sent out a reinforced vehicle as well as a normal one and rapid response! Was just purely irrational thinking on my part.

8 people for a signpost does seem daft, I know, but think about it...

Did the driver have potentially serious injuries? If so, all kinds of reporting & recording needs to be done. Did their name or registration number come up as known to police? Had they been drinking or taking drugs- did their car need searching? How many witnesses needed to give statements? Were people rubbernecking? Was traffic slowing down for a good look? Was there another report of a recent burglary around the corner- were there stolen goods in the car that needed recovering? All sorts of possibilities.

Also bear in mind that these police chase programs don't exactly put the journalist at the top of the briefing list.

ggirl I am kinda with you on this one.
A couple of weeks ago I was first at the scene of an accident on a narrow wet country road. No-one was hurt but the police were needed to move the car and divert traffic.
A 999 call was made and 3 police cars and an ambulance turned up.
What's more the poilce officers offered no sympathy to the girl who rolled her car and didn't speak to anybody at the scene apart from the driver who wasn't really in any state to tell them what had happend.

Hm, I think based on my careful perusal of Holby City and Casualty that there are way too many nurses employed by the NHS. They seem to spend their whole time snogging folk or gossiping with each other....

Lol @ Sheik!

I would add that medical staff appear to have loads of time on their hands to sit around listening to patients giving soliloquies about the state of their marriage, nostalgia trips, plans for the future etc.

Well for ambulances they now often send one paramedic in a car (called a FRU fast response unit) then he can treat/assess them whilst the ambulance gets there, as they have FRU's dotted all over london. They are often at the persons door within 2 minutes of their 999 call being answered!

It's not a waste of resources, it's saving lives!

ggirl - i too have seen this happen on a few occasions...1 being last dec when I was in a RTA. A man in his 4x4 and trailer decided to cut me up and nearly take off the one side of my car - at minimal speed say 3 miles an hr

He then decided to try and get off...so I went after him along with a witness. witness managed to get infront of him n black his path enabling me to trap him in at his side. He tried to deny it was him so I called the police. Had dd 2yrs in car but she was fine as damage was just a dent and scratches.

As I was on phone to police telling where I was etc...a dog unit turned up (was just passing) so stopped and came over to see what was going on. Was grateful as the guy wasnt able to get away at all now. Then 2 further police cars turned up and an response unit. From the public eye it looked like a murder had taken place or something, not just a disagreement. I think I had 5 police officers and 2 medical technicians...mad cause they could have been doing something else, would have just beem grateful for 2 officers to take statements, so why 2 officers took statments, the other 3 were playing/chatting to dd.

When they are really needed, alot of the times they cant make it...I was attending to a lady outside my former work place (pharmacy) who had fallen and hit her head, was belleding from temple artery and was becoming unconsious...phones for ambulance, said one was on the way... (hospital 10 min away)15 min later, called back and asked what was going on, they couldnt get a crew out and was waiting for one to come from 40 min away...after an hour response unit from 1st hospital turned up, were so rude to me...even though I was helping with another passer by to keep her alive...20 minutes after that the ambulance turned up!

It was really funny though, cause 2 months later I went into labour with dd, and was transferred by ambulance from one hospital to the next...I was talking to the crew member about incident (to keep my mind off things) and he ended up blurting out that it was his crew that was meant to attend, (funny enough he knew every single detail about the incident) but couldnt as were on a 'coffee break'. Omg!!!!!

belleding??? bleeding sorry!

Sorry- havn't read all the posts but rofl