How much faster does an ambulance get you there?

[fairywing]

We are planing a home birth and (you may have noticed by my recent posts) now things are pretty much imminent i am starting to tihnk about the details. My midwife has reassured me that the distance to the hospital is not an issue but i am just wondering how fast i could expect to be inhospital in a dire emergency crash CS type situation (unlikely i know). The ambulance station is about 4 miles from our house and the hospital is 22 miles away. It usually takes me about 35mins to drive it but DH did it in 25 the other evening when there was very little traffic around. So has anyone had to transfer that sort of distance in an emergency?? How fast do you think i could be in hospital from calling the ambulance??

Thanks

I reckon that they would have you in theatre in 25 minutes - and remember that if you were in hospital it would take at least 15 minutes to get theatre prepped and staffed for you - which will all happen whilst you are being transferred

When I had to call an ambulance for ds it took them 18 mins to get from the hospital to our house and that was early evening. The quickest time I'd ever done the journey (late at night with no traffic) was 30 (and I have a sports car and drive fast!).

Don't mean to worry you, but is the ambulance station near you a decent size? When I had ds2 all the ambulances from the station 2 miles away were out so I had to waut 25 mins for one to arrive from the city.

When I was transferred from a birthing unit to hospital, DH set off in the car a good 3-4 minutes before us but arrived at the hospital 5 minutes after us (it was only about 10 mins by ambulance but I wasn't really watching the clock too much ). It was 9pm so not busy but he stopped at the red lights and had to just watch me going past with blue flashing lights....

The one thing that was repeated to me several times is that a good MW will never let the situation deteriorate too much - she will always start sorting out a transfer the minute she thinks there is even the possibility that one might be needed. My ambulance was called on the understanding that they would be sent away again if we decided that they weren't needed (unfortunately they were )

Just wanted to agree that if you do need a transfer it is unlikely to be for an emergency. Most HB transfers are for "failure to progress". My DD was stuck and after trying every which way to get her out, I transferred in. It was all very calm, and the crew waited while I packed my bag and sorted myself out a bit before taking me in.

Thank-you thats reassuring, was hoping for a max of 30 mins which seems pretty reasonable. Plus of course i/baby would be receiving medical care on route and as you say a true emergency is unlikley. Midwife has already said that when you do as many homebirths as they do their instincts usually kick in and tell them theres a problem before their consciousness is aware of what the problem actually is in which case an ambulance is already on its way.

I'm hoping it's normal to get a bit anxious about these sorts of things when it gets this close!

You might not end up going too much faster than in a normal car - because if you're in severe pain in the back the driver won't drive hell for leather if it makes it more uncomfortable for you; also if they need to do anything in the back they will keep the speed down so it's easier for the MW or paramedic - there's not much room in the back of an ambulance. Most blues drivers won't actually drive at what non-emergency services consider emergency speeds unless there is a good reason for it - ie your life is at risk. Therefore I would imagine that in a non-emergency transfer you'll just be going a bit faster than normal but not pegging it like you would for a crash situation

the thing you have got in the ambulance of course is that everyone gets out of your way and you don't get held up at things like roundabouts.