IMO a justified thread about a thread

[FabulousBakerGirl]

Why is it we are so nervous about calling an ambulance?

Should there be a campaign to tell us it is okay to do so when we feel we need it?

When my DD had a serious accident I went shouting to a neighbour and she called the ambulance. I wouldn't have thought to do it or even dared perhaps.

Maybe we hear too many stories about waste of time calls it makes us worried to call.

Not getting at, or making judgements on, anyone. I just think this is something that needs to change.

So pleased the baby is fine.

I called an ambulance for ds2 when he sustained a very serious injury that needed stitching. I couldn't drive and control the bleeding at the same time.

But, the main reason was that, even if I could have driven him there, the chances of getting through all the barriers, and being able to park without driving round for at least half an hour, are nil.

Brilliant news, Elibean, and I think you are quite right about it being justification for MNing.

I have called an ambulance twice for my ds-the first when he had a bad reaction to peanut butter aged 2-getting the ambulance was instinctive and even though he was looking a little better when the paramedics arrived, they were totally understanding and insisted that they take us through to casualty in any event.

The second time was when ds could not move his neck without screaming in agony-he was lying on the floor and could not move-the ambulance was called because I didnot know whether he had broken something. he couldn't be moved anyway. Again they were brilliant and said that we had done the right thing-he was stretchered to hospital and stayed immobile until they had found the problem.

My experience is that if there is a genuine emergency-they would rather you called than not

I would echo that paramedics are fab. Called an ambulance twice: one when first on scene of RTA - had to run half a mile to nearest phone and then run back to main road to show ambulance where we were. It was a mother and daughter in the car and the mother was screaming for her daughter who was unconcious. I remember how calm the paramedics were and how they reassured the mother without telling her that everything was OK.

The second was when my father had a severe stroke and rang me (I was some miles away). The paramedics had to break into his house to get him as he could not move. They even apologised for the mess!

Have also had one called twice for me when involved in RTAs. I was never seriously hurt, but passers by thought I might have been. Again, lovely people.

DH used to be an ambulanceman

He always says "If she can stand up, walk and talk, you can drive her"

He does also say "If she's screaming then she's fine" which turned out not to be very accurate when she'd broken her collarbone ...

Ambulancemen only really like proper, half-dead people, preferably involving flames or missing limbs or massive crushing injuries, if DH is anything to go by...

Oh and arriving-as-a-baby-is-being born

That seems to be DH's favourite thing... big man points I think

I worked as a 999 operator connecting people to relevant Emergency Authorities, we always had to listen to the first few seconds of a call in case the line got disconnected, ad then we could give the EA the address etc.-

I was flabbergasted at some of things people used to phone for, truly flabbergasted.
Complete waste of money and resources for most of them.

Isnt the pay for a Paramedic quite poor? (about 29k per year on avg IIRC)

Thats quite low for a job with so much responsibility (bit like nurses I suppose)

around 30k but not what I'd call poor but I suppose that depends where you live!

OH didnt get anything like 30k! But it was about 10 years ago now. Even so he was on pretty crap wages. I think it was only about 15k and he worked horrible shifts.

He didnt get lunch breaks. They introduced stand by. They had to go and park somewhere and wait if a call came in. It was supposed to reduce call time and meet targets of 3 seconds to get to a shout (ok ok I exagerate.)
People used to phone in and complain about lazy paras that were eating sandwhiches in the ambulance

This is my career - answering emergency calls.
Always call if there is difficulty in breathing, chest pain, falls from 6ft or more etc I can give you the whole list and catergories if you want.
If you would drive behind the ambulance to the hospital then go with the paramedics then it probably not that bad (and drives us nuts) and you do not need to call 999.
And yes 30k is for intensive care paramedics who are the most highly trained and this is a piss poor wage, this is usually inclusive of any overtime etc....
Back in Australia on an entry level wage (our state paid the least in the country) I was on AUS$50000 so yeah about 30K here in the UK. I feel sorry for English paras.

Sorry, Schrodinger, I don't understand your third sentence?

This is a great thread. I think it's a lot harder to make the call when someone is ill as opposed to when there is an accident. The one time I'd called an ambulance previously was when an old lady fell over in the street in front of me, it was obvious then to call an ambulance. It was harded to make the judgment when DD wouldn't stop crying, was refusing food and noisy when breathing, fortunately I rang NHS Direct (for advice thinking it was colic), they listened to the breathing on the phone and immediately ordered an ambulance. The more bizarre thing was I was trying to keep calm in the ambulance, and still unaware of the seriousness of the situation, so ended up having the taxi driver type conversation with him to break the silence "been busy tonight? what time did you start? what did you think about that fly on the wall about the ambulance service?" Very surreal in hindsight

No - I mean its a "poor" wage for the job. I don't think that 30k is a good enough wage for a Paramedic, I think its a role that deserves much more in pay.

We do get around 30k including unsocial hours, o/t is paid on top. That's fairly recent, the last couple of years really and was a big big improvement. It came with the Agenda for change stuff.

Morningpaper, I'm guessing your OH is an older ambulanceman? The if they're screaming one was always more for a quick traige of patients if you have several to deal with, in that the quite ones are often in a worse state.
It is true that generally, we get more out of jobs that are serious, as then we have the opportunity to use more of our brain/skills, and to be honest, the really interesting(which can mean dramatic or gorey) ones don't happen very often, so I guess they can be exciting, and give you a sense of achievement if they go well.
We do standyby all the time now, and we still get those complaints! There is still a huge alcohol element, especially in A+E.

I can't say I enjoy the job any more TBH. Mostly as I think what you were saying about London has filtered through to the rest of the country. The real patients are still great though.

It is a bit annoying sometimes if you go to a job and then the family follows in the car if you feel the patient could have been taken by car, but often this is understandable or necessary(again especially with children). If we felt the patient could go by car, we would suggest this. Besides, we usually try to get someone to follow in the car in many cases, or the patient would be stuck at A+E!

I agree with it being harder to make a judgment with illness than accident. It's difficult to know at what point it crosses the line. If it helps, just because you call an ambulance, it doesn't mean an automatic trip to hospital. We really would rather asses and leave, that not come at all and have something be missed. Usually it is easy to see that a call is genuine anyway, and that it hasn't been done in a thoughtless way.

It's nice that everyone's saying such lovely things about paramedics here, I think generally people who work in caring professions can easily become cynical as you mostly see a needier side to humanity, and it's always nice to know that people still like you out there

dh called an ambulance for me a few times when I started having seizures (always in the middle of the night). Remember coming round once to find him and the paramedic deep in conversation about us selling our flat and whether the paramedic might be interested in buying it.