My dd nearly died waiting for an emergency ambulance... the nhs is broken!

[finallyahappygirl]

Last Saturday my dd 8 woke up extremely poorly. She had a temperature of 39c and was complaining of a sore throat, I rang nhs 111 at 7:30am and was told I would be called by a nurse and I should not take her to a walk in centre or A&E due to the risk of her being infected with covid-19. Fast forward 12 hours my dd tried to get out of bed but collapses straight on the floor, she could not bear bright lights she couldn't not move her neck and everytime she spoke or cried she was screaming in total agony with the pain in her head. Her temperature had risen to 41c and she began losing consciousness.... I rang 999 and was advised that it sounded like meningitis and I was to strip her clothes off and try and cool her down. 5 minutes later I was rang back by a first responder who talked me through what to do and how to keep her safe, he then told me she was top priority and they were coming blues and twos but.... there were no available ambulances and he didn't know when one would become available. I totally lost it at this point sobbing down the phone that my baby is dying I don't know how to save her. He apologised profusely but said she is top priority and they will be with us when they can.... 5 minutes later she lost consciousness completely and we couldn't wake her at all even nipping her ear she didn't come round. I frantically dialed 999 only to be told very rudely there was still no ambulances and what were they meant to do. I said I would take her in my own car and they said that was too dangerous due to the state I was in and the likely medical treatment she needed immediately. 1hour and 20 minutes later the ambulance turned up my daughter still unconscious my eldest dd in hysterics thinking her baby sister had died. My partner in complete shock!!! My daughter has meningitis and thankfully is now on the mend but the outcome could have been so different it does bear thinking about really.
I totally appreciate we're in a pandemic but surely the nhs shouldn't be this broken where children's lives are being put at risk!!! Wtf has happened to this countries priorities?? Why have the government let things get to this point??

How is she today, OP?
And how are YOU?

This kind of stuff has been going on for years. I’d never tryst advice to wait for an ambulance based on various tort cases I’ve read on the issue.

I have to say that those saying 'why didn't you take her?'

Because she was waiting for an ambulance and you don't know if it will arrive in 2 mins or one hour. You keep hoping it will be there and panic that if you leave and the ambulance arrive 2 mins after , that you may end up killing your child because she dies for lack of the immediate medical care that the ambulance could have given her in the time it takes to get to hospital

. fffs people have some thought to what you say to people.

Op I am so sorry you had to go through this. This is why if I am very seriously ill with anything at the moment (including suspected CV), such that an ambulance is suggested but not provided, I will be getting DH to drive me to A&E at the moment and I will do the same for him or DSd

I do not give monkeys what anyone says about overwhelmng A&E. If anyone in my house is having trouble breathing with low sats (I have a pulsometer at home) we will be going to A&E. Yes we may be left in a corridor to die but our chances are better of getting help there than at home

This is also why we are taking social distancing so so seriously, unlike so many others

It’s not just the government. Some waste of oxygen drilled holes in the tyres of 6 ambulances over the weekend not far from me. People abuse the nhs and have been for years. Combined with lack of funding it’s not surprising it’s on its needs. Let’s hope it gets the funding it needs after this and consequences of wasting time, abusing staff and destroying property are toughened up. I am glad your daughter is on the mend and got the treatment she needed

Knees not needs

OP I have been there with my flat mate collapsing and nearly dying from meningitis (we got her there when she was very very sick but eventually she was fine, however she took a long time to recover) , it is terrifying and very difficult to cope with even in the best of circumstances let alone the current climate
Hindsight is not very helpful - should've, could've, would've don't help but it's natural to reflect and think things should have happened differently. They didn't and that won't change by dwelling on it.
Yes the system was stretched prior to the current unprecedented situation and yes it's struggling and it will continue to struggle - other people need to bear this in mind when seeking treatment but for you now its important to focus on your daughter and her recovery but also on your whole family's mental health.
I'm glad she got the help she needed eventually however you need to focus on going forward from now as that will be the most help for her and you.

I had bacterial meningitis when I was 18.

I was out of it for a good 6 weeks. Even now I don't remember it. I spent 5 months in hospital. It was a slog. I've been left with bad vision. I wear sunglasses even in winter. Bright lights really hurt

But I made this post to say. I don't remember it. Your dd hopefully won't either. I know you will.

Mine was so fast. I was fine one min. Then two hours later. I was dying. Throwing up blood. Unconsciousness followed. Headache from hell. My neck was like someone had w vice on it.

Then that's it. That's all I remember.

My mum didn't know what to do. And I was 18!! It's shock. Pure shock. Please pm me if you ever want a friendly ear xxx

My husband worked as a paramedic for 5 years under Labour, and in his experience 70-80 % of the calls were non-emergency. A lot were with old people falling (not needing hospital), and while they picked the elderly person up and put them in their bed someone would be dying of a heart attack. A lot were called to drunks on streets or people with indigestion thinking they were having a heart attack(so genuine callers but not genuine emergency, however they didn't know) and so on. Some people were plain crazy attention seekers and called an ambulance regularly for various made-up reasons. It was all free and there were no repercussions for abusing the system, so in their mind - why not? Even though they were well known to call handlers and black listed, there was no way to not send an ambulance if they were complaining of a heart attack symptoms etc...

When I needed a transfer during labour from a birth centre to a hospital 25 miles away my DH took no chances waiting for an ambulance, even the midwife there said you'd be in hospital way earlier if you take it into your own hands...

From all I know I'd always go to the hospital myself if it is possible, having rung 999 and asking them to advise the hospital of our case/imminent arrival...

It is a mystery to me how on MN no one is allowed to call an ambulance unless they are definitely about to die otherwise, but in real life so many people treat them as their personal chauffeurs/out of ours surgery etc...

I agree it's often faster to take yourself in.

111 told me they were sending me an ambulance in January when I called and described child's symptoms which I felt strongly indicated appendicitis, even though it was flu and bug season. But I know my child. I declined the ambulance and said I would take the child in immediately, because I knew how slow they could be in our area. Appendix was indeed removed that day.

I am shocked by some of the shitty replies on this thread. Why pick apart what the OP did? Maybe you would have reacted differently but who the fuck cares? It's happened, she followed advice and can't go back and change things just because some of you apparently know better. Thankfully her daughter is on the mend so why not just support her?

What is all the 'I know that I would've done things differently' shit. Just grow up and for once be pleasant.

I hope she is okay, poor thing.

I have been assuming if I needed emergency care I would get myself to A&E under my own resources as there are unlikely to be ambulances. It is certainly something for people to bear in mind although my local hospital's web site does not recommend people doing that - not least because it is100% full currently.

I wouldn't have waited an hour and a half for an ambulance if I had a car available...

Yes, but the rest of us don't have your pyschic ability to know in advance how long we're going to have to wait.

@RandomLondoner
We all know the situations with ambulances at the moment. It's all covid19 calls and after every call they need to wait 3 hours or more to be cleaned. It's been reported many times. Wait times for ambulances were ridiculous before all this, so now it really is quite obvious what's going to happen if you call for an ambulance and they say none are available. You get in you damn car and drive... most people live what, 15 to 20 minutes away from a hospital? Just drive.

You dont need to be psychic, you just need to think. And NHS advice before all this was really that if you can get yourself there then you get yourself there. Dont waste ambulance time. She even knew what it was; meningitis. It's not like she was scared to move her because of a neck injury or a fall, or like she needed to see from chest compression so couldnt move her.
You dont sit there knowing ambulances are scarce and your kid has meningitis.

My cousin is an A&E doctor in Watford. He told me that a 3 year old child died recently because he needed hospital care and paramedics didn't want to admit him because of covid 19 at the hospital.

The unintended consequences of this thing are far reaching.

That is awful, that poor 3 year old who should be triaged above anyone over 60 with covid surely.