I'll preface this post by saying that I haven't read the full thread - I just can't bring myself to read all the deniers posts.
First off - I am in no way saying that you shouldn't call an ambulance if you have no other option. However. Broken wrist without bone poking out? Take some painkillers, self support, and get yourself to a and e. 12 hours of d and v? Self manage at home and speak to a pharmacist. Ongoing problem that hasn't resolved with multiple doctor inputs and you just feel like skipping the queue? Have a reality check and sort yourself out.
On any pre-Covid given shift, I go to people who have chronic problems, who decide that at 2am they just can't deal with it anymore, even though it is no worse than normal. I go to people who can't be bothered to try calling their doctor, and sadly I am then forced to sit there and call the same number they have, and ask to speak to their doctor.
Nowadays, we go to several covid-19 patients. Some of whom just want reassuring, or think they're positive and want a test (which we do NOT provide).
Some we go to who are really sick. Who need the oxygen. Who need hospital.
Sadly, around Christmas, we do go to "granny dumps" where people can't be bothered to deal with their relatives over the festive period, so try to get them admitted to hospital - out of sight out of mind.
On the Christmas day shift, a colleague was sat outside in the ambulance with a patient, waiting for there to be room in the hospital...just to be triaged.
While waiting, 3 people in their 30s were intubated for ventilation.
One cardiac arrest that another colleague went to? They got the patient back again, but on arrival at hospital, there were no ventilators, so they were to be made comfortable and no active treatment given.
London hospitals and ambulance services are falling over. They are unable to cope with the sheer volume of calls; this is due to an increase in the number of calls, an increase in staff off sick or isolating, and an increase in waiting time to offload at the hospitals a anywhere in the region of 4-5 hours, leaving crews only able to deal with 2-3 patients a shift.
It is worthy of being called a major incident, and as such, Ambulance Trusts around London have all (to my knowledge, certainly all of the Essex ones where I work have) given at least two vehicles per shift, to aid London.
This means we are shirt staffed in our area, London are still struggling, and people are waiting hours upon hours for vehicles; some who need us, and many who don't.
I am lucky enough to have not had to go to London yet, but no doubt on my next set of shifts (4x 12+ hour nights) I will be one of the crews that go. And I will without complaint.
We haven't provided support to London in a large scale like this in the 5 years I've been in the job; the last I know that we did was with grenfell and the terrorist attacks, but even then it was SW Essex that supported London, and the other parts of Essex supported SW.
Yes, there are always winter pressures. Yes, there are winter pressures this year.
Except this year, winter pressures are compounded by Covid-19.
It really is amazing how on the super sunny days/bank holiday people manage to look after themselves, or how when the doctors were on strike a few years ago, people managed to be self sufficient.
Think twice before you phone an ambulance, and think twice before you self present.