waiting on ambulance for 17 month old. Handhold please.

[whiskersonkittenss]

baby woke screaming and red hot, wouldn't settle or take a drink. Doesn't like the light being on. Called 111 and they went through the symptoms and have requested an ambulance attend but it could take another hour from now
Currently keeping him cool with the electric fan. I'm shitting myself so scared.

Oh bless him poor boy, but isn’t it a relief to have a diagnosis and an answer! Must be doing the rounds at the moment amongst the babies.

How is he doing now? My DD was finally herself again today a week after getting poorly.

Sorry, I might have missed this but was there any reason why you couldn’t drive or get a lift to the hospital? How near was it and do you have a car? Ambulances are for emergencies not minor childhood illnesses.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Sorry, I might have missed this but was there any reason why you couldn’t drive or get a lift to the hospital? How near was it and do you have a car? Ambulances are for emergencies not minor childhood illnesses.

Think it was pretty obvious that OP thought it COULD have been an emergency though? I once called for an ambulance when my DS had chickenpox. Obviously if I'd known it was just chickenpox, I wouldn't have. 🙄

Oh sorry checked. Your partner has a car though and you have a sister so I think you could have actually not called an emergency ambulance.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Oh sorry checked. Your partner has a car though and you have a sister so I think you could have actually not called an emergency ambulance.

The way I read it, it was the 111 operator who decided that an ambulance should be sent and some of the symptoms would’ve meant that meningitis was suspected.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Sorry, I might have missed this but was there any reason why you couldn’t drive or get a lift to the hospital? How near was it and do you have a car? Ambulances are for emergencies not minor childhood illnesses.

Oh, the wonders of hindsight. When you have a child who has suddenly produced a high temperature and is red hot, you can't assume it's a minor childhood illness.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Oh sorry checked. Your partner has a car though and you have a sister so I think you could have actually not called an emergency ambulance.

The OP is physically disabled and her partner is her carer. The situation is a bit more complex than you seem to have realised.

I would have rung my GP first thing Monday morning; if there was no possibility of a GP appointment, I would have rung the local walk-in centre for emergency triaging with the intention of getting an urgent appointment. I wouldn't have rung 111 straight off; in my experience, they send an ambulance for everything.

@l2b2

I would have rung my GP first thing Monday morning; if there was no possibility of a GP appointment, I would have rung the local walk-in centre for emergency triaging with the intention of getting an urgent appointment. I wouldn't have rung 111 straight off; in my experience, they send an ambulance for everything.

You would have left a child with a high temperature for 60 hours? What if the child had meningitis or sepsis?

@l2b2

I would have rung my GP first thing Monday morning; if there was no possibility of a GP appointment, I would have rung the local walk-in centre for emergency triaging with the intention of getting an urgent appointment. I wouldn't have rung 111 straight off; in my experience, they send an ambulance for everything.

They certainly do not "send an ambulance for everything". I called last year about my bowel problems and they told me to see the GP as soon as possible, and gave me some other advice.

I called them last week when I cut the top off my finger and they told me to go to urgent care.

The OP quite obviously did the right thing in the circs. 111 is the NON emergency line, it's 100% for any concerns you have. It's not as if the OP called 999 is it!

@Zzelda
What is the significance of 60 hours?
My post is in repose to the OP's latest update. You've got your wires crossed.

@VanGoghsDog
That's all very well but why would you ring 111 on a Monday morning for a same day walk-in appointment? Why was the registered GP not the first port of call?
The OP says in her latest update that her child was irritable, running a temperature and had a chesty cough. I'm pretty confident that the child's GP could have diagnosed tonsillitis and prescribed appropriately.

Because it was a bank holiday Monday and our gp was closed! Is that good enough for wanting an appointment at a walk in clinic for my baby?

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Meanwhile a 97 year with a broken hip is waiting 3 hours on the floor in pain.

Do you know this 97 year old personally?

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Sorry, I might have missed this but was there any reason why you couldn’t drive or get a lift to the hospital? How near was it and do you have a car? Ambulances are for emergencies not minor childhood illnesses.

Sorry, I might have missed this, but is there any reason why you've come on the thread to lecture a mother who's had a stressful time after the fact? This site is for support, companionship and fun, not self-appointed guardians of NHS resources.

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Meanwhile a 97 year with a broken hip is waiting 3 hours on the floor in pain.

Op didn't call the ambulance, she called 111, who decided through their triage system to send one. Maybe their triage system is wrong. Or maybe it's evidence based as young children can go downhill quickly. Maybe there were plenty of ambulances at that time.

Anyway, stop guilt tripping the op. She has done nothing wrong, just followed advice!

@Ritasueandbobtoo9 why do you think the OP has to explain to you why an ambulance was sent?

Oh I completely understand your worry. I think you done exactly the right thing. My little one had tonsillitis before and was very ill. Hope they are in the mend

I had tonsillitis a few years ago as an adult and honestly felt the worst I think I have ever felt! So so tired, sick, feverish, pounding headache, agonising throat, it was terrible! It was a bacterial infection as it went off within 12 hours of the first dose of antibiotics but I always sympathise when it’s “only” tonsillitis. I always assumed it was just a bit of a sore throat before but it was the worst bout of illness I’ve had as an adult.

Give over PPs.

Ignore the posters above OP, you did exactly the right thing. It's always better to be safe than sorry with small children. You've no way of telling until you receive a diagnosis whether symptoms like these are serious or not. If you'd received a diagnosis of meningitis they'd be praising you for your quick thinking.

It's appalling that a 97yr old with a broken hip is waiting hours for an ambulance but it's not because OP dealt appropriately with her ill child.

Severe tonsillitis in my case progressed to severe left ventricular heart failure due to complete left bundle branch block from viral myocarditis.
Definitely not something to be ignored in anyone.
In 48 hours I went from chasing my DGCs around the park to being barely able to breathe.
And I was very fortunate that I went to a GP when I did, 24 hours longer would have been fatal.
Tonsillitis is not ‘just a bad sore throat’ for some people.

Ambulances are for emergencies which 111 clearly indicated it was so let’s give the OP a break she had a sick child and it potentially was! In a world of crap being kind is free, I am glad everything is being sorted OP and wishing your boy a speedy recovery.
Also for temperatures that high current NHS advice is not to put them in a cool bath as bringing a temperature down that fast in children under 2 can cause convulsions

@Ritasueandbobtoo9

Meanwhile a 97 year with a broken hip is waiting 3 hours on the floor in pain.

Meanwhile, posters such as Ritasueandbobtoo9 are only too delighted to vote Tory to ensure that a severely underfunded NHS has to make a decision about whether to check a very-ill 17 month old with a small chance of a potentially life-threatening illness or to leave a 97 year old wait and go untreated.

Ritasueandbobtoo9 finds it absolutely inconceivable that the NHS could actually be funded enough to look after both. If a few 17 month-olds here and there lose their lives, then so be it.

OP didn’t call an ambulance!