What is an emergency?

[ChrisEdu]

Could somebody please define it and let my local Sussex ambulance service know?

My wife called for an ambulance last night, as I'd had a pain in the chest, vomiting, difficulties breathing, strange sensations in my left arm, and headache! Yet again, we were left holding for an operator to take the call!

I don't know what is going on, but somebody could be a lot less fortunate than I was whilst waiting for help.

 

[stwat]

I can't answer your question. But I do hope you are okay and feeling better now.

 

[sirius9]

Could somebody please define it and let my local Sussex ambulance service know? My wife called for an ambulance last night, as I'd had a pain in the chest, vomiting, difficulties breathing, strange sensations in my left arm, and headache! Yet again, we were left holding for an operator to take the call! I don't know what is going on, but somebody could be a lot less fortunate than I was whilst waiting for help.

Have u gone to have a check up in your local hospital?

What you are describing points towards a heart incident.

 

[MancMike]

It's all the people wanting a taxi, or reporting that their kebab didn't have chilli sauce on it.

 

[WDB124066]

Chris,

Can you join the Ambulance Service by becoming a formal member of their organisation like you can here in New Zealand? I have just been through three years of a very elderly person with Dementia living at home alone that refuses help, so we just got her as a member and as soon as you call they have all your details on screen - and frankly they hop too it.
I know you were waiting for an answer to the call but sometimes I think they even prioritise the answering of the calls not on first in first served but based on perceived need. Once they know you are deadly serious they may well respond differently.

Worked for us every time.

See if you can't join and get recognition that way, because what just happened to you is NOT to be brushed off to one side.

 

[maska]

Chris,

Can you join the Ambulance Service by becoming a formal member of their organisation like you can here in New Zealand? I have just been through three years of a very elderly person with Dementia living at home alone that refuses help, so we just got her as a member and as soon as you call they have all your details on screen - and frankly they hop too it.
I know you were waiting for an answer to the call but sometimes I think they even prioritise the answering of the calls not on first in first served but based on perceived need. Once they know you are deadly serious they may well respond differently.

Worked for us every time.

See if you can't join and get recognition that way, because what just happened to you is NOT to be brushed off to one side.

Works For Me In Auckland, Not To Sure About Wellington.!!

 

[brucemillar]

Well, as a salutary warning (not to derail Chris's post).

My dear friends wife woke up two weeks ago with what she described as "severe stabbing pains in her chest with pins & needles in her left arm". She is in her mid fifties, slim, & healthy and takes daily excercise.

Ambulance called. Paramedics on-site within 7 minutes. "Your wife is having a heart attack". Two days later. Open heart surgery in St Thomas's, London to replace a damaged aorta. Back home 5 days after that.

All from a single phone call, which she didn't want him to make, as "it's just a strain"

This was all done on the NHS.

Thankfully, a happy ending to what would have been a fatal outcome.

I wish you luck Chris. You are certainly going through a bad patch just now.

Bruce

 

[TheFoX]

Could somebody please define it and let my local Sussex ambulance service know?

My wife called for an ambulance last night, as I'd had a pain in the chest, vomiting, difficulties breathing, strange sensations in my left arm, and headache! Yet again, we were left holding for an operator to take the call!

I don't know what is going on, but somebody could be a lot less fortunate than I was whilst waiting for help.

God forbid the day we dial 999 and get the message, 'Due to high demand, all our operators are busy at the moment, but please hold as your call is important to us'. If we are still alive when they finally take our call, we will discover that the call centre is in India, and the operator has no idea where we are in the UK.

The last time I called 999 was because of a vehicle collision where the other party were using abusive tactics and threats of intimidation to try to coerce me to take responsibility for them hitting my vehicle. On calling 999, the operator told me to just 'exchange details'. Unfortunately, the two idiots, probably high on drugs, were totally uncooperative, and I could not make the control officer understand the situation. It was only later when the PC came to our house and we showed her the dashcam footage that they realised how dangerous the situation was.

(One of the idiots actually threatened my elderly mother, telling her that if she didn't get back in the car, he'd put her in the ground).

From what I've seen in responses to this thread, again it looks like a postcode lottery, where the attention you get depends on the area you live in.

Also, I think that our reliance on technology has diminished our Police force. There are fewer police now, per 1000's of citizens, than there ever has been. It's all very well having everything recorded on CCTV, but if we don't have the manpower to capture the culprits, then what is the point?

 

[MissyD]

Could somebody please define it and let my local Sussex ambulance service know?

My wife called for an ambulance last night, as I'd had a pain in the chest, vomiting, difficulties breathing, strange sensations in my left arm, and headache! Yet again, we were left holding for an operator to take the call!

I don't know what is going on, but somebody could be a lot less fortunate than I was whilst waiting for help.

hope you are ok Chris, what was the outcome?

 

[KennyN]

If you watch the program on CH4 / 5 regarding the emergency services then you will see how stretched they are dealing with trivialities , some of the reasons the calls are made seriously beggar belief and a large percentage of them seem genuine to the caller at that time through drink + drugs.

There was a drunken female on the program last week that had woken up in a police cell fifteen times not knowing how she got there , but she still maintained that she never touched a drop of alcohol until the interview at the end.

Kenny

 

[ChrisEdu]

Unfortunately, it's the second time that we've had to call 999 for an ambulance and had the 'Sorry, your call is important to us,' type message. It really is quite worrying to think that you can be in desperate need of urgent medical assistance and yet on hold for 5 minutes!

Fortunately, despite an abnormal heart trace, I was fine - don't actually know what it was all about!

 

[PobodY]

If you watch the program on CH4 / 5 regarding the emergency services then you will see how stretched they are dealing with trivialities

This.

It's not quite a post code lottery, but it's entirely down to your local NHS trust and/or constabulary. - Add to that the time wasted with "emergencies" like I don't know where I am and I can't afford the taxi fare home, and you can see why they struggle.

I've never had to call an ambulance, but I did have to call the police once; only to be told that they close the police station in Stoke and they'd have to send someone from Stafford. - By then, the little oiks who'd smashed our windows were long gone.

 

[Druk]

Last Thursday past my mother slipped and fell in the kitchen. My sister discovered her lying there at 1715 and mum having just reached the emergency string and on the speaker to the central medicare HQ who then passed responsibility to sis. She then called an ambulance which was allegedly dispatched but didn't actually arrive till 2000hrs: so my 94yr old mum had been lying in agony on the kitchen floor for nearly three hours with what turned out to be a broken hip.

Now the good news. Whipped in to the QMC Nottingham who operated on Sunday morning (take note Mr Hunt) and she's now well on the mend.

Apparently the ambulance that had originally been sent had been diverted to an RTA and they had forgot to re-order another.

 

[ChrisEdu]

Last Thursday past my mother slipped and fell in the kitchen. My sister discovered her lying there at 1715 and mum having just reached the emergency string and on the speaker to the central medicare HQ who then passed responsibility to sis. She then called an ambulance which was allegedly dispatched but didn't actually arrive till 2000hrs: so my 94yr old mum had been lying in agony on the kitchen floor for nearly three hours with what turned out to be a broken hip.

Now the good news. Whipped in to the QMC Nottingham who operated on Sunday morning (take note Mr Hunt) and she's now well on the mend.

Apparently the ambulance that had originally been sent had been diverted to an RTA and they had forgot to re-order another.

Yikes! A broken hip can be fatal in the elderly! At least it seems that things got sorted out in the end. Good luck to her!

 

[TheFoX]

When a friend suffered a heart attack, his family called for an ambulance that got lost. Apparently, they couldn't find the right road. Thankfully, he survived, but it was touch and go, and the family were fraught with worry.

 

[artyman]

I had to call an ambulance for a neighbour who had collapsed, took 45 minutes to arrive, I chased them after 30 minutes and was advised that one hadn't even been allocated, fortunately it wasn't serious, he was conscious and nothing broken just severely de-hydrated.

 

[flango]

That's the advantage of living in a small village like us. As well as the 999 ambulances you also have a fast response paramedic car assigned to the area, first responders, and the local fire service provide back up in case any of that fails so help is only 4 minutes away.at the most. Last Christmas my wife's 80 year old uncle took very ill on Christmas day first person was there in about 3 minutes.

Same if you go to the doctors if the prescribe anything you come out go to reception they give you your drugs no messing with chemists that never have what you want.

I love village life

 

[markjay]

Last Thursday past my mother slipped and fell in the kitchen. My sister discovered her lying there at 1715 and mum having just reached the emergency string and on the speaker to the central medicare HQ who then passed responsibility to sis. She then called an ambulance which was allegedly dispatched but didn't actually arrive till 2000hrs: so my 94yr old mum had been lying in agony on the kitchen floor for nearly three hours with what turned out to be a broken hip.

Now the good news. Whipped in to the QMC Nottingham who operated on Sunday morning (take note Mr Hunt) and she's now well on the mend.

Apparently the ambulance that had originally been sent had been diverted to an RTA and they had forgot to re-order another.

Glad to hear she is making good recovery.

 

[lisa110rry]

That's the advantage of living in a small village like us. As well as the 999 ambulances you also have a fast response paramedic car assigned to the area, first responders, and the local fire service provide back up in case any of that fails so help is only 4 minutes away.at the most. Last Christmas my wife's 80 year old uncle took very ill on Christmas day first person was there in about 3 minutes.

Same if you go to the doctors if the prescribe anything you come out go to reception they give you your drugs no messing with chemists that never have what you want.

I love village life

Exactly true! Here we have the [Local Name] Cardiac Trust. When my husband had to call the ambulance, the lady First Responder arrived within five minutes, followed by the Ambulance after a further ten minutes, followed by me after a further 20 minutes (I work 40 minutes from home!).

It was a couple of weeks in hospital to regulate medication.

Villages are great!

 

[davidjpowell]

Exactly true! Here we have the [Local Name] Cardiac Trust. When my husband had to call the ambulance, the lady First Responder arrived within five minutes, followed by the Ambulance after a further ten minutes, followed by me after a further 20 minutes (I work 40 minutes from home!).

It was a couple of weeks in hospital to regulate medication.

Villages are great!

Similar a few years ago. Lived in a village, and daughter woke gasping for breath. NHS Helpline decided it was an emergency.

First responder down in minutes, ambulance followed after 20 minutes (which was good going that night - especially from where they came).

Fortunately Oxygen helped a lot, and it was later determined to be Croup. After that time we knew how to deal with it (sat in a bathroom with a hot steamy shower running), but was very impressed with the organisation.