When is an emergency not an emergency?

111 will always give you advice on the next step.

My DH dialled 111 twice recently for me. The first time I was in agony with abdominal pain and couldn’t breathe properly. They said they were sending an ambulance but an hour later the ambulance service rang to see if I really needed one. Could I walk about and get to the bathroom they asked. I couldn’t move at all so the ambulance came. I had appendicitis and emergency surgery. A week later my DH had to call again as I couldn’t stop vomiting and had a high temperature. Again 111 sent an ambulance. They checked me for sepsis and decided I could wait four hours until the GP opened. I was embarrassed. When I went to the GP she was horrified at how ill I was with a severe intestinal infection caused by the appendix. It’s a fine line as to what is a real emergency and suspected sepsis is just as valid as a heart attack. I am an avid watcher on the ambulance programmes and am shocked how many people use it as a taxi service. Some of them are near the hospital! We are over half an hour away.

I'm astounded at the reasons ambulances are called. I thought they were for dire emergencies not minor incidents.
I've been in an ambulance twice; once aged 11 with severe concussion resulting in a broken skull and once, called by a passing GP, with a dislocated knee which was agony? . I don't remember either journey!
I've called an ambulance twice. For my Grandfather who collapsed and for DH, sadly it was too late for him. I think the Nation need re-educating on how & when to use the NhS services!

As a doctor's daughter from the generation where his wife and grown-up daughter answered the phone, I would define an emergency as anything life-threatening, or so worrying to the patient or relatives that they need expert advice immediately.

And yes, some emergencies were not in this category, someone had panicked and thought a situation more serious than it was, but that is greatly to be preferred to the person who for instance dies of a burst appendix or a broken skull because "he didn't want to bother the doctor"

Only time an ambulance been at our door was daughters horrendous asthma attacks. Always life threatening and always necessitating at least a five day stay in hospital. Recently called one for my husband who had fallen in kitchen and broke his nose as blood everywhere...I wouldn’t normally call an ambulance , would have used taxi, but he couldn’t get himself of the floor and with three slipped discs me lifting a 13 stone man of the floor was not an option.Did explain on phone that I thought it wasn’t serious but just could t lift him and they sent an ambulance ...waited 30 minutes as not emergency but that was fair enough. They took him to hospital and he was kept in overnight and was operated on next day.... as he’d done something quite serious to the inside of nose. Said I’d done the right thing.

Best thing to do is call 111. The trained staff will make the best judgment based on your response to several questions. I used them recently after a back pain that was so severe meant I couldn’t take more than shallow breaths. I ended up with a 1st responder, two paramedics and an emergent trio to hospital where I was admitted, had a CT scan and diagnosed with kidney stones. I’d also add that rather than put up with such a pain for almost a week, I’d get medical advice sooner.

I’ve used 111 twice when I was really uncertain if I needed hospital ( I did) but twice I had no doubts. Falling downstairs and a resultant bleeding head wound was one example.

I have been taken to hospital by ambulance twice - once when I had a fall and cut my forehead open - that needed 8 stitches and then when I had a bleeding stomach ulcer.
The first time, the ambulance was called by a private paramedic that attended me (he wasn't far away and was called in by friends) the second time we called 111 for advice and they called for the ambulance.
Second way is the way to go, I think. The 111 service ask specific questions about your condition. They can then advise or will arrange a doctor or nurse to call you back to either arrange a home visit or for an ambulance to come to you.

This question resonates with me at the moment due to my broken shoulder. I knew it was broken (having done the same thing 10 years ago I recognised the signs) but not only did we not call an ambulance but I undertook a 2.5 hour train/car journey home. I managed to get up using the bed and my good arm as leverage, then we then took a taxi to the station, got the train home, picked up my car and went off to our nearest A&E. I didn’t want to be stuck away from home and also knew that I would be given a collar and cuff sling. I made my scarf into one and dh sat on the aisle seat so I didn’t get bumped. I genuinely did not feel any need to call an ambulance to get me off the floor and take me into A&E. My life was not threatened so was I stupid, stoic or sensible??

A bit of each Katek! I don't think you would have been wrong to call an ambulance though.....
Hope you are soon returned to good health

Many friends are Paramedics and I am retired from a busy A&E Dept. I love watching the 999 programmes with Mum. She is astounded by the calls that people make. We used to call some 'Repeat Offenders', it is the hoax calls that are the worst though ? Last time I called 999 was for a 29 week pregnant woman who had collapsed in the street, must be 30 years ago.

When I had my first baby 53 years ago I went to the hospital by bus. The nurses were amazed.
the only time I have been in an ambulance was when my poor old husband had a stroke and I went with him,
Sirens blaring, everything.

Only once in an ambulance for me. 5 months pregnant and severe pains in my belly. My husband got me to within 10 feet of the car when some kids in a stolen car being chased by police crashed straight into our car. The police called the ambulance for me. Turned out I had appendicitis and the baby was fine.

I don’t understand why people call an ambulance when it isn’t life threatening or a serious injury.
I had a bad fall once, a couple of days later a friend insisted on driving me to A&E to get it checked. Turned out to be a fractured pelvis. Another time I broke my arm badly out in the country, I was happy for someone to drive me to hospital but they insisted on calling an ambulance. In the end we had 2! But I did feel a bit of a fraud. Saying that, the Drs at the hospital would not let me go home until they’d operated on it, despite my pleas!
It really annoys me that the emergency services are overstretched by entitled idiots who think because “they pay their taxes” they are entitled to use the anbulance service or police as taxis.

You have to remember that if you call an ambulance when you are not a real emergency then someone out there could die whilst they are attending to you.

Is our generation more stoic or do we do ourselves a disservice by soldiering on when we shouldn’t?



No. Its nothing to do with generations

Its often people with mental health or learning difficulties or frailty calling because there is noone else!!

For lots of reasons people have nobody else to turn to. They might call 999 with sonething apparently minor but when the crew arrives there are all kinds of other issues. 999 is a way of reaching out.

999 is the way to access mental health crisis services these days.

notanan2 I’m not talking about those situations, they are often legitimate, but about those who misuse the service when they have recourse to other means of treatment and/or transport. There is a discussion to be had regarding the wider issues of care in the community for the vulnerable , but that was never intended to be the main thrust of this thread.

Sadly, the ambulance service is suffering from lack of services in other areas. For example, mental health services and lack of GP out of hours support.

I've been in lots of ambulances. Sadly, not because I broke a nail. They are absolute stars. One (a rapid response vehicle that reached my house in under 2 mins and we are semi rural) saved my life.

They are unsung heroes in my view and regardless of services you will always get the odd hoax call out or elderly person who pulled the wrong cord.

Being unable to get a GP out of hours home visit is to blame for a lot of the calls I believe. I once had to call an ambulance for DIL as she was writhing in pain and every time we tried to get her to the car she screamed. We called GP out of hours service and after a 20 min wait we were called back by someone who was clueless. Thinking she may have a ruptured appendix we called an ambulance. It was severe IBS but we weren't to know. She had not long given birth to our GD either so we were concerned and unsure of what to do with no support.

I know this is a serious thread but it did bring to mind my last trip in an ambulance. Not far from the hospital, with me screaming in pain from a kidney stone, we were rear ended by... a driving instructor not even the learner driver One of the paramedics trollied me into A&E while the other one (who asked the driving instructor to follow him as he had an emergency on board) took details of the accident. I remember being shunted quite violently and thinking 'Is this normal' as I was fired down to the other end of the ambulance

Then the paramedic jumped out (we were at traffic lights) and I heard the altercation. Thinking 'What's going on and please get me some drugs soon'

Honestly

Oh god, I can’t imagine how awful that was, hopefully you got some morphine quickly after that!

I have had to have an ambulance which was sent after I called 111 experiencing severe pain in the base of my spine. I had to wait overnight for seven hours.Turned out to be a fracture at base of spine caused by the radiotheraphy treatment for anal cancer.
I have a Careline button and key safe and when I fell one evening and could not get up and had gashed my leg which was bleeding profusely used that. All three people on my list turned up to help and Careline contacted the hospital and District Nurse came to dress the wound.
I would advise all elderly or vunerable people to have a Careline button and a key safe.l

This is very raw to me , as my 89 year old dad lay for 4 hours on his floor with a broken hip and already had trouble breathing on Saturday evening . He sadly died on Monday morning . They are very low priority

Have called out an ambulance to DH numerous times over the last year. Each time for a real emergency, I consider it an emergency if someone is physically incapacitated and unable to get help any other way. I think that the service is overused as people cannot get a timely GP appointment so issues escalate. There are also a lot of mental health problems that end up in a and e as there is no where else for them to go. The service DH has received has been excellent. They have a difficult job.

After being released from hospital after having my gall bladder out, I felt odd. I can’t explain much more than that, a bit breathless and odd. I phoned 111 for some reassurance and to my horror they sent an ambulance and a first responder. I apologised all the way to the hospital and to the doctors who examined me. Turns out I had a massive PE and spent almost 10 weeks in hospital, three of which were in a ntensive care. I was told that if I hadn’t gone to hospital when I did I would certainly have been found dead the next day.

Unfortunately many areas don't have options available other than A&E. Sadly, I have seen people show up at A&E with social crises that would have been better resolved with social support - medical attention wasn't required.

One thing they're developing in some areas where I live is the concept of an urgent care center. This is a place where people can go if what they have is relatively minor - for example, minor injuries, minor suturing, little Johnny has an ear infection and Mum wants him seen today, type situations. We are also expanding the role of EMS. EMS personnel now have protocols that allow them to treat a patient in place, in the patient's own home, if they consult with their medical director and the medical director deems it appropriate. We also have community paramedic programs where a paramedic can be sent out with a mental health therapist for mental health emergencies, and where a paramedic can be sent out with a nurse practitioner (nurse with additional education to diagnose, prescribe medications, and order tests) to see patients living in a nursing home who become acutely ill. The goal is to keep people out of A&E if they don't really need to be there, and to keep people (especially older people) out of the hospital if they don't need to be there. Of course they will still transport if it becomes necessary, but in many cases it's more cost-effective and better for the patient to be treated at home.