When is an emergency not an emergency?

Believe it or not I've only ever been in an ambulance twice in my 78 year life. Once in 1945 when I had scarlet fever and the second time about 4 years ago with a rapid pulse.
The second time I was trying my best to avoid calling them but after 4hrs realised I could either have a heart attack or a stroke but it wasn't an immediate call.
The paramedic said it " was an age thing " that the elderly were reluctant to call them out, but kindly and gently told me off !
Blue light and sirens as soon as he started the engine and do you know what ? I felt ashamed ! I told the crew that too. That's how reluctant ( stupid ) I am.

Only been in an ambulance ( for my own condition) twice too.
Yes, I think they do get a number of calls which they have to
Attend and turn out to be either hoaxes or very peculiar people.
Sometimes though, it’s genuine people who need to be seen, even if not ‘taken away’.

I'm a community first responder here in East Anglia and help the ambulance service by caring for the patient until an ambulance arrives.
Please don't feel guilty calling for an ambulance as all the questions you are asked during the phone call help the ambulance service decide whether to send a crew or refer you to another service.
So many elderly people say "I didn't want to call for an ambulance but 111/ GP surgery called one for me. I don't want to be a nuisance." No you are not a nuisance.
A few weeks ago I attended an elderly gentleman with breathing problems which had started during the night. He didn't call 999 as there were roadworks going on all night outside his home......so I gently explained that an ambulance crew would be allowed to his home no problem.
Another reaction is "I am not going to hospital". I leave that one to the paramedic to discuss with the patient!

Going to A&E by car/taxi is fine if you have someone to take you. I’ve been to A&E four times in the last 4 years and each time it was necessary but as I live with DH he was able to take me. Had I lived alone I would have in one case called 111(as I did) and was told to go and the other 3 times I would have called an ambulance. I think we should not be too judgey although I accept that some calls might not be necessary - but that can be hard to know yourself and hindsight is always 20/20

I suspect that some people call an ambulance nowadays because they can no longer call their own GP, as in days of old. It's as though there nothing between 0 and 100 nowadays.

I've had three ambulance trips in recent years. One was most definitely required, as I had a double leg fracture. The other two, I had severe labyrinthitis. Back in the day, a GP may well have come to the house, given me the same medications I was given in hospital and hopefully the condition would have resolved itself.

On the other hand, I went by ambulance to hospital when I went into labour with my first baby, over forty years ago, and that was standard practise! No one gets an ambulance today when they're having a baby, unless it's an emergency.

I've been twice in 18 months. First time, I broke my shoulder and had a large 'egg' on my head too. An ambulance was called as it would have been far too painful to sit in a car. The next time, five weeks ago, I was bleeding copiously from a gash on my eyebrow and bystanders called an ambulance. The paramedics were able to stem the bleeding but decided to take me to A&E for stitching. When paramedics are called they won't necessarily take the patient to hospital but will give first aid and make an informed decision. The third time I fell (last week) I was about 25 metres from the local surgery and a doctor there gave me the once-over - bruised ribs, painful but getting better with time.

The only time I have ever called an ambulance was when I had fallen down about 3 steps and had a fracture/dislocation of my ankle.

Never again will I leave my keys out of reach because I was crawling around on the floor attempting to reach my handbag. Now I have a keysafe outside so if necessary I could shout the code through the catflap.

I did not have a choice but I was not happy doing it. It definitely is an age thing.

I am another with only two trips to my credit(?) One in labour when I had to be transferred from the local GP unit to the main hospital 5 miles away. The other when I tripped over my feet in the street and fell over and cut my face and needed stitches. A traffic warden rang for an ambulance.

Never called an ambulance for anyone, but have had one for me twice. The first time was when I started miscarrying really heavily at 4 months, (DH called it), and the second time was when I fell over in M&S and broke my shoulder and the shop called the paramedics. I suppose it's sometimes difficult to know what constitutes an emergency.

I have called an ambulance twice, both times for my DH. The first time he had Legionnaires Disease and the second time he had a hypo as his sugars were too low.

People need reminding that A&E stands for Accident and Emergency not Anything and Everything.

We are lucky to have a minor injuries clinic just down the road in Stratford. Think if there were more of these it would take the pressure off A&E.

People also have to be reminded that they are not a free taxi service. I do not think our generation treats them as such but I know many do.

I don’t think I have ever been to A&E for myself (touches wood!), but I took DH there in the car when he fell off a ladder. It was a nightmare journey, but at least we could park. They have since moved the A&E to a hospital on a huge site, where parking is a nightmare and you could end up looking in any one of several car parks for a space, nowhere near the A&E entrance, so calling an ambulance would make more sense in a lot of cases. We still have a minor injuries unit at our local hospital and that is where I hopped off to when I tore the ligaments in my knee.

I once temped at a doctors surgery and you wouldn’t believe the number of people who rang asking for an emergency appointment for Tuesday week......

I rang for a neighbour who had breathing difficulties and he was taken to hospital. He was a lovely old man.
In the last few months of DH's life when he was suffering from a terminal illness he had four bouts of breathing difficulties so I had to phone 999 for him and three times he was taken to hospital.
When I fell down some stairs last year, breaking a few bones, BIL took me to A&E.

A and E on Friday and Saturday nights is choc a block with those way over the limit on drink or drugs, but who have to be brought in for their own safety. Their strange behaviour might just be due to be a head injury. I have no sympathy with those who call 999 because they have run out of tampons or baby milk (yes, it does happen!)

I feel our generation are too reluctant to admit they have a real problem, and are scared off by the GP receptionist asking 'is it urgent?' The answer should be 'yes it is, to me' It's just a standard screening process to go through, as opposed to calling for a medication review or holiday jabs.

I have only called for an ambulance for myself once. I put off dialling 999 for at least a day - which earned me a reprimand from the paramedic - who told me "when in doubt give us a shout", and another from the hospital doctor. I think our generation do worry about "being a nuisance" and try to deal with things ourselves.

My son answers 999 calls and has a regular caller who makes stuff up. Her latest was that the doctor had hidden a oujie board in her house and subsequently glasses were flying around the room! With a bit of reassurance she calms down.

www.nhs.uk/using-the-nhs/nhs-services/urgent-and-emergency-care/when-to-call-999/

Only been in an ambulance once at age 13 when I got knocked down by a bus

I remember as a small child I badly cut into my thumb by slicing it with an edge of slate in the garden. Our doctor arrived, used yellow penicillin powder to clean it and then put in 3 stitches. He advised my parents how to dress and keep the wound clean, presumably telling them to contact him if it was a problem.
It would help if walk in centres had minor injuries clinics so that these sort of incidents were not forwarded to hospital. Polyclinics are available in Turkey and deal with these and more serious injuries such as burnt legs (husband and bbq).
I’ve only called an ambulance once for someone who had a serious heart condition and was having an attack.
There are so many scare stories about people not being treated when they need help. I suggest that this encourages folk to act “just to be on the safe side”, as is done with 111.
Children to me are an exception. If in doubt take fast action.
I don’t think we are more stoical, just a bit more careful with more experience of life and thus able to make a reasoned assessment.
It’s so difficult in this day and age - no one wants to be accused of negligence.

A friend of mine is a paramedic for London Ambulance Service. He raced to a call to find a young man and his father sitting in a flat and they asked him to fix their heating as they were cold. They had pretended that Dad was having a heart attack so that someone would come straight away. Personally I haven't used or had to call an ambulance and I really hope it stays that way but if I had to and we had to wait because of fake call I would be really angry.

I’ve only called 999 once and it was for my mother in law who had dislocated her new hip by trying to put a lamp on at the socket! I travelled with her in the ambulance and found it a very weird experience. They seemed to have a yellow colouring on the windows and although I know the area well I hadn’t a clue where I was until we turned into the hospital.

Alexa strangely there is nothing there about old people falling and breaking bones. I had to dial 999 for my 96 year old mother who had fallen and broken her hip. I was told not to move her but we waited 6 hours!