Guess the emergency call category

Dancer

For those of you who don't already know through watching ambulance TV shows such as BBC Ambulance or Inside The Ambulance, there are 4 categories of calls that are used to decide the urgency of an ambulance being sent to you when you call 999. That is why you would only have to wait a few minutes for an ambulance if someone is having a seizure but maybe have to wait a few hours for if someone has had a fall but does not have any obvious injuries. Just so you have some sort of understanding of the categories, I will explain what each category means.

Category 1: Life threatening emergencies that require CPR or could require CPR

Cateogry 2: Emergencies that are not life threatening but require urgent treatment

Category 3: Urgent calls but could possibly be treated at home

Category 4: Non-Urgent calls but still require assessment or advice

So my challenge to you is to try and guess what category different situations would be based on the brief information that you are given. I will mention the age of the patient, their gender, what has happened and any medical conditions or circumstances they are facing that could make them vulnerable if not treated urgently. Please share your answers in a spoiler to keep it fair. I will share the answers after 2 weeks so everyone can see how they did. I understand that some situations could be sensitive or confusing to work out.

Dancer

(1) 74 year old Male who has fallen off a ladder and has a suspected head injury. He was briefly unconscious but is now conscious. He lives alone but was found by a neighbour who has access to his house.

(2) 3 year old female who has had a fever of 39 degrees for 4 days. She has been difficult to wake up and has been unable to tolerate food. She has Diabetes and requires regular blood sugar checks and insulin.

(3) 17 year old male who has fainted. He has been unconscious for 5 minutes and his breathing is shallow. He is at college but parking will be difficult. He has no previous medical conditions.

(4) 29 year old female who is going into labour. She is currently 32 weeks pregnant with twins. She has high blood pressure. She is scheduled to have a C-Section a week later.

(5) 47 year old female who has had back pain for 3 weeks. Her GP has referred her to a physiotherapist. However she is unable to walk at the moment.

(6) 39 year old male who has been vomiting for 48 hours. He also has a fever of 38.4 degrees.

(7) 18 year old female who is intoxicated and fell down 3 steps. She has a suspected fractured ankle and also has knee pain.

(8) 16 year old female who is having a panic attack but is struggling to breathe. She is currently home alone but was able to alert a neighbour. She has had a heart transplant 5 months ago.

(9) 2 year old male who has fallen out of bed and has hit his head. He has been crying and has slight bleeding.

(10) 9 year old female who was riding her bike and was hit by a car. Her dad was with her when the accident happened. She has a suspected broken leg and a head injury. She is currently unconscious but is breathing.

(11) 37 year old male who is having a seizure. He has been having a seizure for 7 minutes. His 8 year old daughter is the only person at home with him. He has a history of epilepsy and multiple seizures in a row.

(12) 92 year old female who has fallen over at a care home. She does not have any obvious injuries but she is later found to have a rash and has been suffering with breathlessness. She has COPD and has signed a DNR.

(13) 12 year old female who fell off the bars at gymnastics and was briefly unconscious. She has breathing difficulties and also has a suspected neck injury.

(14) 36 year old female who has been having abdominal pain for 3 hours which has been getting worse. She also has been vomiting and not eaten for 4 days.

(15) 29 year old male who has been constantly sneezing and has a headache. He has had these symptoms for 5 weeks and the GP has prescribed antihistamines and painkillers which he has run out of.

Dancer

Just realised that I never did share the answers to these situations. Here are the answers.

1. Category 2
2. Category 2
3. Category 1
4. Category 2
5. Category 3
6. Category 4
7. Category 2
8. Category 1
9. Category 2
10. Category 1
11. Category 1
12. Category 2
13. Category 1
14. Category 3
15. Category 4

Dancer

Reasons for each answer

1. Suspected head injury but conscious and breathing.
2. Suspected meningitis.
3. Unconscious and could become cardiac arrest if he stops breathing completely.
4. High risk labour.
5. Worsening long term ongoing pain.
6. Low fever and vomiting so needs to see GP or Out Of Hours instead.
7. Suspected fracture and is intoxicated so could be more serious than initially suspected.
8. Could turn to cardiac arrest due to history of heart issues.
9. Young child fallen from height.
10. Unconscious and suspected head injury.
11. Seizure that has been ongoing for more than 5 minutes.
12. Suspected sepsis.
13. Difficulties with breathing so could become a cardiac arrest or respiratory arrest. Also there has been a period of unconsciousness and a suspected neck injury due to falling from height.
14. Suspected appendicitis.
15. Needs to see GP as it is hayfever rather than a medical emergency.

Laura_tigger82

This looks like a really great task @Dancer especially for anyone considering going into the health and social care field as a profession