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Do you need an ambulance?

2

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  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teh_Gerbil wrote:
    It seems Ambulance aren't good at prioritising. I heard of someone who's son a had to wait 6 hours with a broken arm. :( Poor fucking kid.

    What else do you think they were doing in those six hours, sitting on their arses drinking tea and eating buns?

    A broken arm is not life threatening, you can make your own way to hospital and people rarely need an ambulance TBH.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    without reading the entire thread:
    i think if i chopped off my finger, i would be dialing for an ambulance
    if i saw someone else chop off their finger and blood was spurting everywhere, i would help, i am a qualified first aider but i would also phone an ambulance
    :yes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Just as a small aside, when I worked at NHS Direct most Cat C calls were rerouted through to us to deal with - so it's not always a case of NHS Redirect :p

    Ah, but how many did they deal with over the phone and how many did they send to their GP/ to make their own way to A&E? That's the redirect part ;):p
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i_am_bex wrote:
    but u can hardly drive with blood pouring out the end of ur finger and say the loss of blood made the man faint and he had crashed his car. he would of been charged with man slaughter if anyone got killed as a result. i guess his uncle could of taken him but he needed medical care quickly in my opinion

    a) No-one suggests that he should drive himself and if he was on his own I suspect[i/] that they would have gone out to him.

    b) How quickly in your [medical?] opinion is quick enough?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    otter wrote:
    if i saw someone else chop off their finger and blood was spurting everywhere

    the "and" in that comment is the important part. Being a first aider you should know that "spurting" is unlikely to happen from the top of a finger.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    the "and" in that comment is the important part. Being a first aider you should know that "spurting" is unlikely to happen from the top of a finger.
    i should know that :blush:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I can't really be arsed to read all this, but lets be honest, spurting or not - no one should be driving with part(s) of their hand severed.......
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That isn't to say that there wouldn't be bleeding, but it's unlikely that someone would bleed-out. There aren't many veins/arteries at the end of a finger ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Oh my god. It's a finger. Why the hell would he need an ambulance? He was unlikely to die on the way there and so should have asked his mate to drive him or called a bloody taxi. There's a reason that they're called "emergency" services you know. Naturally he doesn't want to lose a finger and yes there is the chance of shock from loss of blood but it's hardly the most life threatening injury is it!!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I can't really be arsed to read all this, but lets be honest, spurting or not - no one should be driving with part(s) of their hand severed.......

    Suggest that you read the thread then, because that wasn't going to happen in this case.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Suggest that you read the thread then, because that wasn't going to happen in this case.

    Dammit, I knew that would happen lol.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    :D

    Shit happens
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teh_Gerbil wrote:
    I heard of someone who's son a had to wait 6 hours with a broken arm. :( Poor fucking kid.

    That sounds like excellent prioritising to me.

    The mother could- and should- have made her own way to A&E by car or by taxi.

    I can tell that most people on here live in cities- in most rural areas the quickest way to hospital is in your own car. And whilst Bedlington is not a rural town, it is in the most rural county in England, and it is about 3 miles from A&E at Wansbeck General Hospital. Not sending an ambulance shows that the triage is working.

    The ambulance would have taken him to A&E at Wansbeck, too, y'know. The "local" hospital with the specialist plastic surgeons is a piffling 35 miles from Bedlington.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I blame assylum seekers, Judith Kilshaw and Muslims as the cause of this horrific story!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Gays, -[MoonRat]-, you forgot the gays.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    .
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i_am_bex wrote:
    i think they definately should of sent an ambulance for him as he was in a lot of pain.

    Please elaborate on this? Just because someone is in alot of pain doesn't mean they should be sent an ambulance, does it?:rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    i_am_bex wrote:
    i think they definately should of sent an ambulance for him as he was in a lot of pain.

    That really doesn't make much sense. My dad was in a lot of pain when he was taken seriously ill in the summer, but as he hadn't collapsed, we took him to A&E in the car as it's only a 2 minute drive. Other than the fact that it'd be quicker than calling, waiting, getting him into the ambulance, etc, our ambulance service covers all the villages surrounding the town, some of which are quite far (in emergency situations at any rate), so I agree with the opinion that if you don't need an ambulance, you don't call one.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Well i don't think he should have been expected to drive himself. But don't think an ambulance was needed if someone could have drove him. I chopped a bit of my finger off when i was younger, don't think i went in an ambulance.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I phoned NHS direct once. Said they'd ring me back. 2 hours later they rang me back. I explained I had burns (turned out to be second degree) over my right arm and hand. She said 'oh.. normally we would recommend you go to hospital', I said I couldn't get to a hospital because I had no car, and I'm not going on public transport when I'm in this much pain, she said 'keep it under cold water'.

    So I did :) and it cleared up nicely with minimal scarring. But gosh it hurt. Anyway, my point is, I should have been in a hospital, but as MoK said, an ambulance isn't a taxi, and they weren't there to take me to a hospital.

    I try not to depend on ambulances, I see them as an 'emergency only' service, for example if there's a really bad road accident or something. If people are still concious and lucid and aren't in immediate danger, and there is other transport available, then an ambulance is a waste really. The fact the clinic he went to wasn't able to reattach his finger is tough luck -> my uncle had three heart attacks on one day and went to glenfield hospital, which is apparently world ranked for heart treatment. He got lucky, sometimes you don't.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    my uncle had three heart attacks on one day and went to glenfield hospital, which is apparently world ranked for heart treatment. He got lucky, sometimes you don't.

    I wouldn't call that lucky, I'd call that a good service ;)
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    And I'd call getting good service off many (edit: possibly some, but too many) parts of the NHS without having to scream blue murder for it getting lucky.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I wouldn't, the NHS mostly does a very good job.

    I've always received excellent treatment, even when I've been in the mental health service.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    You can do a good job without good service.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    That makes absolutely no sense at all.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Gays, -[MoonRat]-, you forgot the gays.
    Oh yeah!

    Dirty fucking gays, taking all our jobs, dirtying our streets, refusing to speak our language (most lesbians speak in tongues or so I hear).
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Kermit wrote:
    That makes absolutely no sense at all.

    Does to me. The SHO I eventually saw when I went back to A&E after some of the stitches pulled through in my wound from surgery did a very good job of redoing the stitches and putting plenty of local anaesthetic in.

    However I had to wait standing in the waiting room for 2 hours (or lie on the floor) because I was unable to sit because of the surgery I had had, and I had to argue and complain and shout and sulk to get to see this SHO who actually knew anything about the operation I had had.

    Good job done, bad service.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Are you saying that having called an ambulance, they didn't actually use it?
    No, the ill friend (who was unconscious) went in the ambulance. As they were taking her away her friend wanted to go to the hospital but was not permitted to travel in the ambulance with her (I can't remember the reason) so as the ambulance was leaving with the ill friend in it he walked to the hospital by himself so he could see her when he got there. When he arrived the ambulance was still on its way as it had taken him less time to walk there than the ambulance took.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    However I had to wait standing in the waiting room for 2 hours (or lie on the floor) because I was unable to sit because of the surgery I had had, and I had to argue and complain and shout and sulk to get to see this SHO who actually knew anything about the operation I had had.

    ... and who was either treating other patients (possibly on the ward), in theatre or maybe even finally getting some kip.

    Still no-one ever thinks about that aspect do they, me, me, me.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    No I was more than happy to wait somewhere suitable ( I don't include a waiting room floor in that category) to get treated by someone who knew what they were looking at, but it took 2 hours to see anyone other than triage, even longer than that to see someone knowledgeable.
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