Did my first call taking shift in god knows how long today. It’s a bit like riding a bike. I spent the first hour thinking “Were they (the public) always this rude/stupid/loud? Did they always contradict themselves like this? Oh my god, it’s an actual serious life threatening call, shock, horror!” but after that it was back to triaging heart attacks in my sleep like I’d never been away.
For part of the shift, I had an observer — a young doctor from the Occupational Health Department. (Perhaps they made her do an observation day in Control so she could understand why so many EMDs rock up in Occupational Health with stress related ailments?) As any of the crews who have ever had an observer will know, once you have an observer on board, you are guaranteed not to get any interesting or remotely worthy calls. I spent a good half an hour arguing with an angry midwife who wanted a particular ambulance which was currently outside her hospital to do a non-urgent transfer from her ward. Sector were saying NO because they had several higher priority 999 calls waiting for that ambulance. Midwife was not taking NO for an answer. It went on and on. God knows what the doctor though - she had probably thought she was going to hear me doing CPR and delivering babies, but instead here I was arguing red tape with midwives…
The most “interesting” call of the day came around lunchtime from an extremely drunk sounding male. He didn’t want an ambulance, he told me, but he had no credit on his phone and didn’t know what else to do. I expected he was going to ask me to contact his GP or social worker as people sometimes do, but no.
“I hear Richard Branson is making a space rocket,” he told me. “And I need to tell him how to do it.”
I was, for once, lost for words.
“Um,” I said. “We don’t have any dealings with Richard Branson. Are you sure you don’t need an ambulance?”
“I told you I didn’t!” said the man (as if I was the one saying the stupid things). “Richard Branson is sending a rocket into space, and he needs my help.”
“Well, this is an ambulance service,” I said. “What makes you think we have anything to do with Richard Branson?”
“You’re all British, aren’t you?” said the man, and promptly hung up.
Got home and googled for “Richard Branson space rocket” and found that Richard Branson *is* actually sending a rocket into space. This was news to me. You learn something new every day in this job…
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:36 pm
I’m just about to start training for job with NHS Direct, I look forward to fielding gossip about Richard Branson. After reading your blog for a bit, I think I’m relieved that I’m just signposting.
October 3rd, 2006 at 11:50 pm
So shall we all call 999 with off-the-wall news stories from now on, Mark, just in case you’re interested? :-p Only kidding!
Lots of great posts again lately — I always enjoy seeing NeeNaw pop up in my newsreader.
October 4th, 2006 at 4:00 pm
Perhaps they should send him with it !!
October 4th, 2006 at 5:15 pm
Mhari - you’ll be surprised at what you’ll really be doing at NHSD. It’s certainly not all signposting!!
Observer’s curse! I had an observation ride out in an ambo on a day when England were playing in the World Cup, so I expected an action-packed afternoon. Nope; non-urgent transfers and old people generally unwell. Not a drop of blood or gore in sight. I still had fun though!!
October 5th, 2006 at 6:45 am
I’m inclined to think that observers getting ‘red tape’ calls could be just as important. you never know, an observer might one day be in the position to do something about it.
Hang on..
*takes meds*
October 5th, 2006 at 5:35 pm
Ooh, I had to call 999 the other day! Went to client’s house to do home assessment in labour and she was in labour but had no way of getting to hospital (I was not impressed by this) and so I was there calling taxis and what a surprise, at 11pm it’s not that easy to get a cab in south London. So I called the ambulance and was suitably apologetic- and they were all lovely, very helpful, and one of the crew was a woman I’d met before on another job! So that was quite funny. I wasn’t impressed though and it irritated me having to call an ambulance because of someone else’s disorganisation.
October 6th, 2006 at 3:05 pm
In response to “Claire”
“she was in labour but had no way of getting to hospital (I was not impressed by this)”
I’m curious about this. I’ve often seen complaints about women in labour calling for an ambulance to hospital instead of getting a taxi, and I can understand this. However, unless I’ve missed something, this comment seems to be suggesting that a pregnant woman without a car is abusing the NHS by not having arranged to have friends and/or relatives on 24 hour call to drive her to hospital on demand.
For various reasons, I choose not to have a car. However, I don’t think it’s fair to ask people I know who do have cars to help me out by driving me around when I need it. So if I were in the same position as the “client” here, I wouldn’t have any arrangement other than calling for a taxi, and it wouldn’t be due to disorganisation. Is that so unreasonable?
October 6th, 2006 at 3:13 pm
I dunno, it’s not like you’re asking them to take you shopping — I wouldn’t have thought it was a big ask for a friend or relative to drive you to hospital when you are in labour. I suppose occasionally there are people who wouldn’t have *anyone* to drive them and can’t find a taxi, and I wouldn’t mind, but it doesn’t happen “occasionally”, it happens hundreds of times a week.
It does baffle me when people call for an ambulance because they apparently haven’t got any other method of getting to the hospital — what do they do when they want to go anywhere else? Do they call a police car to take their children to school? Fire engine to the supermarket? Catch a lifeboat to go on holiday?
October 6th, 2006 at 11:01 pm
Well, I know that shortly after I had my c-section I had to take the baby to A&E with a head injury - and even if I had had a car, I couldn’t have driven it OR fitted the infant carseat into it, and I certainly couldn’t trust a taxi-driver to fit a carseat, based on prior experience, especially not the toddler’s seat (she might have had to come too). I also couldn’t manage both children on the bus, nor walk the 15 minutes from the bus-stop to the hospital, with a recent section wound.
As it happens, I have a partner who was able to come home from work and fit the carseat into a taxi for me, and a trustworthy neighbour who was able to watch the toddler. Lucky me!
October 7th, 2006 at 7:44 pm
In response to Claire and Mark’s comments - I think the answer to whether it is ‘reasonable’ to expect every pregnant women without their own transport to get to hospital under their own steam is ‘it depends’.
It depends on -
-whether you have friends or family nearby
-the time of day
-how quickly labour is progressing
-how far away from the hospital they are
-traffic situation
etc etc
From my own experience - my 2nd baby was around 3 weeks early - we have 2 cars and live in a rural area. Called person who we had lined up to take child 1. Left 2 messages - calls not returned. Considered husband taking child 1 over to this person - who was 30 mins away and me driving myself to hospital. Instead called a parent of a child in child 1’s pre-school class. We didn’t know them particularly well - so this was a bit of an imposition - plus it was 2 days after Christmas. In fact, person lined up to take child 1 was away, so if husband had taken him over to her house it would have been a complete waste of time! A friend had lined up someone to take her 1st child when no 2 arrived. When the day arrived, she called her to discover she had gone to a funeral!
When I arrived the Registrar saw me as child 1 had been an emergency section. He told me that I ‘wasn’t in labour’. Less than 2 hours later child 2 is born. Even the ‘experts’ get it wrong some times!
If Claire found it difficult to get a taxi, then the poor patient would have fared no better and if there were no friends or family nearby, what was she supposed to do?
With ref to the comment about what people do when they want to go shopping or take children to school - public transport runs pretty regularly during these times - unlike at 11pm at night. Shopping and taking kids to school are ‘planned’ events - depending on where you live you might walk to the shops or school.
Speaking from my own experince of labour - ’something’ tells you that you want to be somewhere *safe* - the Registrar suggested I went for a walk - when I had my 1st child they suggested I go shopping (!) - and this was after my waters had broken - but something inside me told me not to. I suspect that there’s an inbuilt instinct for a woman to go somewhere where they can be helped.
I am sure that there are some mothers to be that abuse the ambulance service, but I think it’s a little unfair to assume that everyone is totally disorganised.
October 13th, 2006 at 10:09 am
i just transferred from one service to another i was a dispatcher in one and have gone back to call taking and i have to say that it was a shock as to how daft the public really are.
November 1st, 2006 at 1:30 pm
Having been a materni-taxi on more occasions that I care to remember, I’m astounded by the number of woman in labour that have alternative transport, have already contacted the midwife or hospital, have been told to make their own way to the hospital, have been told “do not call an ambulance” by the maternity unit, yet then dial 999. These people then appear shocked when the ambulance crew is unimpressed, and the maternity unit staff tear a strip off them.
These are the people that abuse the (already overstretched) ambulance service, along with those people that have six cars in the driveway and call for a wrist injury.
Please don’t misunderstand, I’m not unsymapthetic. However, after five years of front-line emergency ambulance work, even I am still astonished by the apathetic nature of the general public, albeit the minority.
To put my point in some sort of context (and, perhaps, to get some sympathy) I recently broke my finger. After pulling it straight, taking some pain relief, and moaning/swearing for twenty minutes, I then drove myself to the nearest hospital. I’d have done this even if I wasn’t in the job.
Common sense isn’t so common. Rant over.
January 29th, 2007 at 9:12 pm
Hi there! - I can understand exactly where you are coming from. I work in the animal industry and we get the similar sorts of calls coming through - for example: “help my dog is choking” then you advise the client to bring the animal to surgery immediately - when it arrives you discover that it has kennel cough! I know animals and humans are completely different and shouldn’t confuse these issues.
I think that you guys in the Ambulance service do a cracking job, but I am horrified to think that people who you want to help will abuse you or even pick a fight with you. This is so very wrong, as it is wrong that for a “blue & twos” wagon you are expected to do non-urgent PT’s! (Patient Transfers)
If only the GP (General Public) could have some sort of idea as to what is urgent and what is critical it would make your (and our) lives easier…..maybe we should suggest that the government produce a tv documentary (like the St John Care For Life) programme, showing how to do simple things like bandaging, what to do if someone is bleeding or has stopped breathing.. and how to differentiate between urgent and non urgent calls. Maybe this approach would make things easier - what do you think…….answers on a postcard pls
:oP