It's OK, cancel the ambulance, he's bled to death!

[andy-hughes]

Walking back from lunch, i saw an old genlteman take a very nasty fall from a raised cobbledtraffic island base itno the road, where he cut his head and face and lay there bleeding profusely.

First to reach him, I dialed 999 and spoke to the Ambulance Service. I confirmed the exact location, the injury, how it was sustained, the approcximate age of the gentleman, my mobile number, and was then asked to stay on line to answer some more questions which consisted of -

The location / the injury / how it was sustained / the approximate age of the gentleman / was he coherent / was he lying in the road / was he still bleeding / had I witnessed the accident / did I know the gentleman's name, and to finish off, what was the exact location?

During that time, several more passers-by had come to assist, one of whom had had time to call into the local medical walk-in centre across the road, and they had appeared with paper towels and were busy taking the gentleman's blood pressure.

A police car then appeared, and eventually, the ambulance arrived, and the gentleman was treated ro his injuries.

[Bobbisox]

did you find out how he was Andy, poor man

[Sqad]

Sorry andy....what is your point?

[daffy654]

I have had reason to call an abulance for an emergency situation before and was really annoyed/frustrated when they wanted to keep me on the phone... I needed to be giving support and medical attention to the patient, not answering stupid questions repeatedly!

[daffy654]

*ambulance*

[ChuckFickens]

I think the point it, sqad that they made Andy remain on the line to collect the exact same details that he'd already given to them.

[karenmac60]

That's horrible Andy, but I take it your point is about the response time of the ambulance. The thing with head injuries is that they often look a lot worse than they are, and if all the ambulances were out at more serious incidents then there's not really much they could do. He would probably not be seen as an immediate priority because it's unlikely that it would be a life or death situation. As I said, horrible, but unfortunately that's how it goes when juggling limited resources.

[Sqad]

chuck...right.

[moonraker558]

NHS at it's best.

[jackthehat]

Be patient...............t'interweb has eaten the remainder of the story..........it'll be along soon, I reckon.

[andy-hughes]

It is Chuck.

I spoke slowly and clearly giving the precise location of the accident, not " ... on the High Sttreet ..." but the names of the two streets that formed the junction where the traffic island was located.

My point is, if the gentleman had not merely suffered a nasty bang to the head, but severed an artery / had a heart attack / had a stroke, or anything else which required urgent attention, I would have preferred the operator to confirm, that the almbulance was en route, and then clarify all the information, or better still, take it all down when it is given clearly and slowly without hesitation or deviation in the first place.

[ChuckFickens]

Although not as serious (well unlikely to be life threatening) I get annoyed at mobile phone companies for a similar reason.

You phone them and get a automated system saying press one for blah blah blah..... then finally you get the "to help us speed up your call please enter the phone number you are calling about now" which you do, you then get put through to a person and the first question they ask you is "what is the phone number you are calling about"

[Sqad]

andy....how long between your call and the arrival of the ambulance?

[karenmac60]

Surely it's better to take a little time to get the exact information and make sure it is 100% correct than to take the first info given and risk the ambulance driver getting lost? You say you were calm and articulate - but the operator would not know your state of mind. Also assuming you are a local, you may give info that doesn't seem to make much sense to someone unfamiliar with the area - better to clarify it all before sending an ambulance on a wild goose chase.

[woofgang]

When we did our emergency training at work, they said that one of the things that's important is not to let passers by abandon the patient...so if you are in an isolated spot and there is someone to send for help say to them something like "come back and tell me how long the ambulance will be. My guess is that the useless questions are to keep you right there by the casualty until help arrives, don't forget they don't know the area, can't see who else is helping or that the walk in centre is over the road.

[Sqad]

I agree with karen.

If he was taken to hospital and had died on arrival, then the delay of the ambulance and medics would not have affected the outcome at all.

[stokemaveric]

has he died??? i heard ken dodds dads dog,s died....

[brenda]

Andy --so pleased you were on hand to help this poor man.An infuriating situation waiting for an ambulance .However in todays times he was fortunate to get an ambulance at all.Seems to me that if you are elderly then quite frankly , just die instead lof being a nuisance.