How long would you expect to wait for a ambulance after ringing 999

[cherriepie]

I had to call 999 late last Sunday night because my husband suspected he was having a heart attack and the paramedics came within 3 minutes shortly followed by an ambulance. They were brilliant.

[Hesther]

 

Bold: Are you serious? What kind of analogy is this? (for at least 2 reasons)

 

-

 

It IS a foreseeable event, yes, how many 'just in cases' do you get? 'Just in cases' are probably the biggest part of the policing bill.

 

How many ambulances would you acquire and where from?

 

You'll probably find that Fri and Sat night are generally amongst their busiest times in every town/city.

 

Saturday night I would guess there were 30-40000 people out in Sheffield. What if O2 caught fire? Would you say after the event, 'why didn't they have 500 ambulances working?!?' - if that were the number that would have been required to saving everyone's life?

 

It would be interesting to hear from any mobile Paramedics/A&E workers. I'd guess Hesther, that if any staff had asked their manager 'can I have this sat off to go out?' the answer would have been no, you know?

 

Of course I'm serious. Your comparison with the O2 fire is a bit daft - we're not talking about 'just in case' here, are we? We're talking about a totally foreseeable event which happens every year.

 

The police, like ambulance staff/paramedics etc is an emergency service. If we can organise to ship in hundreds of police 'just in case' something kicks off during a demonstration, why can't we organise to ship in paramedics, etc, from neighbouring areas, when we KNOW there is going to be a higher demand for these services, and we know lives will be put at risk?

[Cyclone]

There's another obvious solution, which, I would argue, is better and more practical than more crews on the road (as more crews would require more money- which won't happen).

 

Which is to enable the current crews to do their job by addressing the inept admin system which means that "ambulances are queuing outside the doors of A&E just to book patients in, recent figures showed that this could take in excess of an hour and even up to 2 hours".

 

That would require the government to actually do something to help the NHS though, when they are intent on running it down in practice and in the media.

[green_man]

There's another obvious solution, which, I would argue, is better and more practical than more crews on the road (as more crews would require more money- which won't happen).

 

Which is to enable the current crews to do their job by addressing the inept admin system which means that "ambulances are queuing outside the doors of A&E just to book patients in, recent figures showed that this could take in excess of an hour and even up to 2 hours".

 

I'm afraid that your solution is probably less feasible than mine.

 

The queuing of Ambulances outside A&E isn't due to any inept admin system but as a result of an NHS in crisis as a whole. It is quite simple, you can't take patients into a hospital if you don't have anywhere to put them. The wards are full which has a huge knock on effect as it means those sat in A&E waiting to be transferred to a ward can't move on, this ties up beds within the emergency department of the hospital and so on and so forth.

 

It is easy to sit around pointing fingers but there are multiple complex factors that have to be considered and the truth is that there is no overnight fix for them. If you read the national media and trust websites you will see that they are constantly working extremely hard to alleviate the problems.

Edited September 30, 2015 by green_man

[GoGo_dancer]

 

Originally Posted by verona View Post

 

Yes, good on you for staying with him, most people would have just driven passed.

 

Would they, how can you know that?[/QUOTE]

 

My mother-in-law tripped in a pot-hole on the pavement and landed face first, half in the road and suffered a broken nose and cuts to her lips. She was across the road from my house when it happened and as I tried to get to her, FOUR cars practically drove around her.

 

 

Last year my 86 year old Grandad collapsed in the bathroom at 2am after getting a nasty water infection. He was very weak and dizzy and was kind of wedged in a corner so my Grandma couldn't help him up. She called for an ambulance and it took 2 hours for a paramedic to arrive to get him off the bathroom floor and another 45 minutes for ambulance to come and take him to A&E. The paramedic could only apologise and explained as it was a weekend they were stretched with drunken fights in town.

 

He's had to have the ambulance out a few times since then, luckily all during the day and they've arrived within 10 mins, and overall the service he's received from all the medical staff we've come into contact with has been exceptional so I'm just eternally grateful we have the NHS!

[*_ash_*]

Of course I'm serious. Your comparison with the O2 fire is a bit daft - we're not talking about 'just in case' here, are we? We're talking about a totally foreseeable event which happens every year.

 

No it isn't... and your comparison using the police isn't?!

 

Let me ask you again, where are going to ship lots of ambulances and paramedics from, on a Friday or Saturday night?

 

Chesterfield? Rotherham? Barnsley? Donny? Does it occur to you that THEY are at their busiest on Friday and Saturday night as are most places? - and that students start everywhere around the same time.

 

Bobbys might be quite numerous across the country and there is scope for moving them around when there is something big occurring somewhere, but paramedics aren't 10 a penny. Even getting more police on a Fri/Sat night would be difficult and probably why major demonstrations are held in the daytime when demand is lower.

 

The police, like ambulance staff/paramedics etc is an emergency service. If we can organise to ship in hundreds of police 'just in case' something kicks off during a demonstration, why can't we organise to ship in paramedics, etc, from neighbouring areas, when we KNOW there is going to be a higher demand for these services, and we know lives will be put at risk?

 

See above.

 

As it happens there was at least one issue on Friday night, that probably took up a lot of emergency staff at the hospital and from paramedics.

 

-

 

You remind me of people who complain when there aren't enough taxis on mega-busy nights, and ring up and say 'why don't you get some more for events like this?! '

 

You might like my idea for Penistone Road to be come a 8 lane highway, because 20 times a year Wednesday fans completely block the roads around Hillsborough on match day

[dizzybird77]

Of course I'm serious. Your comparison with the O2 fire is a bit daft - we're not talking about 'just in case' here, are we? We're talking about a totally foreseeable event which happens every year.

 

The police, like ambulance staff/paramedics etc is an emergency service. If we can organise to ship in hundreds of police 'just in case' something kicks off during a demonstration, why can't we organise to ship in paramedics, etc, from neighbouring areas, when we KNOW there is going to be a higher demand for these services, and we know lives will be put at risk?

 

Unfortunately the ambulance service is not classed as an emergency service by the government, only an essential service.

Maybe if they were funded by the government (like police/fire) there would be more money available?

I remember signing a petition last year to make ambulance an emergency service.... Obviously the petition didn't work!

[S6 D.I.Y]

i wasent trying to blame anybody for this just if this was the normal to wait so long

 

also SPIDER not all from upperthorpe are bad people i am from here and a local

i DID NOT THROW WATER ON HIM

I DID NOT GO THROU HIS POCKETS

 

i could not just go past i treat others how i would like to be treated myself ..hope you not in need of help one day

 

ANY WAY THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR RESPONSES

[Bruno]

Firstly well done for staying and reassuring the patient.

 

I'm a CFR and attend this type of situation, I've also been out with the crews and sat in listening to how calls are answered and how the emergency services are dispatched.

 

I will now try to explain how it works, when you make a 999 call for an ambulance the first question they ask you is, "is the patient breathing"

The operator has to go through a set procedure of questions, each question has to be answered before they can proceed to the next question, your answers determine what question is asked next....... This incident I believe comes under a red 2 emergency, as soon as that is established (which is in the first couple of questions) then a automated alert is made to all "available" response teams, this would be Paramedic in a (fast response vehicle), Ambulance and a Community first responder. At this stage any or all of the above may have responded to the alert and on their way to you.

 

As the operator continues their questions, your answers give a broader picture of the situation, the emergency could then change to a red1 or deemed not as life threatening and go to green, if it goes to green that doesn't mean the crew will slow down, it means a more priority red 1 or 2 would then override the green therefore they would get diverted to that.

 

A CFR attend red1 or 2 but we will get stood down if it goes to green.

 

With someone having a fit, there's not much you can do other than support their head to protect from injury whilst they ride it out, I'm guessing the operator stayed on the phone with you, giving you reassurance and advice whilst you waited.

 

Having been out with the ambulance crews a couple of times I know what they're up against, it's job after job, and generally 10 or 12 hour shifts, you need a strong bladder as you have no time to pee.

 

One of the biggest downsides is ignorant motorists who won't get out of the way when the ambulance is behind them, some panic and don't know what to do, others think they can get away with putting their foot down, others see an opportunity to speed past the car that has slowed down for the ambulance. What everyone should do when an ambulance is behind them or they can see them a few cars back in their mirror, is stop. So the ambulance can box round you.

 

Us who are volunteers using our own cars, cover our communities (generally a 3 mile radius) we could be attending a red1 cardiac arrest, however we have to abide to normal speed limits, we could be 3 mile away which at 30mph would take 6 minutes for us to reach the patient, a cardiac arrest needs treatment ASAP and definitely within 8 minutes to increase chance of survival. We usually have a sun visor sign which is visible in other drivers rear view mirror, so if you see that please let them get past you and/or let them/us out of the junction.

[green_man]

In this case fitting of 30 minutes or would possibly be considered status epilepticus therefore increasing the urgency.

Edited October 1, 2015 by green_man