Hows this for a quandary.

[Godber]

So l'm still feeling rough with this covid thing, on the sofa at about midnight when l hear someone banging the front door really quite hard. Opening the door l see the old girl from the end of the street and she's in a right old state, ranting on about something and trying to push past me to get in. I'm telling her to stay out because l've got covid but she hasn't got her deaf aids in. Eventually she calms down enough to tell us that her hubby has collapsed in the kitchen. Me and my eldest leg it over and he dials 999. I popped my head into the kitchen and saw that he was still alive, conscious lying on his front breathing fairly normally. He was not in any immediate danger so l left him and retreated away from the house leaving my son by the back door to talk to the 999 operator and to the old couple aswell. The old boy was responding to questions but was quite incoherent, grunting rather than talking. Ambulance eventually turned up at 0250, nearly 3 hours after we first dialled and only after l dialled 999 again a 0219.
Every bit of me wanted to help the old boy, its my job, l've never hesitated or turned away from someone who needs help but on this occassion l had to look at the bigger picture. Get stuck in and risk infecting an 80+ year old with health problems or stand back and monitor the situation from a safe distance. It was tough decision.
Hopefully the old boy will be ok. Well done my son, kept a cool head.

 

[Lee Richards]

Respect to you always MIck for what you do. ?

 

[OldTaff]

You did the right thing - with physical intervention it’s unlikely his condition would have changed prior to the ambulance attending but with physical intervention the likelihood of infecting an elderly person with high level risk factors and the further consequences were almost inevitable.

A tough call but a good call, respect to you for your judgement.

Take care and get well soon.

 

[Markywhizz]

I think you did the right thing in standing back. A dose of covid would likely finish him off. I can’t believe the ambulance took three hours. What if he’s had a heart attack or stroke where rapid action is needed. I guess the NHS are really struggling at the moment.

 

[drw]

Well done mate as you say very hard to call I hope your neighbour makes a speedy recovery

 

[62tucker]

Be proud she chose your house to knock on. ??

 

[Wise Owl]

In the circumstances mate you did all you could and i bet the Frustration to do more was not nice, give yer Lad a Pat on the back from me, all the best pal stay safe

 

[bezzer]

Nice one Godber. Must have been terribly frustrating for you. Hopefully the old boy will be ok.

 

[Sportsman]

Tough call, but a good one. You did the right thing
Ambulance taking 3 hours to get to a collapsed patient is a bit worrying though. Did they say why?

 

[Neil ofthe nene]

Tough call, but a good one. You did the right thing
Ambulance taking 3 hours to get to a collapsed patient is a bit worrying though. Did they say why?

You will not get the TV series Ambulance. That tells you why you have to wait. Basically too few ambulances for the number of calls at peak times. Calls have to be prioritised and ambulances directed to the most severe cases first.

 

[Sportsman]

You will not get the TV series Ambulance. That tells you why you have to wait. Basically too few ambulances for the number of calls at peak times. Calls have to be prioritised and ambulances directed to the most severe cases first.

Yes, I know. A collapsed patient lying on the floor is usually a pretty high priority and the early hours are not usually peak times. I was wondering if there was a particular reason. Staff shortages due to the pandemic crossed my mind.

 

[Dave]

You did the right thing Mick, the chances are you are out of the infectious stage but it would have opened up a massive can of worms had you passed it on.

As for the ambulance taking as long as they did - log a complaint.
My elderly neighbour fell several years ago and we called an ambulance as it was clear she'd broken her hip. An hour later we called again to be told they were busy and one would be with us as soon as possible.
An hour later still no sign and the poor lass was in a lot of pain and discomfort, so I called and this time gave the operator an earful (politely) to be told they were still busy and someone would be there as soon as.
45 minutes later a paramedic arrived followed by an ambulance some 10minutes after him. The paramedic told me he'd been sat parked up for over an hour and the call only came in 10minutes before he arrived.

Either there was a breakdown in communication or because of her age (91 ish at the time) she was classed as low priority I don't know, but even the ambulance crew confirmed they weren't busy. Makes you wonder. No one got back to me re the complaint either.

 

[tonerain]

Re ambulance delays, I read some time ago that patients had to be formally "accepted" by the hospital.
Until that had been done, the hospital "A& E target waiting time" was not triggered.
Some bean-counter in Cambridge Health Authority spotted this opportunity and issued an instruction to delay acceptance for as long as possible.
That led to the crazy situation on at least one occasion of ALL Cambridge's ambulances standing outside a hospital waiting for "acceptance" of their patient.

Targets are ok, but result in people spending a lot of working time finding loopholes in target rules.

 

[genesis]

Targets are for putting on peoples backs

 

[Godber]

Just had a visit from the daughter. The old chap had had a stroke. It was only noticed once he was in the hospital, the ambulance didn't leave until after 0400. Doctors have told the daughter they dont know what damage the delay will have caused. Its upset me a bit, poor bloke lying there for that length of time in pain.

 

[banksy]

Much less serious, but along the same lines, I was walking down a muddy cart track yesterday when I was overtaken by a little girl riding a pink bike.
She hit a big stone, and went over the handlebars, face down in a deep muddy puddle.
Looking back, I saw her mother was two or three hundred yards back.

My automatic reaction was to pick the tot up, but she wasn't hurt, just dirty, very uncomfortable and very noisy.
So I just stood back, made sure she was ok, and reassured her that her Mummy was on the way.

 

[The one and only Harvey]

What you describe looks very much like a stroke. If that is the case, there wasn't much you could have done, anyway. And exposing him to covid would definately not have helped.

I'm very pleased to see that you are already well enough to help your neighbuors.

 

[Peter]

100% the right decision on your part Mick, obviously hugely frustrating for you given your training. Kudos to your lad and his handling of things even though the subsequent response or lack of it from the Ambulance service was far from ideal.

 

[Total]

@Godber ......Mick, You and your boy are hero's, End of.......Be well mate.....

 

[JayD]

You have my full admiration for the way you and your lad tackled this tricky situation, you kept your calm, and avoided making a it a lot worse.

It must be still going through your mind, but the old guy is now in the right place, and it's time for you to concentrate on your own health.

Well done, and take care
John.
.