This didn't happen to me, but was overheard on the radio and related to me by someone who knows someone in Control (yes it's vague, but rest assured that it did actually happen).
A call came into Control that a young woman had a foot injury. It was prioritized and a there was no ambulance to immediately send, so it was put in the queue of low priority calls.
A short time later, a call came in asking where the ambulance was as the patient was actually a victim of a hanging.
An ambulance was immediately despatched and HEMS (Helicopter Medical Service) was also activated.
When the crew turned up, the patient wasn't hanging, but instead her foot had been run over by a pram. There was no obvious injury. The impression that has been given is that the caller lied to Control in order to get an ambulance quicker.
Actually, I know that they lied, but to say how I know this would potentially break confidentiality
And you wonder why I sometimes want to stab people in the eyes with a wooden stick…
I realise there is a difference between people who have no understanding of how serious their injury or illness is (and therefore get a higher priority than they would if a medical professional were examining them), but this is a pretty cynical attempt to get their pizza delivered trip to hospital quicker than someone who more genuinely requires an ambulance.
This act of bastardry could well have meant that someone who really needed an ambulance had to wait longer to get to hospital. This it turn potentially puts lives in danger. That is not counting how much it cost to activate the helicopter, or the cost if someone had been run over by the ambulance as it raced to the scene.
I know there are some folks from the police service who read this, so a quick question – Is it against the law to do this to the emergency services and if so would it be realistic to have the person charged? I understand you can be charged with “wasting police time”, can this be translated to wasting any emergency services time? Once again, this shouldn't be directed to people who are just a bit dim, but towards those who are cynically manipulative of the system.
Or can we just take them round the corner and beat them up?
I think you should just inflict the reason for calling an ambulance on them. They called and said it was a hanging, when it wasnt, right? So hang them, then use the ambulance to get em to hospital. Someone lies about being stabbed in the chest? Stab them in the chest, then take them to hospital…
don't use a wooden stick – i suggest a spoon handle that way, the protruding shovel can still be of some use for the rest of the population. What use will a stick be? Unless you have taken both eyes out, are wanting to feed chinese food to a partner and have very talented eyeballs.As an NHS worker who spends hours a week in meetings, you can tell I have given this some considerable thought.
If only you could charge them and beat them up …
Sticks are great for poking people, just enough to make them cry and beg forgiveness. I vote for take them out the back and beat the hell out of them though. Failing that say next time you need and ambulance as someone has beaten 10 bells of shit into you you will be prioritised as low and unnecessary because you are a time waster and you probably deserved to be beaten anyway. Just a personal opinion š
Take inspiration from Hell's ironic punishment division, thus in this particular case the woman would actually be hanged. (Possibly with a foot amputation if its a bad day)
There was a story in our local paper recently about an old bloke who was convicted of something relating to repeatedly calling ambulances. I'd meant to send you the story, never did, and the poxy paper's website is pretty poor-no archive of the courts page! That's the bit we all read!However, that is Scotland, so it may well be different down your way.
there isn't much you can do against people with attitudes like that. though there are always things that you can do to make their “stay” with you as pleasant as possible……. cannulation, that can be quite tricky to do on someone with poor viens can't it, and so painful too, and the shocking state of the roads, so bumpy, and of course they need taking to the nearest facility to their home address, and not shipped halfway across the city……. and also educating them about the latest issues in the NHS…. i always find MRSA seems to get people hot under the collarme, cycnical and working for the NHS….could be.
on second thoughts, can't your communications department get these stories out in to the media or have recording of the calls on the LAS website?
What about a name and shame website and/or local papers?
I believe (and I may be wrong), that it is an offence to interfere with any emergency worker in Scotland.But the same rule doesn't apply in the rest of the UK.
As I say – I may be completely wrong.
Two words…”Patient confidentiality”.
I think this is why the communications department of the LAS tolerate me – I can tell people how it really is, without needing to be polite, which the LAS would have to be if it were an official communication.Also “all opinions…are mine alone…not the LAS…”, just as it says in the little sidebar on the right.
Totally unrelated, but Reynolds, are you aware there's a big write-up about you in today's Scotsman?http://news.scotsman.com/scitech.cfm?id=450942005
Go look, don't know if they asked nicely but they've quoted huge scads of you.
Hmm. From a Police point of view, the only criminal offence that could be committed is 'Public Nuisance', contrary to common law. However, for this to go anywhere, you would have to show mre than just what you have stated, e.g. caller is a repeat offender or the HEMS landing halted a football match.Wasting Police Time only applies to the police, and even if this were made out in these circumstances (such as lots of police turning out to assist, cordon HEMS landing site, etc.), the only section of the offence that could apply is 'making…false report…giving rise to apprehension for the safety of any persons'. Sadly, the CPS would never run with that at court.
Ideally you should just be able to bill them, and for that to be enforceable (backed with benefit deductins etc). It would only take one or two well publicised cases with someone having to pay whatever a week for life and the problem would be solved.
Thanks, that's pretty much what I thought.
Nope, no permission asked, so this is the first I knew of it, so thanks Kalshassan.It must be a slow news day north of the border. As it seems that papers like to write about blogs (by quoting lots of tect from them) when they need to fill up a column inch or two.
Not that I worry about it (it's all publicity), but if they do it with my stuff, what else in the papers is 'recycled'.
I have a few spare tumours which I would gladly let you attach to such morons. Please indicate required size when ordering.Best
Cass
Years ago my mum called an ambulance for some reason which escapes me right now and the ambulance service did charge her (40.00) as she could have made her own way to hospital. She paid up after much wrangling and legal advice.I am the complete opposite to my mum in this respect. I will not call an ambulance if I can help it for myself even though I have asthma and have suffered 2 spontaneous pneumothorax. My family think i'm mad but I would hate for some paramedic to think I wasted their time. My first pneumothorax was actually diagnosed by a paramedic much to his amazement as he thought it highly unlikely that a slim,fairly fit 28 year old woman would have one for no apparent reason.lol.Sadly the same paramedic now drives a taxi for a living š due to compulsory retirement.
I vote for taking the time-wasters round back and beating them senseless.
Just let the nursing staff know on admission then we can walk them round to reception and leave them waiting for HOURS and HOURS, dont book them in or we may have to sort them within 4 hours.Sadly the sort of person who exagerates their condition is the sort who will kick up mary hell if they have to wait in A&E.
I had the same thing happen to me here in the states during the whole SARS epidemic. I was working in the pediatric emergency department during the winter flu/bronchiolitis/upper respiratory tract infection season. Wait times to be seen were through the roof (more than 3 hours), but most of these kids have viral illnesses anyway, for which we actually do very little. We had a mother bring her child in and told us that the family had just flown back from holiday in southeast Asia and that she was worried about SARS. Naturally they got rushed back and put into isolation. Once they were in the room the parent said that the story wasn't true – that she just didn't want to wait. Most wanted to kick her out of the ED. I felt that a more fitting punishment would've been to call the state department of health which had actually allowed for quarantine of SARS exposures, and had this family quarantined for 7-10 days based on their initial statement indicating exposure.
I don't know whether you would be permitted to do this , but my reaction would be to simply leave her there and drive off, telling her she would have to wait her turn. You can then re-book the call giving it the priority it deserves.NC
My 16yo son is an EMT cadet here in the US. We both love reading here. Just wanted to say thanks for sharing your experiences!Nothing makes me angrier than people who do things like this. My mom had an argument w/another shop owner once. The shop lady was in the wrong and a real pistol. After refusing a refund, mom went to her shop to confront her in front of customers. The lady (using the term VERY loosely there!) picked up the phone and dialed 911!! I could have smacked her senseless.
I apologized to the policemen when they showed up, being the manager of the shop where Mom was working. I also, on their advice, had them tell Nasty Shop Woman she was not allowed in the store I managed! HA!
Anyhow, people who tie up emergency services should be penalized in some way.
Keep up the good work!
From a Police point of view, this kind of thing happens regularly to us as well. A typical example of this is shop security guards phoning 999 and claiming that detained shoplifters are violent when they are not, in order to get the call upgraded and answered quicker by us. There is not much that we can do about this either, as Wasting Police Time is very difficult, if not impossible, to successfully prosecute in these cases. In terms of people making inappropriate/ hoax calls to the other emergency services, I believe that in a couple of cases ASBO's (Anti Social Behaviour Orders) have been successfully imposed on frequent offenders.
How about taking the impatient and ignorant non-patient to the next place you go to and letting her see a serious case, which had really been delayed by this sick device.
There might also be the possibility of an offence related to misuse of the telecommunications network (ie, nuisance phone call related offences)… Worth trying to press it with your local police given the cost involved in sending 2 vehichles along with HEMS… It's probably in the public interest to proceed with some sort of formal warning at the very least, though the fact she did have an injury might count as a mitigating circumstance…