Hello everyone, I hope you are all fine and dandy this lovely day. A friend of ours, when asked if they are ok says ‘well, my arms didn’t hit wood on either side when I woke up, so yes, I am ok’. Think about it and what it means, as it’s so very true. The ‘wood’ being the insides of a coffin! It’s so easy to take it for granted until it’s not there. ‘It’ being anything and everything. It’s what people do.
Anyway, preaching over, but still on the health theme. What do you think about people who dial 999 for stupid reasons. You couldn’t make it up could you, the things people ask for. They dial the emergency number, with emergency being the key word, and ask for all kinds.
Take it for Granted
Here goes on how some people’s minds work, or not as the case might be. The North West Ambulance Service have highlighted some of the reasons that people come out with, just to show the misuse of the ambulance service. Something else that people take it for granted.
- Someone asked for an ambulance because they had a bandage on their head that had slipped, I did wonder if it was there to hold their brains in! Really!
- Someone else had a boil on their bottom. So why didn’t they see a doctor if it was troubling them? To get an ambulance out for that is just plain daft I think. I’d be embarrassed to death asking for a 999 service for something that a doctor could take care of.
- Some cheeky folk ring to see if they can have a lift home, I ask you, have they heard of taxis? Because ambulances aren’t taxis for someone who is probably drunk, or some such.
- Another one rang as they couldn’t get a dental appointment. Really, is that an emergency? I don’t think so. Even if you’ve got raging toothache there is usually an emergency out of hours service.
Lazy-itis
It strikes me that a lot of people are too lazy to go the doctors. Perhaps they think their not-so-bad symptoms will get immediate attention from the ambulance service. Quite the opposite I should think. I don’t know how the people answering these calls keep their patience. I don’t suffer fools gladly, so I’d probably tell them to get off the line and use their common sense. A&E is what it says on the label, accidents and emergencies, not trifling petty things.
As if that’s not bad enough, people ring 999 because they have a hangover. I would give them a glass of salt water to bring the lot up and that would make them better! Aren’t I hard. It just makes me so mad, especially in times like this when they’re pulled off their feet, and you get prats abusing the service.
Another stupid call was for a splinter in their finger. My answer would be ‘get a needle and dig it out’ like we’ve always done. But no, selfish people obviously think the NHS is there just to use when they feel like it, so they wouldn’t dream of it.
A real emergency…
Someone else had stubbed their big toe – the poor thing. Now that is a real emergency don’t you think? No? Well neither do I, funnily enough.
I just can’t understand why people can be so thoughtless to try and divert an ambulance from what could be a life or death situation, can you. I’m from the old school where you respected doctors and hospitals, along with another whole lot of things that were knocked into us.
I also think if people had to pay a nominal amount for a visit to the surgery, it wouldn’t be as busy by half . Even a pound or two would weed out a lot of the time wasters. And just think and how much could go be raised to help the already strapped NHS. Of course, it would never happen as the outcry would be so awful. But if people stopped abusing the NHS that would be a start. Well miracles can happen!
Right to Treatment
In our house we’ve often said that we would have a different building for the drunks and druggies who end up in hospital, after fighting and getting drunk out of their skulls.
They take it for granted that they can just pitch up in any state and be treated. Well here they could be left to it instead of frightening patients to death like they do with their aggression and fighting. It’s just not on to have to witness police, security people and nurses being abused by drunks. The staff shouldn’t have to put up with it either.
People have lost sight of the fact that the NHS isn’t there just to be abused and ill treated by them. When it was first brought in during the 1940’s life was so much different. People loved the NHS, especially after having to pay to visit a doctor pay as they did then. People respected the service, only using it when absolutely necessary. Not like today where they think it’s ok to abuse doctors, nurses and patients. It makes me so mad as the nurses and medical staff aren’t there to be used as punch bags by anyone.
Some of my friends have seen what goes on and have been horrified by what they’ve seen. Ship them off away from decent people who are genuinely ill I say. Then get it through to people they can’t ring 999 for anything other than an emergency!
While you’re here…
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