Family Emergency. How fast would you go? Be honest.
Discussion
I have a code with my family on a scale to 1-5, 1being I'd like you home asap and 5 being stop at nothing death is imminent.
Half the problem is that when panic sets in there is often poor comms on both sides, the attendee panics and gets home faster and more riskily than they need to. If it was that urgent I would tell her to dial an ambulance and keep her on the phone and talk her through what needed doing medically.
But I have every sympathy with the need to get home quickly although no one should die trying to be a hero
Half the problem is that when panic sets in there is often poor comms on both sides, the attendee panics and gets home faster and more riskily than they need to. If it was that urgent I would tell her to dial an ambulance and keep her on the phone and talk her through what needed doing medically.
But I have every sympathy with the need to get home quickly although no one should die trying to be a hero
bigbob77 said:
HustleRussell said:
Wouldn't it almost always be quicker to get a paramedic followed by Ambwilans?
I assume the question most people are answering is "how fast would you go after calling 999"... Otherwise no matter how fast you go you're just wasting time.
t (horn and lights blaring) traffic can be dispatched almost as fast as blues and twos. CS Garth said:
If it was that urgent I would tell her to dial an ambulance and keep her on the phone and talk her through what needed doing medically.
But I have every sympathy with the need to get home quickly although no one should die trying to be a hero
or crashing into somebody else and killing them. But I have every sympathy with the need to get home quickly although no one should die trying to be a hero
Had a brisk drive to a hospice once, but not so brisk as to unduly risk myself or others as I would find it very hard to live with myself if I ended up killing another family. E63 AMG does do briskly
Had one nasty crash and it was luck that ensure no one else died or injured. Lesson learnt. If your dead as well then your no help to anybody before/during or after whatever was the crisis.
I suppose if the call did come, I could get all Mark Higgins about it, applying a big dab of oppo to catch a slide at 150mph on that off-camber bend near Greggs and the Post Office, rushing home use my awesome first aid skills...
but realistically I'd probably apply a bit of common sense and call an ambulance just in case whatever the problem is can't be fixed with Savlon and Peppa Pig waterproof plasters.
I'd stay on the phone, drive normally, provide moral support and direction and manage the situation as calmly as possible, while you lot are still looking for a telephone box to get changed in...
but realistically I'd probably apply a bit of common sense and call an ambulance just in case whatever the problem is can't be fixed with Savlon and Peppa Pig waterproof plasters.
I'd stay on the phone, drive normally, provide moral support and direction and manage the situation as calmly as possible, while you lot are still looking for a telephone box to get changed in...
anonymous said:
[redacted]
I have heard a few reports of this - I assume these days they could only park up the person's car and take them there themselves. I can only imagine what would happen to them in front of Professional Standards and IPCC if the person crashed while being escorted.X5TUU said:
Happened to me recently with my 18mth old (suspected viral meningitis, likely life threatening - which I suffered with some 2yrs ago and was t deaths door and 16wks off work) ... 14miles from the office to home, 13 of which are dual carriageway
I managed to touch 140 due to it being just outside of rush hour, im not ashamed to admit it at all, there was definite panic in the Mrs' voice and I would have let the police chase me all the way home
Having 2 little ones I would do exactly the same I managed to touch 140 due to it being just outside of rush hour, im not ashamed to admit it at all, there was definite panic in the Mrs' voice and I would have let the police chase me all the way home
Edited by X5TUU on Tuesday 3rd May 15:55
I had a horrible midnight run to hospital with my wife who was miscarrying a late term pregnancy and had a major blood infection that was getting worse very quickly.
We live in a rural location so waiting for help was not an option.
I drove the 30+ miles to the ER utterly flat out on a mixture of lanes, A roads and dual carriageways. When its life or death (which this certainly was) you do what is needed. I went through 4 or 5 speed cameras en-route knowing I was double the posted limits at least but decided that that would be tomorrows problem (As it happened I never heard a thing from any of them) arrived at the ER with glowing brake discs, its funny the small things you notice when the adrenaline is pumping.
Wife lived but it was touch and go for a week or so, Baby lost.
I hope I never do it again.
We live in a rural location so waiting for help was not an option.
I drove the 30+ miles to the ER utterly flat out on a mixture of lanes, A roads and dual carriageways. When its life or death (which this certainly was) you do what is needed. I went through 4 or 5 speed cameras en-route knowing I was double the posted limits at least but decided that that would be tomorrows problem (As it happened I never heard a thing from any of them) arrived at the ER with glowing brake discs, its funny the small things you notice when the adrenaline is pumping.
Wife lived but it was touch and go for a week or so, Baby lost.
I hope I never do it again.
X5TUU said:
Statistically a cat 1 or 2 red 8 min response for a blue lighter isn't really 8mins plus there is the time for the paramed's to assess, mobilise and return to the hosp ... Often faster to go direct yourself where clinically safe of course
"Often" faster? Really? Very bad advice, I'd have thought. All advice from emergency services is to the contrary. Stay put, stay on the line, follow instructions, wait for responders; they have far more life-saving equipment and knowledge and blue lights than you do. The aim is NOT to get a patient to hospital quickly, it's to get a responder to the patient quickly. If you create a moving target with your heroics, that task becomes a lot harder!However, it does raise the discussion that there's no 100% best rule for all scenarios. You can't do CPR if you're driving. What if you live next door to A&E? What if you're so rural and remote that meeting an emergency responder somewhere half way HAS to save time? How do you coordinate that in a failsafe way? How do you mitigate the million things which could make the situation worse, not better? Can you even think clearly enough to assess what you should do, which route to take etc?
I guess everyone should give it some thought, but the default position has to be "stay there, stay on the line, follow instructions" unless there's an unimaginably good reason.
(I await a million contrary opinions and ludicrously contrived "what if" scenarios...)
SlimJim16v said:
The problem is when someone, let's say a non-Pistonhead driving god, exceeds their skill.
I know what you are trying to say and you are right, everyone thinks they are a driving god.However, peoples driving ability varies hugely, the condition of the car is a factor and the traffic. Every situation is different and even a tiny circumstance change can have a big affect.
I was at an event in Jersey. A bunch of us were talking when one guy's phone went. He excused himself and took the call. About 1 minute later he came back to the table as white as a sheet and obviously very upset. He looked about as shaken as anyone I have ever seen in fact.
His wife had called to tell him that their 4 year old son had fallen downstairs and smashed through a giant mirror that was lent against the wall in the hallway. He was bleeding pretty badly and she was waiting on the ambulance to get him to the hospital (QMC in Nottingham).
On hearing this, one of the other members of the party said - well you will be wanting to get there right away then, you can use my plane. He called someone (the pilot we later learnt) and said, get the plane ready now and find the nearest place you can land to the QMC hospital in Nottingham, I am bringing a gent over in the car now who needs to be there as quick as you can.
Then he bundled the bewildered looking guy into his hire car and screeched off up the road towards the airport.
When he got back he told us that the plane was in the air and he had organised for a car to meet the plane and take the guy to the hospital.
The child was OK, lots of stitches and a big transfusion, but OK. The guy who lent his plane to someone that he had only met a couple of hours earlier didn't find himself short of drinks that night.
His wife had called to tell him that their 4 year old son had fallen downstairs and smashed through a giant mirror that was lent against the wall in the hallway. He was bleeding pretty badly and she was waiting on the ambulance to get him to the hospital (QMC in Nottingham).
On hearing this, one of the other members of the party said - well you will be wanting to get there right away then, you can use my plane. He called someone (the pilot we later learnt) and said, get the plane ready now and find the nearest place you can land to the QMC hospital in Nottingham, I am bringing a gent over in the car now who needs to be there as quick as you can.
Then he bundled the bewildered looking guy into his hire car and screeched off up the road towards the airport.
When he got back he told us that the plane was in the air and he had organised for a car to meet the plane and take the guy to the hospital.
The child was OK, lots of stitches and a big transfusion, but OK. The guy who lent his plane to someone that he had only met a couple of hours earlier didn't find himself short of drinks that night.
Had that type of phone call a couple of times(Wife had a stroke years ago which has left her severely disabled). All signs were she was having another one. Got home just as the ambulance arrived. I did not go through any red lights but the limit was broken.
Another time was the day before my mother passed, the doctor was in the house and dispatched me to a chemist in town to pick up morphine which he would order over the phone. His words were "quick as you can". Needless to say I done as ordered.
No idea if that would've stood in court, but at the time you do not think about those things.
Another time was the day before my mother passed, the doctor was in the house and dispatched me to a chemist in town to pick up morphine which he would order over the phone. His words were "quick as you can". Needless to say I done as ordered.
No idea if that would've stood in court, but at the time you do not think about those things.
Black_S3 said:
Impasse said:
"Phone for an ambulance, love. I'll wait for you at the hospital."
Exactly. The police, paramedics or fire brigade will be there faster than you and better equipped to deal with the problem on arrival.I might be disappointed in my wife if, in a true emergency, she would choose to prolong the situation by calling anybody apart from the skilled respondents waiting 24/7 at the other end of the emergency line.
Just tap three digits on your phone, et voila.
unsprung said:
+1
I might be disappointed in my wife if, in a true emergency, she would choose to prolong the situation by calling anybody apart from the skilled respondents waiting 24/7 at the other end of the emergency line.
Just tap three digits on your phone, et voila.
Where I live "wait for ambulance" = a half hour to just get to us if they are not busy and can send one from the nearest town, often the ambulance comes from the nearest available town so it could be an hour or more.I might be disappointed in my wife if, in a true emergency, she would choose to prolong the situation by calling anybody apart from the skilled respondents waiting 24/7 at the other end of the emergency line.
Just tap three digits on your phone, et voila.
Its always quicker to put the person in a car and DIY here.
unsprung said:
Black_S3 said:
Impasse said:
"Phone for an ambulance, love. I'll wait for you at the hospital."
Exactly. The police, paramedics or fire brigade will be there faster than you and better equipped to deal with the problem on arrival.I might be disappointed in my wife if, in a true emergency, she would choose to prolong the situation by calling anybody apart from the skilled respondents waiting 24/7 at the other end of the emergency line.
Just tap three digits on your phone, et voila.
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