Ambulance service what a bad joke...

[Downunder35m]

Today we deicded to take the boat out and go fishing on the bay with a few mates.
While pulling the anchor up one complained about severe pain under the rip cage on the right side and shortly after collapsed on the floor screaming in pain.
We called the ambulance to the boat ramp and did the beat to rush him back to shore.
The real shock came when we arrived...
The two girls were in no hurry to make it from the ambulance to the boat and when they finally arrived the first thing the said was "We can't get on the boat, you have to get him out first."
Mind you the poor guy was screamig in pain and unable to even get into a sitting position.
Had to call the girls all sorts of name so one would go back and get a strecher while we tried to get him out of the boat.
Once he was finally in the ambulance and hooked up to the heart monitor we were told they take him to Footscray although Sunshine hospital was much closer.
So we got the boat on the trailer, secured everything and about 30 mintues after the ambulance we got on the way to the hospital to check up on our mate.
Mind you it is not the easiest task to find a parking with a 18ft boot behind you...
Guess what?
Noone delivered by ambulance from the boat ramp was registered.
They checked the emergency department - nothing.
In a last ditch attempt we called Sunshine hospital in the hope he got the short route to help, again negative.
When we were about to leave to pick his father up our mate arrived!
Asked the two girls what took them so long to get to the hospital and were told they had been called to an emergency - WTF??
I though the guy screaming in pain and dropping in and out of conciousness was the emergency so I complained and asked where the other patient is with only room for one in the ambulance.
No answer...
The girls had a quick chat with nurse on duty, got some other guys to change the stretcher and off the went, leavin our mate in pain in the hallway.
Another 80 minutes later a doctor finally decided to have a look and he suspected a ruptured appendix but wanted to do some scans first.
As we were not family we were told that we should leave now as there is nothing we can do anyway.

Please: If anyone finds me in a life threatening condition, just shoot me, break my neck or drive over me - don't let me fall into the hands of St. Johns ambulance services or get me to a hospital.
I prefer a quick ending over playing the test rat for the broken health system.

[Godzilla]

Ive seen how the system works after my late father had serious health issues over the last 20 years.

Many times he was left in a corridor in emergency hanging by a thread.

Lucky for him the hospital was only a 5 minute drive away.

Unfortunately the system is overloaded, under staffed, if the person looks stable they are pushed to the side and those in a more serious state get the front of the cue.

[Reschs]

Lodge a formal complaint.
Any organization is only as good as their staff.

These two should be sacked.

[Downunder35m]

I called St. Johns although it took about 40 minutes of being transfered back and forth.
They claim the girls did the right thing as
a) they are not trained for boats and it would an additional risk to them to step onto a boat to treat a patient.
b) if the would have tried to remove the patient from the boat for treatment and cause some damage to the boat St. Johns would be liable...
The claimed emergency was a call out to car accident "on route" - mind you we neither saw them nor any accident on the way to the hospital.
His father arrived shortly after we left the hospital and called us back to let us know they still have not done any scans and refuse treatment before they got the scans.
Also the doc that did the first examination finnished his shift at 10PM and left.
The treatment with pain killer was refuse as they would mask the symtoms the doctor would need for his assesment.
Don't get me wrong, I know the system is at breaking point as I complained more than once about it,
but it is a disgrace to know someone in severe pain and with anything from a ruptured appendix over snapped rib (he started to cough up blood) to even more dangerous things is left without any treatment for now over 5 hours.
I don't trust in god, but am starting to consider it, even if it is just to make sure I will never need serious medical attention and get quick painless death instead.

[lsemmens]

There are services and there are services. If you have a complaint with the ambos, I'm not sure to whom you would address that, but, in any case, it should be in writing! As for the hospital, there is a "patient advocate" whose job is to investigate patient complaints. If you ask for them, they must call them. We spend a lot of time in and out of emergency rooms, ambulances and hospitals and 90% of the time we cannot fault our treatment. Occasionally you do get someone who thinks they know it all, but that is rare.

FWIW, after calling the ambulance to my wife a few times rather than just driving her to the hospital, we find that it is often far quicker just to load her into the car and take her there. (1 hour as opposed to 3 or 4!) Her heart specialist prefers her to go by ambo in case she has an arrest on the way down. We have found that the staff are, 99% of the time, run off their feet and do find it difficult to determine what should have priority. Sadly, because we are "frequent flyers" most of the staff know us and our circumstances so we do get processed fairly quickly, only because they know the procedure. We are amazed at the patients who have no idea what their problem is, what their GP has prescribed, or why, in this case, often the staff haven't the time to research it, so that patient may be forced to wait.

Sadly, in this day of litigation, ambos, many of whom are volunteers, cannot afford to take a risk of either damaging someone's property or, worse still harming themselves whilst carrying out their tasks as a volunteer. (I'm not sure how Worker's Comp looks at that one).

Just to assist those who may be chonically ill here is our procedure:
We have a spreadsheet set up on wife's tablet.
One sheet gives medical history (conditions - dates of diagnosis)
One sheet for Alerts (allergies, pacemakers etc)
One sheet for Medications (Chemical name, generic name, strength and dosage)
One sheet for Doctors and specialists including contact details. (it's even worth recording your Hospital URN here if you know it)

When we are heading to the hospital we call the ER on the way to advise them that we are coming or ETA and to have our notes ready

It makes it so much easier when we get there as they are prepared with the relevant information. (FYI we also now know many of the staff by name, even the hospital pharmacist comes to see us and has commented that she wishes everyone were as organised.)

We find, too, that the old saying, "you catch more flies with honey" works well, here. The staff tend to bend over backwards to assist us compared to some patients who are screaming and yelling because they have a "splinter in their finger".

[Downunder35m]

He is out and home again.
At around 3am a nurse too him to get some scans done and hour later a doc said that he somehow managed to pull a muscle hard enough for a partial rupture and that he dislocated a rib from the rib cage.
No idea how you can dislocate a rib but appearently it is not broken.
Due to the dislocation and the muscle supporting the ribs he got some decent pain killers, looks like a zombie but he claim the pain is ok as long as he does not try to breath.
The hospital said the delay was so long because it is weekend and they had a lot of broken bones and damage from fights to care for.
Still it does not explain why nothing was diagnosed earlier.
Only when you are affected by the system you realise how bad is really already.
I wonder when we all need private health insurance to get treatment.
One guy my mate talked to is waiting now for 4 years to get a hip replacement, now the guy is devestated as the doctors told him the damage to hip bone is so severe now that a standard replacement won't work.
As it is now a custom made thing to order he has to fork out 2500$ for the extras or go back on the waiting list - a new list starting from the end of course...

[warbo]

FFS you and your "few mates" could have helped out by getting him out of the boat and into the ambo where he would have received the appropriate care.

You expect the ambo's to climb into a boat and diagnose some stomach pain? No wonder the system is under staffed!

[Downunder35m]

1. Neither of us is a medic or trained in transporting injured persons
2. The guy was screaming in pain
3. The problem of getting him out started after the girls refused to check him on the boat
4. I do expect the ambo crew to check - Next thing you say is if someone is trapped and injured in car the ambo should wait until the guy is cut free and out of the car?

We had no idea what kind of injuries he had, only that he already turned purple and was screaming in pain from under his rib cage.
Who is liable if we would have caused the dislocated rib to puncture his lung?
Get serious man, it was was secured boat not a 50m high crane...
And I've seen them on the boats before, mainly to cut someone's foot free after stepping into a fish hook on the carpet - so they do go on boats if they feel like it.

[Chieflets]

8km journey to hospital $1100 bill, I don't think a toe truck charges that much for that km range

[aa23]

Only ever had to call an ambulance once, and I had the opposite service. Heard Son banging in back room, about 3am Sunday morning, went to tell him to knock it off, and he was unconscious, blood everywhere and having seizures. (No history of anything like it) Called Ambulance, and checking my phone records after, it was under 6 minutes of call time. Ambo's couldn't stop the seizures, so anther car turned up a few minutes later. Still stumped, or already called, (I don't know) but then the Mica bloke turned up. He took over. Mustn't have been from this area as he asked the others where the closest hospital was. They wanted to go further to one they thought he'd get admitted to, but Mica bloke said get him to the nearest one, now. Lights on, but no Siren for the trip, but missus said they didn't pull any punches driving to the hospital.
Maybe we were lucky with the service compared to the OP?
As I said, never had to call them before, so nothing to gauge it by.

[peteramjet]

...
The two girls were in no hurry to make it from the ambulance to the boat and when they finally arrived...
Had to call the girls all sorts of name so one would go back...
I though the guy screaming in pain and dropping in and out of conciousness was the emergency so I complained...

I see it this way:

You describe them as 'girls' - not 'ambulance officers' or 'paramedics', but girls - like their sex makes a difference in this instance.

You, by admission, call the 'girls' all sorts of names to make them 'do their job' - because obviously you know better than them how they should do their job.

You assume your mate, while obviously in pain, is more of an emergency than someone else. Being so medically trained why didn't you transport and treat him?

To me, the tone of your message conveys sexist, misogynistic views and a belief that you seem to know better than everyone else. I can picture the whole scenario now, a group of older men, some probably half pissed, thinking they know more than the 'girls' and making damn sure that they tell them that.

Emergency service personnel put up with a fair amount of crap. I've found you get treated with the same respect that you show them. If that's the case here it may suggest something about your behaviour and the behaviour of your mates.

[warbo]

1. Neither of us is a medic or trained in transporting injured persons

None of you had to be. The trained paramedics asked you and your mates to get him off the boat. He didn't have a broken neck did he?

Who is liable if we would have caused the dislocated rib to puncture his lung?

If my mate was screaming in pain and the paramedics asked to help out, I doubt I would be thinking "shit I might be liable, I think I'll just stand back and do nothing". More likely I'd just just do whatever was asked to help my mate.

Get serious man, it was was secured boat not a 50m high crane...
And I've seen them on the boats before, mainly to cut someone's foot free after stepping into a fish hook on the carpet - so they do go on boats if they feel like it.

Which is probably why the paramedics insisted they can't board the boat. The amount of boats that have rotten floor boards, fish hooks floating around, anchor ropes etc. You should have just got him out of the boat, what were you going to do drive him to the hospital still in the thing? Wait for the Westpac Helicopter to airlift him?

Paramedics are trained to be calm. I can imagine you and your mates all hysterical waving around your arms. You want the paramedics to show a little more urgency, even a little hysteria themselves. It doesn't work that way, some ones got to remain calm and make sensible reasonable decisions and that was to get your mate off the boat as a first priority.

The Ambo's also don't need to tell you which hospital they are going to either. It can change at any moment dependant on any number of scenarios. The decision can be made by the Ambo's themselves or by the hospital. In any case the decision will be intended to be in the patients best interest.

At the end of the day your mate had a dislocated rib, not the most life threatening injury and it seems to me that between the Paramedics, Triage and the Doctors it was all handled accordingly.

[enf]

Ambos have a difficult job, and from personal experience as an end customer, are always professional. They have a work code they have to follow which is designed in the interests of both parties. It sounds on the face of it that they were the calm ones and you a tad distraught. So I think your assumptions are probably wrong.

As for peteramjets whole Gillard inspired misogyny/sexist rant, well, without any actual facts, thats all it is. I have 4 daughters...I call them the girls in public too. Cause they are.

[Keith]

1. Neither of us is a medic or trained in transporting injured persons
2. The guy was screaming in pain
3. The problem of getting him out started after the girls refused to check him on the boat
4. I do expect the ambo crew to check - Next thing you say is if someone is trapped and injured in car the ambo should wait until the guy is cut free and out of the car?.

1. So that means you don't assist when asked to and just abuse those that are trained?
2. Yes, and they asked you to move him to a firm location so they could assess him, which you argued with.
3. Yes, the problem started when you thought you could brow beat these "girls" into submission, men, refusing to help, browbeating trained, experienced paramedics, females. Feel good picking on someone there to HELP, someone you consider lessor than yourself.
4. Yes, if there is risk of injury, the trapped are assisted by the firey's until the situation is safe and everyone there assists the ambo's to remove the injured. They don't stand back and abuse the ambo's, like you and your tough mates did.

You know what, all your posts are negative and it's always someone else hasn't done their job in your eyes. Step up and take a little responsibility. I think all the emergency services do a brilliant job, a hard job at that, because bogans make it hard.

[WhiteOx]

No idea how you can dislocate a rib but appearently it is not broken.

The front ends of the ribs are held in place by cartilage which allows your chest to expand when you breathe.
Mine used to pop in and out after my heart surgery, it didn't hurt, just made a kinda clicking noise.

[peteramjet]

As for peteramjets whole Gillard inspired misogyny/sexist rant, well, without any actual facts, thats all it is. I have 4 daughters...I call them the girls in public too. Cause they are.

Calling your own daughters 'girls' is not in anywhere comparable to calling a professional who is there to assist you 'girl'. The facts are provided by Downunder - and he chose to refer to the 2 female ambulance officers as 'girls'. Not once, but on every occasion.

He refers to the nurse as 'nurse', the doctor as 'doctor', but the ambulance officers - the ones he has the gripe with - as 'girls'. That is both sexist and misogynistic. Hardly Gillard inspired, just inspired by Downunder.

[bss904]

@downunder35m you should go and hang your head in shame after your own addmission of your behaviour towards the emergency crew. These people do a teriffic job under extremely difficult conditions without having to deal with gooses like you. If I needed help in an emergency the last person I would want near me would be you. Everywhere you go there seems to be trouble thats never your fault but everyone elses. I sugest you man up and go and apologise to the relevant people you interfered with trying to do their job and make somesort of a donation to the the station that they were based at or a donation to a charity that they support as a peace offering for your pathetic behaviour in this incident.
If I was your mate I would distance myself from you as clearly a mate that could not help the emergency crew by following their instructions but instead hindered the process, is not a mate I would want around me.
Its a shame the ambo's can't carry and use tasers on idiots like you when you get in the way. Just my 2 cents worth whether you like it or not.

[WhiteOx]

LOL thank god they weren't Muslims.

[enf]

Calling your own daughters 'girls' is not in anywhere comparable to calling a professional who is there to assist you 'girl'. The facts are provided by Downunder - and he chose to refer to the 2 female ambulance officers as 'girls'. Not once, but on every occasion.

He refers to the nurse as 'nurse', the doctor as 'doctor', but the ambulance officers - the ones he has the gripe with - as 'girls'. That is both sexist and misogynistic. Hardly Gillard inspired, just inspired by Downunder.

How do you know what he called them? He called them girls to us, otherwise we wouldn't know. If he called them men would you feel the same? Somehow I doubt it. I also notice how you can "picture the scene" by "the tone of his post"....oh if only we were all blessed with such inspired insight. Why bother with breath tests if someone as clairvoyant as yourself knows people have been drinking. You've made an assumption based on your views rather than the facts supplied. I agree with your analysis of the situation from a medical standpoint as its based on the information given.

[gordon_s1942]

What little First Aid training I ever did always said never to move anyone unless they were in danger of further injury or to clear an airway by putting them in the 'prone' position.
In this case if those females in the ambulance were either unable or unwilling to remove the person from the boat, they should have at least taken control of the situation and given instructions to those there on how to do it.
I have seen in similar situations where a single Ambulance Officer has administered aid to a patient and others have done the 'Donkey' work in moving the patient when directed to do so which is what these two should have done.

Depending on which rib he injured, my wife has had something similar which caused her some discomfort not unlike severe heart burn and while tests have shown nothing amiss, it is believed one of her ribs 'moves' on the cartilage and 'pinches' it causing the pain.
Lifting an adult male who is incapacitated is beyond the ability of one person, male or female at the best of times so I dont critisise those two for that but it does seem they were less than helpful in this instance.