I hope none of you have to use this but it sometimes happens and people often panic when the situation occurs which delays the response
If you ever need to get an ambulance for someone (if they are not breathing, having fits or have sustained a serious injury)
1. if their friends/relatives are panicking find someone who is relatively calm, knows the location of where they are
2. get them to dial 999 or 112 on the nearest available phone.
the operator will answer
Quote:
“emergency which service”
state “Ambulance” – now wait as the telecom company operator has to connect to the right NHS trust and transfer some details – do not talk over him/her as it causes confusion (and sometimes results in the operator just calling the Police instead as they are not sure what is happening!)
you will hear something like
Quote:
“Cable & Wireless OAC connecting mobile 07700 900023 to Eastern Ambulance Control”
(this is the operator calling the NHS trust)
“Ambulance Emergency, go ahead caller”
at this point you state clearly the nature of the medical emergency and the location where it has happened. Do not clear down (end the call) until Ambulance Control has confirmed the details and or given any advice.
Be as precise as possible about the location if you are using a mobile as sometimes calls are connected to the neighbouring Ambulance NHS trust – if this happens they do try to hand over the call to the correct area but they need to know where you are!
Then wait with the casualty and if you are at a rave get someone to inform the crew what has happened – in many areas the Police will turn up as well along with the Ambulance (its a safety protocol used in “suspected overdose cases” in case paramedics are attacked).
Don’t delay calling for help though because of this; I’ve never known a rave to be immediately busted because of Ambulance being called and anyway saving a life is worth a rave having to shut down a bit early…
response time can be up to 10-20 minutes in particularly if location is unclear, and/or many involve deployment of a Police helicopter to airlift casualties in remote areas if no Air Ambulance is available.
so it makes sense to avoid these incidents if possible; but at least if people are prepared for them it doesn’t look so bad (even at a legal festival there are several Ambulance deployments)
