A mother has expressed her anger and disappointment after she felt like emergency services did not do a great job of attending to her and her son!!
Jayne Wright, from Essex in the UK, said she took her two children to the playground one Thursday and her son, Sidney, fell off a slide. Jayne said she watched the boy fall and he was crying and screaming. She initially chose not to call 911 as she didn’t want to “waste their time.”
Jayne called 911 at about 8:30 pm that evening but the clinician at the other end of the line said she would get back to her. At this point, her son was feeling even worse. The mom said that they didn’t have a car so she couldn’t drive Sidney to the hospital.
Someone eventually called her back at 11:14 p.m., more than two hours after the initial call. Someone would get to Jayne, she was told again.
At 12:34 a.m., the mother received another call in which she was told she needed to find a way to get herself and her son to the hospital. They advised her to take a taxi or seek assistance from friends and family because there was nothing they could do.
After insisting that she had no other option than to wait for an ambulance, one eventually arrived at around 5:00 am the following morning to take Sidney to the hospital.
It can be scary when you’ve suffered an injury or experienced an emergency health issue and you have to wait for help, but here are a few tips that you should remember.
Stay on the line: Sometimes, emergency services may provide some instructions while you wait for the vehicle to arrive. Stay on the line and follow these directions.
Be calm: Panicking will not help. It can actually make things worse. Try to stay patient and calm. And encourage the patient to stay calm as well. Have someone keep watch: If you’re in an apartment or office building or if your address is complicated to reach from the street,
have someone keep watch for the ambulance so the person can easily direct paramedics when they arrive. Waiting is not always a great experience and, in emergency situations, it can feel like time is moving too slowly. Your best bet is always to keep your wits about you and be patient.