Fed up

My 15 month old fell from top to bottom of the stairs earlier. I had the stairs blocked and both me and my mum were up there with her but in separate rooms. I looked away for maybe 10 seconds and could hear her in the bathroom banging on the toilet seat. Next thing I heard was her falling down the stairs after she’d managed to get past the blockage. I never normally take my eye off her upstairs but am running off of basically no sleep as she had me up all night. I straight away ran down the stairs and shouted to call an ambulance. She cried for about a minute and then was laughing and trying to play but we were already on the phone to 999. I waited over an hour back for a call back and they said she seemed fine and to watch her closely and call the gp in the morning. I’d be been waiting to give her dinner as I’d been told to wait until speaking to someone. I was just about to put her to bed and they’ve called back and said she needs to go to a&e and have sent out a cat 3 ambulance. I’m so fed up because why didn’t they do this earlier? They want her to have a scan which is fair enough and I’d actually appreciate it but I just feel like they should have done this sooner or booked us in for one in the morning as we are going to be waiting hours now anyway. She’s been awake since 3pm and I am absolutely exhausted. Am I right to be annoyed at how it’s been handled?

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Honestly I wouldn’t be annoyed at the ambulance service myself, I understand the stresses they are under and are often dealing with life and death situations so they have to triage accordingly. Booking a scan also isn’t up to the paramedics or emergency response service, it’s the hospital’s resource and doing it as an outpatient is usually totally different to doing it as an inpatient. It’s complicated is what I’m getting at.

@Char I’m more annoyed that they said she was fine and could go sleep and to just contact the gp in the morning then nearly 2 hours later say she needs to go to the hospital. Something was missed and an apology would have been nice instead of just brushing over it and not admitting they’d made a mistake

@Char and I definitely understand the stress they’re under it’s just definitely annoying when it’s such a silly mistake. I was told she didn’t need an ambulance then had it sprung on me at nearly 10 at night that she did. They said I could drive but I don’t have the confidence to drive with how tired I am. The expected wait time for cat 3 is 120 minutes it been about 90. They’ve said they’re delayed tonight so hopefully I have at least another hour so we both get some sleep first 😩

People make mistakes. Maybe the person that told you she was fine, kept your case in their mind and reconsidered. I see it as a good sign It’s better to check and have the support then regret later because you waited until morning. If she has a brain swelling of any kind waiting more hours can be very dangerous. Don’t get annoyed with them because they said this then said the other. I hope she is alright 😘

@Denise just got back from the hospital. The staff seemed a bit confused as well and were questioning me as to why I waited so long which obviously wasn’t the case. They decided against any scans and just observed her for a while. I’ve just been told I can calpol and watch her closely for 24 hours. Absolutely shattered 😩

I don't understand why you're annoyed? You called them, and they helped. You said it wasn't an emergency, but they called back and recommended she get checked out at A&E. Falling down the stairs isn't a little fall! Thankfully, she seems to be OK. I'd be more relieved. The Ambulance Service has limited resources. It's an incredibly complex and stressful job. They deal with life-threatening situations, so they have to prioritise every call.

I have to say, I have heard really mixed things on ambulances. But when I called for my little one when he was a couple months old (he had bad reflux and choked, temporarily stopping breathing) they were with me in less than 3 minutes. I actually could not believe how fast they were there. I think a lot of it depends on what is the main priority at that time understandably.

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