> Is unconscious or not breathing
> Has a penetrating injury to the neck, chest, abdomen or thigh
> Has had a severe allergic reaction
> Has uncontrolled bleeding
> Is having an asthma attack unresponsive to medication
> Has severe chest pain
> Is choking
> Is fitting (if this is unusual)
> Has gynaecological bleeding other than menstrual
> Has taken an overdose
> Is alcohol intoxicated and under 17 years of age
> Has been submerged in water for more than 1 minute
> Has fallen more than 10 feet
> The above is what should be the criteria for calling and
> ambulance (ref West Country Ambulance Service web site flyer).
> I would love to have the power to be able to say to people
> have very minor illness' to go and see their GP. At present I
> strongly advise them they should seek GP intervention but am
> unable to say "you must...".
> Unfortunately most people call us out in the first place
> because they are unable to access their GPs in a time frame
> which the patient expects and see the A&E dept an easy option.
This is changing- with the processes being put in place as I write. If I've
got my figures right, Warwickshire ambulance service currently conveys about
75% of their calls and is looking to drop this further to around 50% (I know
a couple of members of this list are fairly heavily involved in this and
will have more details). If everything goes according to plan, Paramedic
practitioners will be able to treat of refer to other services rather than
conveying; and there will be more robust triage of calls (i.e. some calls
will get advice; some referred to GP or district nurse; some brought to GP
out of hours- or given an appointment- rather than A and E etc.). So
(possibly with further training) you will be able to achieve your aims,
Mike. (Might have to switch counties, though ;-))
Matt Dunn
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