Saturday 11 February 2012

Relatives: Take note



"Relatives of various ages acting like muppets"

Following my post entitled 'Drivers: Take Note' I've decided to follow the 'Take note' series and cast the magnifying glass over Relatives! Relatives can make the simplest of jobs a complete nightmare. Medically trained relatives make us nervous and rude relatives make us angry. I empathise! I really do. It's horrible to watch your loved ones suffer, horrible to see someone in pain and you just want to help but lets remember one thing. YOU CALLED US! If you do call us, let us do our job. Show us some respect and leave us be. We are there to help your loved one and are trained to do so! Some communities are more family orientated than others. This has its perks and its downsides. On one hand it's refreshing to see close knit family groups care for each other. A lot of family and community spirit has been lost in our society in recent decades but for us, having ten relatives in the room is ten opinions on what is best for their loved ones and it is highly likely at least one will disagree with us. So, please read, please take note and try to abide. If you do, everyones a winner! 

  • Don't block the entrance to the house with your car.
  • Don't continually wave as we approach. We have eyes. We used them.
  • Don't have a house with no visible door number. The Daily Mail will blame us.
  • Don't mop your relatives brow while we are talking to them.
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't allow the ambulance crew to relative ratio to favor the relative.
  • Don't request a distant hospital because it is nearer where you live.
  • Don't argue.
  • Don't request a distant hospital because you think it has better doctors.
  • Don't ask us if they will get seen quickly because they came by ambulance. 
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't start a sentence with 'I was going to drive them but......'
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't tell us or ask us about your ailments. We aren't here for you.
  • Don't tell us your relative cannot walk. We'll decide.
  • Don't ask 'who is it?' at the intercom. You called 999 less than 8 minutes ago.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't call us because you have run out of Calpol.
  • Don't start a sentence with 'Shouldn't you.....' NO!
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't call us because you don't have a car or money for a cab. Not our problem.
  • Don't call us if your GP told YOU to go to A & E.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't give us orders over the phone.
  • Don't request a second opinion when I say they don't need to go to hospital. 
  • Don't start a sentence with 'But the last ambulance.......' We aren't them.
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't be rude to us. It won't be tolerated.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't tell us they have a fever when you haven't taken their temperature.
  • Don't lie.
  • Don't answer your phone whilst we are talking to you. It is rude.
  • Don't stand up in an ambulance when we have told you to sit down.
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't swear at us. We WILL leave.
  • Don't swear at us in a foreign language. We WILL leave. 
  • Don't be violent towards us. You WILL be arrested.
  • Don't start a sentence with 'Can we follow in the car....' 
  • Don't call us for your elderly relative in the hope they'll be admitted for Christmas.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • Don't say 'Is it OK?' after every single check we do. A tad annoying.
  • Don't tell us the waiting time to hand over is ridiculous. We know!
  • Don't hover during our hospital handover.
  • Don't interrupt during our hospital handover.
  • Don't leave your 4 cars on the drive way. Hide them. It upsets us.
  • Erm....Don't interrupt during our hospital handover.
  • Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
  • You know what......just don't! Sshh!

We are all nice people, all we ask is that you let us do our job. We don't need you to sit their in silence but don't interrupt us. Treat us as you'd expect us to treat you and most importantly, DON'T ANSWER THE QUESTIONS WE ASK OUR PATIENT. Do all the above and we are going to get along just great!


Click the Take Note photo at the top to see the other posts in the series!

7 comments:

  1. "Don't call us for your elderly relative in the hope they'll be admitted for Christmas." Please tell me that's not happened? OMGoodness, it never fails to amaze me how badly people can behave. Speechless.

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  2. Don't continually wave as we approach. We have eyes. We used them.

    - were trying to help, is it really that annoying?

    Don't mop your relatives brow while we are talking to them.

    - Were worried, once the decision is made to ring an ambulance the waiting is agonising. You might be the expert, but they are someone we love dearly.

    Don't answer the questions we ask OUR patient.
    - What if what they are saying is wrong? were only trying to help.

    Don't request a distant hospital because you think it has better doctors.
    - Not all doctors are the same, some are downright inept at their jobs. If were asking, it might be for a reason.

    Don't start a sentence with 'I was going to drive them but......'
    - I couldn't get him into the car as he can't stand for himself and im not strong enough to do it.

    Don't tell us your relative cannot walk. We'll decide.
    - What about if they genuinely can't? were trying to help.

    Don't ask 'who is it?' at the intercom. You called 999 less than 8 minutes ago.
    - It could be anyone...Why assume its the ambulance?

    Don't be rude to us. It won't be tolerated.
    - Don't be rude to us either, it works both ways. Were worried, we are trying to help you help our loved one.

    Don't say 'Is it OK?' after every single check we do. A tad annoying
    - Were worried, someone we care about is ill enough for us to have had to have called you. Its a moment of last resort, not an easy choice. We want some reassurance they aren't going to cark it.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sally, I'm surprised Ella hasn't responded to this to defend herself but I feel I have to... I'm new to reading this blog and so far I can see that it is not intended to offend anyone and is supposed to be humorous. Please don't take it so seriously. The above notes are more likely directed at those that:

    - continue to wave at us as we're trying to squeeze through the 7ft gap that the cars parked on the street have left for us and then shout "Couldn't you see us waving?" when we finally edge through

    - have called us for a cold

    - answer the questions we ask OUR patient to assess their level of understanding/alertness

    - we are emergency ambulances, not taxis. We cannot justify taking someone who has called for an emergency ambulance to a distant hospital if you have one on your doorstep. If it really is an emergency they need to be in hospital and fast. We'll go to the nearest.

    - watch their relative walk on to the ambulance and then follow behind. If they can get to our ambulance without us, they can get into the car.

    - if your relative really can't walk then of course we'll carry them. We don't need you to tell us - we already know. However, if they can walk, they will. We only have one back and once it's injured, we can't work/help other people. So we can't lift everyone.

    - to add to this point, also if you live on the 12th floor and there are no signs telling us this, don't leave us guessing!

    - Don't be rude to us. End of. We won't be rude to you.

    - Imagine the day to day frustrations you have in your job/life. This is one of ours, that's all.

    Don't take this blog personally Sally, it is not aimed at you. It is observational humour and I love it. Keep it up Ella!!!

    A fellow Ambogirl x

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ Anonymous6 March 2013 16:41

    What we all want to know - Have you got an AWA?? ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. There is no patient choice in emergency medicine, unless you are being treated for the presenting condition at a different hospital you will be taken to the nearest appropriate emergency receiving hospital

    ReplyDelete
  6. There is no patient choice in emergency medicine! Unless you are being treated for the presenting condition at a different hospital you will be taken to the nearest appropriate emergency receiving hospital where the doctors will treat you with dignity and respect even when you don't deserve it!

    ReplyDelete
  7. There is no patient choice in emergency medicine, unless you are being treated for the presenting condition at a different hospital you will be taken to the nearest appropriate emergency receiving hospital

    ReplyDelete

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