Taxi

I have worked for the ambulance service for just over 6 years now. I have seen sights that should never be seen on a battlefield and smelt things that would turn the stomach of a rat. I have brought life into this world and watched life fade away. I consider myself to be a placid person and there is not much that touches a raw nerve these days but a few days ago a patient did something that really made my blood boil.

Now I don't know about you but I will only dial 999 in an emergency. The English dictionary defines the word emergency as "a sudden, urgent, usually unexpected occurrence or occasion requiring immediate action". So for me to dial 999 the person I'm calling for will need to be, to all intents and purpose, dead. Yet the word emergency means something completely different to some members of society. These people deny someone who genuinely needs medical assistance access to an emergency ambulance.

The lad stated that he had taken an overdose of an unknown quantity of various painkillers. His girlfriend was very upset which was understandable. Despite no physical evidence of an overdose we could not question his integrity and took him to the nearest A&E.

On the way in to hospital, the upset girlfriend took a phone call and mentioned that she was in an ambulance with her boyfriend and that she was on her way to the hospital. Nothing unusual about that. She said they would be arriving in about 10-15 minutes. Again nothing unusual as perhaps a family member was meeting them at the hospital. However, the lad wasn't the sharpest tool in the box and gave me an address that was a five minute walk from the hospital. Alarm bells stated ringing and as soon as the back door was open the lad was out like a scalded cat giving me a two fingered salute.

45 minutes of emergency ambulance time had been wasted on this lad. He wasted the time of a BT operator, he wasted the time of a 999 call taker, he wasted the time of an ambulance dispatcher, he wasted the time of two trained medical professionals, he wasted the diesel, he wasted the maintenance costs but what really made my blood boil was the fact he abused a service to get a free lift home.

We may be yellow but we are not a taxi service.