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New Day Cafe: When to Call an Ambulance [1]

['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']

Date: 2024-09-26  

Welcome to the New Day Cafe! This is an open thread.

The Guardian had a recent piece on an important topic: When is a medical condition serious enough that you should pick up the phone to call an ambulance?

x When should you call an ambulance? The decision could mean the difference between life or death – and not just your own | Ranjana Srivastava https://t.co/EL8hqS6nSj — The Guardian (@guardian) September 24, 2024

Unfortunately there are a lot of folks out there calling 911 for dumb ass reasons and wasting dispatcher's time. Don’t call because you’re constipated. You will be tying up a system that could be dedicated to those in urgent need.

From the piece,

“Paramedics who are treating trivialities are then unavailable to the toddler who drowns, the father having a heart attack and the worker slashed by a chainsaw. There are situations where an ambulance should always be called: severe pain, breathlessness or bleeding, sudden numbness or paralysis, trauma, altered consciousness and large burns. But on any given day, a snapshot of the emergency department shows that many patients are (thankfully) not a true emergency. It’s not uncommon for doctors to wait for an “emergency” patient who has stepped out to smoke or buy better food. One woman asked us to return so she didn’t lose her place in the queue for concert tickets (we obliged).”

This is an open thread. Please join us.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/9/26/2272985/-New-Day-Cafe-When-to-Call-an-Ambulance?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=more_community&pm_medium=web

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