calling an ambulance to another part of the country?

MakeupAddict_2

Last Friday my dad was rushed to hospital - it turned out that his heart was failing. He's out now, with a bucketful of tablets, but he's ill and frail. My mother suffers from memory problems and confusion and Dad is her carer. They're both in their eighties and realistic about their life expectancy, so Dad has tried to train Mum to use the phone if anything happens to him when they're on their own (they're very independent and will not accept help from Social Services or anywhere else).

I live a two hour drive away, and I now have to face some realities that I've stuck my head in the sand about before. My immediate worry is how to deal with things if something happened and Mum rang me instead of 999, which is more than possible. Is there any way I can ring for an ambulance to go to their house, even though we're in different parts of the country?

MuAx

aileth

My mother in law works in an ambulance call centre and they frequently have to contact other 'forces.'

If it happened, ring 999, explain quickly the situation and where he lives and they should contact the responsible ambulance centre to get one going.

skylight

Yes you could. The call centres are connected so an ambulance would not be sent from your locality but from the one you wanted the ambulance sent to.

MakeupAddict_2

Thank you both so much. I've spent days worrying about it - three minutes on the board and I have an answer.
This board is wonderful!

MuAx

edit - I've just burst into tears I'm so grateful that strangers can be so nice. Kettle on, I think.

shelley_crow

It sounds like he could do with a pendant alarm - a red button on a necklace that you dad could push if he gets into trouble. The operator then rings the house, a loudspeaker unit plugs in next to the phone . They can then phone an ambulance and notify next of kin. My grandmother had one and it saved her life a few times, there are a lot of similar companies but my grandmother had hers through tunstall response.


My grandmother wouldn't accept much help but was happy to have this as it was controlled by her. It's useful in the event of falls and other emergencies.

LEJC

If your dad or mum can phone you...then you can phone for an ambulance

They will require access to the property so you need to prepare your parents into a situation of "what do do in an emergency" type senario.whereby one alerts you and then you call for the ambulance while they open the door etc

We had to do this several times for my mother and her husband...both were very frail and suffered memory loss were not able to use or didnt want to use the home emergency button or phone 999 ...but were both happy to alert me if there was a problem...the emergency call centres were very helpful and reponse was always very speedy and dealt wth carefully and respectfully.

Good luck with your situation.

MakeupAddict_2

Thanks Shelley, I didn't know about that but I'll explore it. At the hospital they tried to arrange some support for him and Mum, but were sent away with a (very polite) flea in their ear.

MuAx

FBaby

Of course you can. They will dispatch the closest available ambulance depending on the address you provide.

martinsurrey

on the point about access, could you install a security box somewhere outside yor parents house with a key in it, and give the ambulance people the code (if you ever need too)

http://www.thesafeshop.co.uk/products/yale-combination-key-access-box.html?ACODE=googlebase&gclid=CO2R-f7GjrkCFfHKtAodw1cAyg

something like that.

iammumtoone

My Nan had the care alarms fitted into her home and the key masters like the one martin has pointed out.

My Nan would never wear the pendant around her neck but they also put up lots of cords in the house which either of your parents would just need to pull for assistance. They do not need to speak on the phone as once pulled the care line will answer through the box on the wall. I know this as my DS when he was young would always pull the cords - whoops (the operators were always very good about it)

rozmister

LEJC wrote: »

If your dad or mum can phone you...then you can phone for an ambulance

They will require access to the property so you need to prepare your parents into a situation of "what do do in an emergency" type senario.whereby one alerts you and then you call for the ambulance while they open the door etc

We had to do this several times for my mother and her husband...both were very frail and suffered memory loss were not able to use or didnt want to use the home emergency button or phone 999 ...but were both happy to alert me if there was a problem...the emergency call centres were very helpful and reponse was always very speedy and dealt wth carefully and respectfully.

Good luck with your situation.

If you believe that either or both of them would not be able to open the door in an emergency (e.g. mum would be too frightened/confused, etc) you could have a Key Safe fitted to the front of the property. This is a safe that a key is in with a punch key pad on the front that can only be opened with a specific code. You could be the only one to hold this code and could give it to them when they arrive via the phone. You can then reset it to a new code.