calling an ambulance to another part of the country?

kate.jayne

Hi,

As others have said, it's fine to call, I have done it before.

I would also suggest keeping a list of any current medications and allergies etc at hand to be given to the ambulance crew. It saves your parents getting confused trying to remember at the time of an emergency, and means you aren't trying to think of it while you are worried / driving up to them etc.

Brighton_belle

One of the advantages of the pendant or wrist alarm system is that they hold a record of all their medical details and drugs so they give the paramedics this info rather than your parents having to try and remember it all. My parents had this system installed earlier this year and it gives us all peace of mind. It included having the sort of coded key box others mentioned above. It cost them £4 a week I think.

Included in the system wold be them giving you a call if something has happened.

shop-to-drop

If you have the money buy them an ipad and yourself one or iphone or ipod touch, (iphone preferable as they can contact you 24/7 then). This way they can face time you and then you can see with your own eyes the situation at home. My mum in her 80's has one and finds it easy to face time. It is another form of communication in the house which is very reassuring for her and me too as like you we lives hours away. The red button system is also good she has this it costs a fixed amount each month. Obviously as well as the cost of the ipad they would need to pay for broad band but imo this is good use of any benefits they get due to their health. Might be worth checking if they are claiming all they can due to change in dads health.

Tropez

I've heard of several stories where people have been able to contact local ambulance services to request emergency assistance for people in other countries.

The rise of global communications via the Internet have resulted in small but notable increases in the number of people who become aware of those in entirely different locations requiring the emergency services.

I can't recall where I read one particular story, but an emergency call placed in the United Kingdom was responsible for potentially saving the life of someone in Canada after they posted on Facebook that there was an intruder in their house and they were too scared to phone 911 for fear of being discovered. A contact in the UK saw the post and called 999 and the emergency services here were able to contact the relevant law enforcement agency in Canada to dispatch police officers to investigate. Two intruders were caught, one of whom was in possession of a loaded firearm.

That's more of an extreme example but you will find that local emergency services will make contact with the relevant localised services if the emergency isn't local to them. They're there to help as much as they can.

GwylimT

I would also advise an alarm, my wife has one for when I'm not at home, we live in a flat with 24 site staff so now if she were to need an ambulance etc they would be left in my the staff. However when we lived in our house we had a key safe on the front of the house and the ambulance staff would be given the code during the emergency call, either by my wife, or by the person calling an ambulance on her behalf if she pushed her alarm.

ronmiel

I was advised by ambulance staff to keep a list of medical problems and medication for my husband and myself on the refrigerator door. If they enter into your property in a medical emergency and you are unable to communicate, they always check the fridge to see if there is any insulin or other medication stored in there.

barbiedoll

Do you know your parent's neighbours? It may be worth having a word with them and asking if they would contact you if they have any concerns about your parents (if they haven't seen them for a few days, if one of them is wandering about etc etc) My elderly aunt has a very helpful neighbour who has all of our phone numbers in case of an emergency.

I feel your pain, my relatives aren't so far away but if I can't get hold of any of them on the phone, my heart stops! My siblings and I are always ringing around each other saying "Are you with Mum?" if we don't get an answer from her for more than an hour or so.

MakeupAddict_2

Thank you for all the support and ideas for things and services I'd never heard of, that would give us all greater peace of mind and quite possibly increase Dad's chances of survival.

I've been researching them and printing out details, and will take it all for Dad to read when we go back over tomorrow.

Unfortunately they've only just got new neighbours, so it's a bit early to be asking them to get involved, and the ipad idea would be lovely - but my Mum can't even turn the radio on or off!

MuAx

PasturesNew

The trouble is, once they get to that age, that your mum might not be able to call anybody. What my mum would have done is gone and sat in the other room as he was "behaving oddly and I didn't want to be with him as I was trying to read my magazine"..... or just sitting until somebody turned up on a visit.

If the thinking's going, it can lead to some odd decisions when the !!!!!! hits the fan.

You can tell them till you're blue in the face - and they can appear to understand. Left alone they forget.

rozmister

ronmiel wrote: »

I was advised by ambulance staff to keep a list of medical problems and medication for my husband and myself on the refrigerator door. If they enter into your property in a medical emergency and you are unable to communicate, they always check the fridge to see if there is any insulin or other medication stored in there.

I don't know if it's available across the country but where I live (Dorset) the Lions Club make these 'message in a bottle' type pots. You get one to put in your fridge door and inside is a sheet you fill out with all your medicines and stuff. The pot itself is white with a big green cross on it (medical type cross not religious one) and the lid is green too. You also get 2 stickers - 1 for inside your front door so they know you have one of these in your house if they come out to your home and you're unconscious and another to stick on your fridge door to alert them to the fact it's inside.

There's more about it on the lions website - http://www.lionsmd105.org/