'I've eaten too much kebab'- and other ridiculous 999 calls to ambulance service
A time-wasting caller phoned 999 to ask for an ambulance and told the dispatcher "I've eaten too much kebab".
The ridiculous call is one of a number revealed by ambulance chiefs to highlight the unnecessary demands made on the hard-pressed service. Help and advice from your pharmacy, GP surgery, or NHS 111 phone line would usually be your first port of call. But this does not stop people wasting the time of vital call handlers who are trying to save people's lives.
Ambulance services have to divide calls into: red (serious and life-threatening), amber (serious but not immediately life-threatening) and green, neither serious nor-life threatening and can often be dealt with by telephone triage. But WalesOnline reports on number of incidents where inappropriate calls are adding an additional strain.
A caller called emergency services and said they had 'eaten too much kebab' (Getty Images/iStockphoto)Andy Swinburn, executive director of paramedicine at the Welsh Ambulance Service said: "Our highly skilled paramedics and technicians are trained to help those whose life is in imminent danger. That’s people in cardiac arrest, people with chest pain or breathing difficulties, loss of consciousness, choking, severe allergic reactions, catastrophic bleeding or someone who is having a stroke.
“People who’ve had a cough for a couple of days have a legitimate clinical need, but it’s ill-judged to call 999 when there are so many other ways to access help. Our plea to the public is to apply your common sense – most people know the difference between a real emergency and something that is uncomfortable, painful or irritating but not life-threatening. Make the right call.”
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The service has released a list of real 999 calls that have been made to them in the last year showing the ridiculous reasons people call an ambulance.
Call 1
Operator: Ambulance, what’s the address of the emergency?
Caller: Hi, yeah, erm… I know it doesn’t 100% qualify as this but my wife must have accidentally rubbed chilli in her eyes and her eyes are burning. She’s tried washing them and nothing’s happening.
Call 2
Operator: Tell me exactly what’s happened.
Caller: Yesterday evening, we had some kebab, and I might have had a little bit more than I’m used to, then this morning, I’ve had a very painful stomach.
Call 3
Caller: My ring is stuck on my finger; I need it cut off.
Operator: Is your breathing normal for you?
Caller: My breathing’s fantastic, yeah.
Operator: Are you bleeding or vomiting blood?
Caller: I’m not bleeding, no.
Operator: And do you have any pain?
Caller: Yeah, a little bit.
Operator: From the information that you have provided, you do require a more detailed assessment by a nurse, so an ambulance will not be sent at this time.
Caller: How am I going to get there then? Can you just come and see me please?
Call 4
Caller: What it is with her, her voice has given on her. We don’t know what to do. We’ve tried lemon and whatever, but it’s not doing any good.
Operator: Where is she in pain?
Caller: It’s her throat. She can hardly speak.
Operator: And is it just that she’s lost her voice, is it?
Caller: Yeah.
Call 5
Operator: Ambulance service, what’s the address of the emergency?
Caller: I wouldn’t say it’s an emergency, but I don’t know how to get down to hospital. I have a piercing in my ear, and it’s pretty much been ripped out and the ball’s stuck in my ear.
Operator: So, the ball from your piercing is stuck inside your ear?
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Call 6
Operator: Is the patient awake?
Caller: Yeah, it’s me, my hand’s stuck in the door.
Operator: Is the door locked at the moment?
Caller: Yeah, it’s locked. Mam! No, my hand’s stuck in the f*****g letterbox./
Operator: How old are you?
Caller: Open the door, my hand’s stuck!
Call 7
Operator: Tell me exactly what’s happened.
Caller: I’ve had a cough for the last couple of days.
Operator: What’s that sorry, you’ve got a cough?
Caller: Yeah.
Operator: We are currently experiencing a large number of life-threatening emergencies. An ambulance is not available to respond to you. Our advice is to ring 111.
Call 8
Caller: I have a bottom part denture, and I went to clean my teeth and I said, ‘Where’s my false teeth?’ This sounds crazy… but I don’t know what else to do. Could I have swallowed my false teeth?
Operator: So, you don’t know where your false teeth are?
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