Ambulances blocking the road

[robin]

Hi,

Katie has just had a very unpleasant experience and I would like to know if anybody knows the facts on ambulances.

She was down a dead end street collecting something from a friend.

On her return the road was blocked by an ambulance with hazards on but blue lights/siren off and nobody inside it.

There was parking available for the ambulance, so it could have pulled into a parking bay if it had time to do so.

After waiting for a while she rung the door bell for the house that the ambulance was at.

The driver came down, gave her a mouthful about having more important things to do than move the ambulance for her and then moved the ambulance anyway (by now the street had cars piled up in both directions). In fact the driver said that she should call the police if she needed the ambulance moved, which seemed daft to me.

Now I would have thought that:
(a) if they were attending an emergency they would leave the blue lights on (if only to make sure they didn't get blocked in by traffic!).
(b) if they were attending an emergency they would have ignored her and the door bell.
(c) if they were not attending an emergency they could have parked their ambulance in a parking space rather than blocking the whole road.

So does anybody know what the position is? Should she have waited for ever for them to move of their own accord (by which time the street would have taken a lot of coordinating to clear as cars were piling up in both directions)?

Cheers,
Robin

[mikeyb13]

Sorry Robin but Im pretty sure that they wouldn't have parked in the middle of the street and not taken the usual precautions unless it was life and death and that people tend not to be the most polite in such circumstances.
Im sure someone would be able to spout regulations and policies about the right and wrongs of the situation that would paint the staff in a bad light. But if one of my family was dying I wouldnt care if they drove right thru my garden fence and bashed my wifes car to get there quickly. Does seem strange that they answered the door but panic does strange things to people.
In my experience people who care about policies and people skills tend not to be the most practical when it comes to emergencies.

[Titanium S1 111S (gla)]

If it was life and death he would not have answered the door and certainly would not have moved the ambulance. From that I deduce that whatever may have been thought at the stage the ambulance was abandoned an assessment had been carried out and it had been concluded that there was no emergency.

That being the case a polite request to move the ambulance should have been met with a polite response, even if it that you will have to wait. If the driver was rude that is unacceptable. Given that he had time to move the ambulance he had time to be polite and professional.

All that of course is how it should be, these guys have very difficult and stressful jobs. It is quite conceivable that he had just had to tell someone that their nearest and dearest was beyond help. Unless his behaviour was well beyond acceptable I’d be inclined to forget it. If it was really bad then he should be pulled up for it or he will do it again.

As to calling the police, who knows? It may be the right thing to do if the world is being held up and the paramedics are genuinely dealing with a casualty but to call the cops without a polite enquiry as to whether it can be moved seems to me to be wasting police time which is, of course, at a premium.


All just in my opinion of course.

[tut]

Should have let his tyres down...........

tut

[Dominic]

Was the ambulance facing towards the dead end?... i.e. had they had time to turn around before blocking the street?

[Daveb]

Depends how long she was waiting.

[a4drk]

.

[Eric K]

I'm astonished. Please tell me this is a joke.

Next time a paramedic is attending to me in my home, I'll check that they have parked their vehicle correctly before we discuss what my symptoms might be.

... actually, no, I think I'd want them in my house and seeing to me as soon as practicable ... and if this results in somebody being held up for a wee while ... then I can live with that (hopefully) ...

If you come upon an ambulance, you've got to assume that the paramedics are busy with something more important than whatever your humdrum day involves.

What an utterly bewildering post.

Cheers,

Eric

[Edin430]

Are we being punk'd?

[Eric K]

Are we being punk'd?

I certainly hope so ... and if so ... I'll hold up my hand and have a good laugh.

Cheers,

Eric

[r10crw]

Gents I'm sorry but robins not an idiot. He asked a question that I'm sure is founded.
Robin I've a good friend that is ambalance driver, I'll let you know.
To the others what if robins ambulance was blocking another more urgent case?

[Eric K]

To the others what if robins ambulance was blocking another more urgent case?

Was it? ... if so, I think the emergency services would communicate and prioritise.

All I read was ...

... collecting something from a friend ...

... the road was blocked by an ambulance ...

... waiting for a while ...

Unless there's an important piece of information lacking in the account of what happened then I can't see what the post is all about ... unless it's a wind-up.

Cheers,

Eric

[robin]

Nope. It's real life. I'm sorry if you think it's unreasonable but she was quite shocked by the way the driver spoke to her. BTW, nobody is looking to complain about it. We were just wondering if you could tell from the ambulance whether they were attending an emergency or not.

Remember, they didn't have to answer the door bell (the door itself was open) and I guess they would not have if they had something more important to do. But they did come to the door and they did move the ambulance, so I guess they had the time to do it and nobody died and everybody got to get on with their humdrum lives ...

How many hours would you have sat there for then before deciding maybe they could shift the ambulance to the perfectly good parking space? 1, 2, ...?

Cheers,
Robin

[j2 lot]

Blue light services are such an inconsiderate bunch. Never look for a parking space and leave their motors all over the place.
Anyone would think they were doing something useful like saving lives or preventing crime but no there they are stopping people getting home for tea just for the fun of it.

Maybe they should have apologised for blocking the road but who knows what they had just or were still dealing with. It's easy to judge but try dealing with some of the stuff they do and tell me you would always show exemplary manners.

[Eric K]

... nobody is looking to complain about it. We were just wondering if you could tell from the ambulance whether they were attending an emergency or not.

I'm sorry but I fail to see why this should be of any interest whatsoever.

I think you have to put yourself in the shoes of the paramedics. You get called out with sketchy information on the condition of the casualty. You have to assume the worst. You arrive at the address and get yourself inside as quickly as you can. The case is not life threatening but you can't just leave. The casualty or injured party has to be reassured and you have to report in with their condition.

... then the doorbell rings ... and ... I think I'd probably be a bit narked too.

How many hours would you have sat there for then before deciding maybe they could shift the ambulance to the perfectly good parking space? 1, 2, ...?

Fair comment ... so how many hours had she actually sat there?

I suggest you post your question in the SP&L forum on PH. I'm sure you'll get far more constructive responses there.

Cheers,

Eric