May 05, 2009

Six transcripts from the UK's 999 service.
posted by polychrome 15 years ago
  • I only managed to read two so far - I'll come back later. The guy cutting his arm off gave me the jibblies - mainly because he was in the background talking calmly.
  • Keep Calm and Carry On indeed.
  • That little dude, Jakob, deserves a big hug.
  • Yup, the Jakob one made me want to hug the stuffing out of him.
  • Arm? Oh, that's over in the frozen pastries...
  • As a working EMT for three years now (and a crew chief), things are much the same on this side of the pond. The two things in the article that struck a chord especially were the "uneducated (ab)users of the system," and the frequent angry demands to "just help!" Should any of the monkeys need an ambulance in the near or distant future, please remember that there is a pattern, a rhyme and a reason to everything we do and ask. It frequently doesn't make any sense from an outsiders perspective but it will do a damn better job at saving your loved one than "stop asking me questions and just help." That said, while we and the ER team do everything we can, sometimes people really are beyond help. Sucks but it's true.