My mum fell on her arse whilst up in the woods with us. I assessed the patient on the scene and we decided, based on the superficial nature of the wounds, we would make a visit to the A&E once we were all back in town, just to be on the safe side. There was no need for an ambulance, anyway as we were well off the road the mountain rescue would have been the option... and that would have given me a red face!
She fell onto some metal and fibreglass which shattered, scratching her in a place I would not be examining, thank you! We wanted to make sure nothing was embedded into her skin. The bleeding was only evident on clothes when we got into town and she was changing into clean clothes for going to the A&E, had there been any sign of a serious injury I would have gone straight to the A&E, but she wanted to have a wash and get something to eat first.
Phoning NHS 24 will shorten your wait at the A&E, I would recommend it to anyone.
What peed me off was the length of the inquisition.
Especially the initial one by a 'call handler'...
To me, once they hear the words fall and bleeding you should be talking to a medical professional, not continuing to be subject to triage from someone working from a list of questions.
It took over three hours despite the fact there were next to no customers.
Another thing that happened that peeved me was that they confirmed her details including address at high volume in public. I know several people who have been burgled whilst in A&E...
Saying that the level of skill and professionalism of the A&E medical staff is second to none here, they frequently deal with mountain sports injuries, including lots of mountain bikers with broken collar bones, etc.!
Anyway, they gave her the full MOT and she got a Tetanus jab and assurance she was not now partially Trimble.
See how I did that?
Rather spiffing insertion of something relevant to this forum.
