[Redway]

(In other words needing to get seen to by paramedics/an ambulance.)

Yes for me. Twice (once in 2014, once in 2021) over anxiety attacks. I have had a few panic attacks here-and-there over the years (mostly at particularly rough periods in my life) and when it fully feels like I’m breathing through a straw, sometimes 999 just has to get involved. I had to call for that ambulance 2 years ago but the other time it happened was on a bus so I had no choice.

[Redway]

Are you okay to talk about some of what happened to you there, Kate?

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Redway

Are you okay to talk about some of what happened to you there, Kate?

Yes, same as you Red, severe panic attacks. Twice also and once was also in 2014 coincidentally.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Kate!

Yes, same as you Red, severe panic attacks. Twice also and once was also in 2014 coincidentally.

Ah.

Panic attacks sure-are awful. Besides taking too much of an edible and spacing out for 12 hours (even though you’re definitely not dying) there aren’t as many other acute waves that come on you and make you feel like you’re genuinely going to die than anxiety attacks, whether they’re mild or severe. It is horrible.

[Redway]

Sometimes it’s hard opening up to friends and family about being ill (whether it’s cancer or a new diagnosis of diabetes, or multiple sclerosis or panic attacks) because sometimes they’ll just lay it on too thick and get morbid in a way that makes the whole thing actually feel worse rather than better, even when it’s coming from a place of sympathy and love. But when it comes to anxiety attacks you’ve got to talk to someone. Your life’s never actually in danger (unless you have a heart problem or serious asthma on top of it) but it’s still a feeling that’s hard to just carry around with you if you’re not getting treated properly for it (and you might not need to if they’re only occasional/one-offs). So sometimes you just have to talk to someone who gets it and won’t keep probing you about a reason you’ve been having panic attacks (more times they come out of the blue rather than having any external stressor because it’s partly just actual biological stuff). Sometimes you just need space to come to terms with what’s going on rather than have other people hone in the morbidity of it too much but sometimes it helps to talk. No, you don’t want to waste NHS time but you’re better safe than sorry and a reassuring chat with the paramedic team can go a long way. You can waffle on about Angry Birds (if they still do that) for a minute to take your mind off it or you can just ask for general reassurance about the status of your heart and making sure that everything else is as it should be. It’s part of what they’re there for.

[AnnieK]

Once when I was in school and fainted.....the school rang for ambulance. It was mortifying they strapped me to a chair and was taking me out just as the dinner bell went and so the corridors were full of people taking the piss.

Only other time is when my son fell downstairs when he was very little and 111 sent an ambulance to check.him and they took us in to get him checked out

[bots]

yeah, i don't recommend it

[rusticgal]

Not for me…but travelled in an Ambulance with my son when he 24hrs old to take us to a London hospital….

[Crimson Dynamo]

Yes when i took an allergic reaction to my Smallpox vac as a child. Luckily when i sliced open my forearm I was able to walk to the hospital!

[thesheriff443]

No, I’ve been taken to a and e in a police car with a head wound

I’ve also walked into hospital after falling 30 feet and having a elderly woman be pronounced dead in the next cubicle

[Redway]

Originally Posted by thesheriff443

No, I’ve been taken to a and e in a police car with a head wound

I’ve also walked into hospital after falling 30 feet and having a elderly woman be pronounced dead in the next cubicle

How did you manage a 30-foot fall?

[Oliver_W]

I was once having severe chest pains for an entire "long weekend" (starting Friday) and rang 111 on Monday.

The operator was like "you've had chest pains for how long?! You have Brugada syndrome?! ... yeah, suck on aspirin under your tongue until the paramedics arrive"

[hijaxers]

Mine was reported on local news as ' Spectacular somersault crash' on M4 Police , Fire ~ to cut me out and 2 ambulances.

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by hijaxers

Mine was reported on local news as ' Spectacular somersault crash' on M4 Police , Fire ~ to cut me out and 2 ambulances.

I hope the screenshots are your social media profile pictures!

[hijaxers]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I hope the screenshots are your social media profile pictures!

No social media back then.

[AnnieK]

Originally Posted by hijaxers

Mine was reported on local news as ' Spectacular somersault crash' on M4 Police , Fire ~ to cut me out and 2 ambulances.

Sounds terrifying

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by hijaxers

Mine was reported on local news as ' Spectacular somersault crash' on M4 Police , Fire ~ to cut me out and 2 ambulances.

dont drink and drive kids

not in an Austin Allegro (Biege)

[Redway]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

dont drink and drive kids

not in an Austin Allegro (Biege)

On a serious note drink-driving is a massive no-no. I’ve heard way too many spooky storylines to ever consider doing it or getting in the car of someone who’s had more than a certain amount to drink. Get a taxi.

[Crimson Dynamo]

Originally Posted by Redway

On a serious note drink-driving is a massive no-no. I’ve heard way too many spooky storylines to ever consider doing it or getting in the car of someone who’s had more than a certain amount to drink. Get a taxi.

I remember waking up top a row between my mum and dad and my dad had parked the car on the front garden the night before, having got back from a pretty boozy lodge meeting.

I dont drink and drive, mind you i used to play golf on a Sunday morning in Surrey and have 3/4 pints at 12 and drive 20 miles home and not think owt about it, it wasn't illegal back then

[hijaxers]

Originally Posted by LeatherTrumpet

dont drink and drive kids

not in an Austin Allegro (Biege)

It was 7am and we were on the way to Heathrow and in a faulty hire car and ended up in a water culvert , someone nearly died , months in hospital.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I was once having severe chest pains for an entire "long weekend" (starting Friday) and rang 111 on Monday.

The operator was like "you've had chest pains for how long?! You have Brugada syndrome?! ... yeah, suck on aspirin under your tongue until the paramedics arrive"

You have Brugada Syndrome?

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Redway

You have Brugada Syndrome?

I do, as do nearly all the males in my family.

[Redway]

Originally Posted by Oliver_W

I do, as do nearly all the males in my family.

Ah, I see. Sorry, man.

Pardon my ignorance but is there any kind of treatment for that?

[Oliver_W]

Originally Posted by Redway

Ah, I see. Sorry, man.

Pardon my ignorance but is there any kind of treatment for that?

Well we've all been given ICDs - implantable cardio defibrillators.

My brother and I were done on the same day, and as the condition and the specific method the ICDs were put in are fairly rare or at least obscure, we both had several medical and I think nursing students observing, and we're probably in several essays

[Livia]

Broke my femur a few years ago in a car accident... hit by a drunk. Came off my motorbike when I was younger a few times... embarrassing because my Dad was a paramedic and he'd get to know about it instantly. He'd tell my Mum... nightmare ensued.