AMBULANCE FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
- When do I phone an ambulance and when do I see a doctor?
- What specific information does the Ambulance service need when I ring 111?
- What types of clinical questions will I be asked?
- What can I do for the patient before the ambulance arrives?
- How do I prepare for the arrival of the ambulance?
- Why am I being asked questions that don’t relate to the condition I have described to the call taker?
- Who designed the questions the ambulance call taker asks me?
- What happens if the scene is not safe for an ambulance to arrive?
- How long will it take for an ambulance to arrive after I phone 111 and ask for ambulance?
- Will I be given an estimated time of arrival of an ambulance?
- What do I do if the ambulance hasn’t arrived, the patient’s condition has deteriorated or I have fresh information?
When do I phone an ambulance and when do I see a doctor?
In general, you should call 111 and ask for Ambulance when you have a medical emergency including accidents. If it is not an emergency, you should arrange an appointment with your doctor.
If you are unsure whether your medical problem is an emergency, you can phone Healthline (0800 611 116). At Healthline, experienced registered nurses will advise you on the assistance you should seek – including whether you need an ambulance or whether you need to go to a doctor.
Here are some examples of the types of emergencies that people should call an ambulance for:
- Difficulty breathing or shortness of breath
- Chest pain (possible heart attack). This can feel like a ‘weight’ or ‘squeezing feeling’ and may also be felt in the arm, jaw, neck or upper abdomen
- Fainting or being unconscious (when a person is not awake and not talking)
- Stroke (brain attack). This can be associated with sudden weakness, change in vision, difficulty talking or dizziness
- Severe pain (anywhere)
- Bleeding that won’t stop
- Car crash with injuries
- Any injury causing a person to be not fully awake or to have severe pain.
Here are some examples of the types of problems that people should not call an ambulance for:
- Generally being unwell, unless some of the above symptoms are present
- Minor injuries such as small cuts (provided they do not have uncontrolled bleeding) or sprains
- Minor burns (smaller than twice the size of the patient’s hand)
- Coughs or colds
- Minor problems causing pain such as toothache, arthritis or gout
- Minor car crashes where people do not know if anyone is hurt. (We recommend that you find out if people are hurt first).
What specific information does the Ambulance service need when I ring 111?
After we have asked where your emergency is, and your name and phone number, we will ask what has happened. This will include questions about the patient and their condition.
This is so we can send the most appropriate clinical resources to your assistance.
As always, remain calm and speak clearly. The sooner you are able to give us clear and accurate information, the sooner assistance can be provided to the patient.
We dispatch ambulances based on clinical priorities. The information you provide will help our call takers determine the speed and type of ambulance response required. We may also need to dispatch other emergency resources in support of ambulance.
What types of clinical questions will I be asked?
It is important that we ask you a series of clinical questions to determine the condition of the patient as accurately as possible over the phone, to ensure the patient receives the best possible assistance. Examples of clinical questions you may be asked include:
- How old is the patient?
- Is the patient conscious?
- Are they breathing?
- Are they completely awake?
- Are they changing colour?
- Are there any obvious injuries?
- Are they trapped?
- Does the patient have a history of heart problems?
- Have they taken drugs or medication in the past 12 hours?
Please remain on the phone and answer the questions to the best of your ability. Answering these questions does not delay the ambulance, which may be dispatched while you remain on the phone.
If it is an emergency and an ambulance is needed immediately, an ambulance can already be on the way while you continue to answer questions.
What can I do for the patient before the ambulance arrives?
If required, our call takers will give you instructions over the phone on any first aid you or anyone with you may need to give to the patient while the ambulance is on the way.
For example, if a patient is in cardiac arrest they need the resuscitation technique CPR to begin immediately.
By remaining as calm as possible and following the instructions carefully, you can make a real difference on the scene – including helping to save someone’s life.
How do I prepare for the arrival of the ambulance?
Once the call taker has received all the necessary information, the call taker will talk you through how to prepare for the arrival of the ambulance. You may be advised to:
- Ensure that young children are safely out of the way
- Lock up any family pets
- Gather medications
- Write down the name of the patient’s doctor
- Unlock the door
- If it is at night, turn on all the outside lights
- Send an adult to the gate or entryway to guide the responding ambulance staff.
If anything changes, phone back immediately for further instructions.
Why am I being asked questions that don’t relate to the condition I have described to the call taker?
Using an example, you may have told the Ambulance Communications Centre that the patient you are calling about has damaged his neck in a car crash. You will be asked a series of questions including if the patient is breathing and conscious. We need to check for more serious underlying conditions in addition to the immediately obvious physical injuries. Ambulances are dispatched on a priority basis, so it is important that we ascertain the seriousness of the condition as accurately as possible to ensure the correct speed and type of response is sent.
Who designed the questions the ambulance call taker asks me?
The questions have been designed by international clinical experts and emergency response experts and fitted for New Zealand conditions. This enables us to determine over the phone as accurately as possible the nature and seriousness of the condition of the patient, scene safety and the speed and type of response required. The system is known as the Advanced Medical Priority Dispatching System (AMPDS) and is used by Ambulance services throughout the world - including in the United Kingdom, United States and Europe. Its use is overseen in New Zealand by a Clinical Oversight Group of Medical Directors.
What happens if the scene is not safe for an ambulance to arrive?
We ask you questions about scene safety to help us ensure the scene is safe for patients and others while the ambulance is on the way. For instance, if there is a fire it is important that Fire Service personnel are also dispatched. If there is violence or possible violence at the scene, it is important that Police are also dispatched. The Ambulance Communications Centre call taker can request that these services also attend. In some circumstances, if the situation is extremely dangerous (e.g. if there is extreme violence) we will wait for Police to declare the scene safe before we can send our ambulance officers in. In this situation we would usually dispatch the ambulance officers to a safe point close to the scene awaiting Police clearance.
How long will it take for an ambulance to arrive after I phone 111 and ask for ambulance?
Ambulance Communications Centres and Ambulance services do everything they can to get an ambulance and other required emergency resources to emergencies as soon as possible.
The time it takes for an ambulance to arrive will depend on a number of factors including:
- How serious the medical condition or injuries are
- How many other serious accident or medical emergencies are occurring at the same time in the same area
- How far away the nearest ambulance is from your emergency
- How complex the location is to get to. For instance, if the emergency is in an isolated area, it often takes longer for an ambulance to arrive than in a major metropolitan area. This is a reality of our country’s geography.
- Our call takers can provide emergency first aid instructions over the phone when required to provide the necessary care in advance of an ambulance arriving, and backup resources may be responded to support the Ambulance service.
Will I be given an estimated time of arrival of an ambulance?
Ambulance Communications Centres usually do not give an estimated time of arrival of an ambulance as this can create an expectation that an ambulance will definitely arrive in that time frame. There are many variables in emergency situations, and ambulances from time to time may have to be re-routed from one callout to a more serious callout if there are no other ambulances available in the vicinity. Ambulance Communications Centres do everything they can to dispatch the nearest available and most appropriate resource, including road and air ambulances and other backup resources - such as Community First Response teams, and rural doctors and nurses trained in emergency medicine under the St John-run, government funded PRIME programme.
Ambulances are primarily for medical and accident emergencies and are dispatched on a priority basis. Callers will be instructed to phone 111 again and ask for Ambulance if a patient’s priority deteriorates after your initial 111 call, so the speed and priority of ambulance response may be upgraded if required. As an example, if there is one ambulance in one area and two callouts at the same time, the ambulance would be sent to a cardiac arrest first before a broken leg. This is because a cardiac arrest is life-threatening and immediate clinical assistance is required.
What do I do if the ambulance hasn’t arrived, the patient’s condition has deteriorated or I have fresh information?
Phone 111 again and ask for Ambulance. Explain that you are ringing back to advise that the patient’s condition has deteriorated. Answer the call taker’s questions. The speed and type of emergency response may be upgraded.
