Have you been in an ambulance?

Yes. Once at 18 years, with a spinal injury. Three weeks back too I went on another ambulance ride when I was quite sick and my young children decided mummy doesn't look well at all and called 000. The ambulance arrived quite promptly and was concerned about leaving my kids alone without adult supervision. They made sure kids were taken care of too. Hats off to the awesome paramedics all over the world!

by Sharm Jay

YES, Sharmila, the paramedics are certainly wonderful people, who have to put up with a lot of....from a lot of people, esp' the ones on ice that they have to take in to the hospitals.

I've been in one the first time I ever had a panic attack. It was quite severe and lasted for over 6hrs even at the hospital. Thankfully my paramedics were fantastic and quite attractive so a great distraction.

by Amelia

Yes I've been in an ambulance once after I hurt my back and couldn't get up. The ambulance guys were really friendly and gave me some happy drugs to try and relax me.

by Ivana Katz

Thankfully no

by Smita

My daughter broke her elbow and I had to go with her in the ambulance.

by chipp

Yes many many times...'why'?
How much time do you have to read them all ..*#!? lets just say, I know the back of an Ambulance quite well!

by jonaja

For me personally, thankfully no. For a family member, sadly yes.

by Justine Crowley

I've never been in an ambulance. But aren't we lucky we have fantastic teams of well trained paramedics ready to answer emergency calls at a moment's notice.

by dom a

Twice. Once many years ago when a boyfriend of mine fell off his trail bike. He had a concussion and suspected spinal injury and it was a long bumpy road down a dirt track. The other time was when my son had a nasty burn.

by Sarah Bell

No, thank God.

by Vee

Yes, last year was my first time in an ambulance when I was in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.. I never thought being in an ambulance could be so frightening. On one hand, there was my mother who was suffering so much with pain and on the other, the driver was driving so recklessly that for a moment, I thought that instead of heading to the hospital, we would be heading straight away to the graveyard!!!

by Alia T

How frightening for you, Alia. I bet you won't forget about that holiday in a hurry!

When we were looking to find a display builder for our new home, we would set our fairly early each weekend. One Saturday, we had a blackout, therefore I couldn't have my regular blended banana smoothie. On our way back that afternoon, I fainted. We rang an ambulance which took me to Auburn hospital. You guessed it, I was lacking in potassium and calcium - the very minerals I missed having that morning in my smoothie..!!

by fifi.

yes, I went back to the medical centre where the doctor had prescribed the same antibiotics for me even though I told him I had a reaction the last time he gave them to me. The medical centre was closed so I went to the chemist next door and fainted. I had my 4yo (at that time) son with me and he thought I had died, poor thing. The chemist phoned the ambulance and they took us to the hospital. I was told I had gone into anaphylactic shock. I remember when I was in Thailand I was given some Amoxicillin by the hotel nurse for a bad flu and spent the next couple of nights scratching myself silly but didn't know why. That must have kick-started my allergic reaction. The ambos were wonderful and caring and provide a necessary service.

by pfuit

No, but recently my husband had a postoperative emergency and had great care despite not being able to get back into the original hospital. This is obviously a problem which Qld Health should be addressing. It was a private hospital in both cases. Seems a bit crazy.

by grann

yes , first time my ex stabbed me in the arm , worried about nerve damage . kids came along. 2nd time my platelets were very low , 4 , they had to move me to another hospital which i stayed a week. but the paramedic's in both cases were very nice

by nessa

When I was a kid, I had a distonic reaction at an airport (due to medicine I'd been taking). Missed the flight, stayed in hospital. I've also followed one that my own kid was in. He stood on a chair at the SCG and it flipped up and he fell and hit his head....(so there's a lesson for the kiddies right there)

by Lydia C. Lee

I haven't been in one, but my mum's cousin who was visiting from England had to drive one. They needed an ambulance for someone, and when two ambulances arrived the driver jumped out of one car, said they didn't have enough people to attend to it themselves (it wasn't life or death urgent), and told my mum and her cousin that one of them would have to drive the ambulance to back to the hospital where someone could help them.

Mum was too scared to do it, so her cousin jumped in and drove it to the hospital, with the patient loaded up in the back. Says it was the best story of her Aussie trip to tell everyone back home (everyone turned out fine and healthy). The perils of living in a relatively small town I guess - when the emergency services get overworked and understaffed, they really aren't joking about it!

by Kerri

Great story! How good would it be to drive an ambulance!

I know, I kind of wish it had been me! I doubt many people have the chance to say they've driven an ambulance before.

No, and not even wish to !!

by Radhika

Called one last night because I had food poisoning. Fortunately, they took so long I started to recover a bit so I phoned and cancelled. So, no. I've never been in an ambulance. Yahoo!

by lharr

I thank God from the bottom of my heart for a NO to this question.Though once my Father in law was transported in an ambulance and that too on a rainy.The sound of the ambulance brought us shivers.Its a very unpleasant experience which I dont wish for anyone.

by Sasha

I did once when I couldn't move one morning. Thankfully I was ok pretty quickly.

by carrieD

Yes unfortunately I nearly died waiting for one. I foolishly accepted a recommendation from my ex GP to use a private clinic for a colonoscopy.
The letter from them stated the procedure was at 2pm on the first line but buried deep in the text several lines down it advised to be there at 1.45 to be prepared.
After 3 days of fasting and emptying my body of food and washing it out of all nourishment my mind was barely functioning. I checked the first line for the address and time and arrived at 2pm. The receptionist a very attractive woman who had a strong accent and poor English skills was angry with me and told me to sign a blank form and rush into the surgery. When I went to the toilet to deal with an issue related to the cleansing process a nurse rushed into the toilet and told me to get into the bed and onto the table as I was late. I felt fear as everyone made it clear to me that I was late and had generated a problem for them. Feeling terrified I prayed for Gods protection as they put me out.
Suddenly I woke up in horrific pain in my shoulder I was told there had been a problem and was immediately put out again.
Again I awoke in horrific pain and was told that an ambulance was on the way and was put out again. This happened more times but all I can remember is the extreme pain. At no time did I see the Doctor who I suspect had already left the building. Eventually at approximately 6 pm after suffering extreme pain while my bodies waste spread infection into my body cavity an ambulance arrived. I finally started to feel safe and when I asked them why they had taken 3 or 4 hours to arrive they said to me that the receptionist had requested a patient transfer normally describing a low level status. Had they known that I was in such pain with an infection spreading to my major organs it would have been an emergency transfer. When I arrived at the public hospital (Thank God for public hospitals) I heard this Doctor in the crowded ward yelling out where was the emergency with the ruptured bowel.
A nurse checked my paper work that was wrong from the clinic and walked away. They all kept looking for me until I was able to raise my hand and mumble me. The Doctor swore and ordered me into another room and proceeded to save my life. I ended up with a huge scare from my chest to my groin and 7 springs holding my intestines together plus ongoing issues that I won't mention. It would appear that Doctors have a very strong lobby group that makes it impossible to seek compensation even when you are treated poorly. My advice is never have a surgical procedure unless it is in a large hospital preferably a public one like the one that saved my life. If the clinic is angry at you for being late or the staff don't speak fluent English enabling them to communicate effectively then turn around and walk out. Your life may depend on it. I fought a huge infection that had the very real potential to shut down my major organs and kill me. Sorry for the rant but this really happened to me and I have never been given the opportunity to vent.
Private clinic in the suburbs no way.

by kstew

My goodness! Was this in Australia? It sounds terrible & very scary for you.

Yes - 6am New Years Day. I was suddenly in excruciating pain & very very nauseous. Turned out to be a kidney stone. When someone tells you about the pain from a kidney stone, they're not exaggerating. I felt like I wanted to die. Lovely ambos though. Gave me lots of pain relief until the hospital took over.

by Therese B

No - and hopefully I never will!

by Matteo Lor

Unfortunately, yes, I have, and for about 18 months after that I was quite hysterical when an ambulance with siren went past...I had to stop the car.

I was in a long time as was transferred while living in the country and they had to take me to the city.

by Finy

No and I hope I never have to.

by Valadhiel

Yes - while on holiday in Seattle I fainted one day, was taken to a local hospital by my sister, diagnosed with a brain tumour and transferred by ambulance to a major hospital in the city. Thankfully tumour was benign - this was 16 years ago. After that experience I would say that for travel to the USA travel insurance is imperative. My insurance company was absolutely brilliant and dealt with all the financial details telling me not to worry about anything and just get well again - CoverMore Insurance if anyone is interested - highly recommended.

by norma

No, not me yet. Once my husband was having a heart attack at 2am 1 morning. He took 1/2 an aspirin, drove the 8ks to the hospital. (I can't drive.) By the time he got there he felt ok, so he drove home again. Back in bed, & 1/2 an hr later, he felt unwell again, so drove back to the hospital. We never thought of ringing for an ambulance! He had to leave the car in the emergency car parking space for 5 days, then a transfer ambulance took him to another hospital, where he was given a couple of stents. (No, he didn't get a parking ticket, when he came back from the 2nd hospital to collect the car, after his operation.)

by Miro