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Dialing 999
As the UK is part of the European Union, in the event on an emergency we can dial 999 or 112 (this can be used in any county within the EU).
Dialing 999 (or 112) should only be done in an emergency. If you have other means of transport and the patient is able to make their way to hospital, you should think of this before calling for an ambulance.
 In Hertfordshire, our ambulance service is the East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust. They cover Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridge, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire and Essex and have emergency control centres, known as Health and Emergency Operations Centre's (HEOC) in Bedford, Chelmsford and Norwich, therefore the call handler who answers you call may not know the area you are calling from, be prepared to give some better location information if asked for it.
 Q. If I am driving and I see an accident, what should Ido?
A. Stop! First of all it is now an offence to drive and use a mobile phone (without a handsfree kit) and secondly, you should stop where you are to give the exact location of the accident to the ambulance service. If it is safe to do so, you should also approch the scene and collect the vital information needed when you dial 999.
Q. When dialing 999, what questions am I going to be asked?
A. Ambulance Service Call Handlers have a set routine of questions they will ask you. The first few being the most important, this is what we are going to look at.
1. Location - What is the exact location you want the ambulance to come to? " Outside the post office, High Street, Knebworth" 2. Problem - What is the problem? "Elderly lady fallen and has a head injury"
By this time an ambulance will
have been dispached, all further questions are to help the ambulance
crew, they will not delay an ambulance's arrival
3. Telephone Number - What is the number you are calling on? They will have been given this by the operator, however, they will want to check they have a number they can call back on if there are any problems with the telephone line or finding the location.
4. Location - Yes, you have just given them this information, again, they want to make sure the ambulance is going to the right location
5. Number of Casualties - How many people are injured? As a rule of thumb, 1 casualty = 1 ambulance 6. Age - Give the age of the casualty, a rough age will do if you don't know 7. Sex - Are they male or female? 8. Conscious - Are they awake? Do they respond if you talk to them? 9. Breathing - Are they breathing? (If they are talking, they are breathing) Can you see their chest move? All of this information is vital to the ambulace crew that will be attending, make sure you have this information before calling an ambulance!
Q. Once I have dialed 999, what should I do?
 A. Wait! The ambulance service call handler will give you some instructions:
"put away any family pets, unlock the front door, turn on some outside lights, gather the patients medication, write down the name of their doctor, do not give them anything to eat or drink and if they get worse or if anything changes before the ambulance gets there call back on 999 for futher instructions".
Do just that, or what is applicable to your situation. Have someone meet the ambulance or wait for them yourself, make sure the crew know where they need to go.
If the patient is in need of some emergency intervention, such as CPR, treatment for bleeding or choking, they ambulance call handler will talk you though what you need to do .... listen to what they tell you to do.
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