What should you do while waiting for the ambulance?

Is a relative or a friend feeling sick or have he/she got hurt? Have you already called the ambulance? What do you have to do while waiting?

This is an important lesson that we usually do not pay attention at, but, if well-learned, it can be extremely useful in order to ease the pain of the patient and get everything ready for the medical specialists’ arrival.

Most of the time, you will have to act differently depending on the kind of pain or sickness the affected person has. However, there are some things that are common to all the patients. Thus, we will start by explaining everything you should always do, with disregard of what is happening to your relative or friend.

Keep calm and gather all the clinical information of the patient

First of all, you should stay calm all the time or, at least, seem to be so. The affected person is probably nervous enough, so it is no use for him to have a hysterical person around him/her.
One of the most important things you must do while waiting for the ambulance is try to calm the patient down.

The most relaxed the patient is, the least he/she will suffer and the shortest the wait will be.
Once you have got this first goal, it is time to gather all the medical information you can about the patient.

The objective of this is to help the specialists save time doing so. The transfer will be much faster if they already have this information when they arrive.

Therefore, you should first find the patient’s latest clinical reports in case that person has been assisted by a doctor or has been hospitalized before. In these documents you should probably find the medical records and the medication the patient is taking. If you are able to handle this information to the emergency personnel, you will help them to act quickly and make the best decisions.

Simultaneously, it will be useful to directly ask to the patient, if he is conscious, about any clinical information he/she may consider important, like his/her medical reports and usual medication. This is especially important in case the patient is an old person, since these people are usually affected by more illnesses and use to take more medicines than younger people.

What should you do if the patient has suffered a trauma?

Traumas are any kind of injury caused by a blow, a sprain of an articulation, a car crash, a drop or any similar accident.

In case this happens, above all, you should prevent the injured person from moving, since the organic structures of the person could have been affected and could get even more injured if he/she moves.

It is better to let the emergency personnel do their work. If the patient needs to be moved, they will know hot to do so without damaging him.

How to react if the patient is feeling sick?

There are many types of sicknesses and many different symptoms which require distinct ways of intervention while waiting the ambulance.

So, in the first place, if the affected person is having breathing difficulties, instead of making him/her lie on the bed face up, you should make the patient sit up and put some pillows behind his/her back. In this position, the breathing will be much easier.

Likewise, if the patient is feeling nausea or is vomiting, it is important to make him/her lie on his/her side in order to facilitate the way out to the gastric juices and prevent them to get to the lungs, what could risk the patient’s life.

Additionally, if he/she is feeling dizzy, you must help him/her to lie down on a comfortable place so as to prevent him/her from falling or hitting something. Nevertheless, try to not make the patient lie down on the floor without anything under him, because this could make him lose temperature.

In case the affected person is suffering convulsions, do not try to hold him, since this could injure him. What you should do while waiting the ambulance is prevent him from hitting nearby objects or injuring other people.

Finally, if the patient is affected by a psychiatric disorder, avoid loud noises and abrupt movements, since they could make him/her react in an unpleasant way, which could have a dangerous outcome for the people trying to help him/her.

Fast medical assistance and constant support

When we receive an emergency call, in Clinica Excelan we immediately mobilise our fleet and staff in order to be in the place as soon as possible.

However, unfortunately it takes some time to get there. Thus, your performance can be crucial to the well-being of the affected person.

In this article we have shown you how to act in different scenarios, but we know you could have many doubts about what to do while waiting for the ambulance. For this reason, we will keep in touch at every moment and assist you to guarantee the best possible outcome for the patient.

We are at your total disposal 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Wherever and whenever you need us, we will take care of you.

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