How do you deal with a medical emergency??
Aug 5th, 2010 | 09:04 PM
#22
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8,247
Likes: 0
The EU equivalent for 911 is 112.(police/fire/ambulance)
You should "forget" about local/national emergency numbers.
Only "112" comes with guaranteed features that may save important minutes.
As a tourist, you will probably make the emergency call with your mobile phone, and "112" will work even if
- your mobile has no coverage from your dedicated network operator but a competitor's
- your mobile is locked and you cannot remember the PIN in the heat of the moment
And it relays automatically the data of the transmitter your phone in connected to, so the emergency service already know the rough location and can send the ambulance in the right direction if you have problems to clearly identify your current location.
Especially when you plan to go to rural areas, it can also not hurt to learn basic CPR. If a person has collapsed and went into a cardiac arrest, it is mandatory that you start CPR instantanously after you called 112. Do NOT wait for professional help. Outside of major cities the response time will most probably be longer than 5 minutes (the max time until irreversible brain damage sets in).
It may sound a bit scary, but I can assure you that a short CPR training (e.g. here the Red Cross offers such courses for free) will give you a lot of confidence when you see how easy it is. Don't get the knowledge from the web or books, though, cause you will almost always underestimate how forceful you have to perform CPR.
And all the best for your wife and yourself.. and happy travels without any emergencies.
You should "forget" about local/national emergency numbers.
Only "112" comes with guaranteed features that may save important minutes.
As a tourist, you will probably make the emergency call with your mobile phone, and "112" will work even if
- your mobile has no coverage from your dedicated network operator but a competitor's
- your mobile is locked and you cannot remember the PIN in the heat of the moment
And it relays automatically the data of the transmitter your phone in connected to, so the emergency service already know the rough location and can send the ambulance in the right direction if you have problems to clearly identify your current location.
Especially when you plan to go to rural areas, it can also not hurt to learn basic CPR. If a person has collapsed and went into a cardiac arrest, it is mandatory that you start CPR instantanously after you called 112. Do NOT wait for professional help. Outside of major cities the response time will most probably be longer than 5 minutes (the max time until irreversible brain damage sets in).
It may sound a bit scary, but I can assure you that a short CPR training (e.g. here the Red Cross offers such courses for free) will give you a lot of confidence when you see how easy it is. Don't get the knowledge from the web or books, though, cause you will almost always underestimate how forceful you have to perform CPR.
And all the best for your wife and yourself.. and happy travels without any emergencies.
Aug 5th, 2010 | 09:50 PM
#23
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,268
Likes: 0
"Outside of major cities the response time will most probably be longer than 5 minutes"
Don't go panic-stirring.
A neighbour of mine in our tiny, and relatively remote, Cotswold microtown sadly lost his wife to a heart attack a few months ago. She had the attack while he was in the garden and it took some minutes before he found her.
But he rang 999 from his landline anyway. Calling the national emergency number has EXACTLY the same effect as dialling the German-inspired 112: it's simply untrue to claim otherwise. The emergency services began to talk him through how to give CPR: they'd got to about the third sentence when the First Responder, complete with the proper CPR equipment, came charging through the door (which of course wasn't locked: you only need to do that in cities).
Calling 999 here obviously displays the phone's location and subscriber name to the emergency operator. The moment there's a hint it's a heart attack, the operator presses a key which sends an alert with all the information to a designated First Responder - who, in small villages, is probably within a minute's walk and knows the local topography intimately. In this case, my neighbour estimates 2 mins max from picking up the phone to the responder starting work.
The ambulance arrived about another 5 mins later. She was probably dead when my neighbour found her: but the system will often respond far more quickly in tiny villages than in cities with traffic and parking problems - and responders can get to a casualty in a private house vital minutes more quickly than in a hotel.
Don't go panic-stirring.
A neighbour of mine in our tiny, and relatively remote, Cotswold microtown sadly lost his wife to a heart attack a few months ago. She had the attack while he was in the garden and it took some minutes before he found her.
But he rang 999 from his landline anyway. Calling the national emergency number has EXACTLY the same effect as dialling the German-inspired 112: it's simply untrue to claim otherwise. The emergency services began to talk him through how to give CPR: they'd got to about the third sentence when the First Responder, complete with the proper CPR equipment, came charging through the door (which of course wasn't locked: you only need to do that in cities).
Calling 999 here obviously displays the phone's location and subscriber name to the emergency operator. The moment there's a hint it's a heart attack, the operator presses a key which sends an alert with all the information to a designated First Responder - who, in small villages, is probably within a minute's walk and knows the local topography intimately. In this case, my neighbour estimates 2 mins max from picking up the phone to the responder starting work.
The ambulance arrived about another 5 mins later. She was probably dead when my neighbour found her: but the system will often respond far more quickly in tiny villages than in cities with traffic and parking problems - and responders can get to a casualty in a private house vital minutes more quickly than in a hotel.
Aug 6th, 2010 | 08:47 AM
#25
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 8,247
Likes: 0
Hi charnees..
I work in telecommunications & broadcasting.
What flanner said is true, too.
But I was talking about mobiles not landlines.
Obviously, in your home country you will know your national emergency number. You can also dance naked on the roof if that is the local customs to attract help.
But if I was stuck somewhere in Greece or Portugal, I'd not bet my or other's lives on my mental capacity in a moment of stress to remember the local Greek or Portuguese emergency number if I know that 112 works anytime anywhere.
Some features of 112 will also work with the national emergency numbers, but you are not guaranteed that this will be the case.
For example, in Germany the national emergency number for the police is 110. But in case of mobile network overload, only 112 will be given priority, i.e. other calls will be terminated automatically by the network until the cell can handle your 112 call. If your national pride made you call the good ole 110 (how silly is that, by the way) you'd get a busy signal.
Obviously, mobile networks don't overload on a regular basis and you are not always at a rural villa in Tuscany, but why even bother about different phone numbers when there is a single one that works guaranteed.
I work in telecommunications & broadcasting.
What flanner said is true, too.
But I was talking about mobiles not landlines.
Obviously, in your home country you will know your national emergency number. You can also dance naked on the roof if that is the local customs to attract help.
But if I was stuck somewhere in Greece or Portugal, I'd not bet my or other's lives on my mental capacity in a moment of stress to remember the local Greek or Portuguese emergency number if I know that 112 works anytime anywhere.
Some features of 112 will also work with the national emergency numbers, but you are not guaranteed that this will be the case.
For example, in Germany the national emergency number for the police is 110. But in case of mobile network overload, only 112 will be given priority, i.e. other calls will be terminated automatically by the network until the cell can handle your 112 call. If your national pride made you call the good ole 110 (how silly is that, by the way) you'd get a busy signal.
Obviously, mobile networks don't overload on a regular basis and you are not always at a rural villa in Tuscany, but why even bother about different phone numbers when there is a single one that works guaranteed.
