Do you call 911 for a badly broken arm?

[lovinmyboys]

I have only called 911 once and it was for a car accident I witnessed. As a kid it was drilled into me to only call if it was a life or death situation. 
 

A few days ago, ds was riding bikes with a friend and the friend fell off his bike and broke his arm very obviously. I called his mom and she wanted me to drive him to the hospital, so I did. I don’t know their insurance situation and I was obviously going to do what the mom wanted, but if I were in that situation, would it be ok to call 911? Is there a different way to get an ambulance? Because had it been my kid, I would have preferred an ambulance (he did eventually get to ride in one because they transferred him to the children’s hospital from the one I brought him to). 

We have had two broken bones in our family, but neither were so obviously bad and I just took them to the dr myself. For my kids, they had to manipulate it a bit before they were casted, but this boy had to go under general anesthesia. 

So, I guess my question is: is it ok to call for a non life threatening emergency? I have called the police non emergency line, but is there something like that for ambulances? 

[rebcoola]

It can be but I wouldn't if I was right there  and the ride to the hospital was reasonably close.   I would for a leg or something where they would need to be  carried.  

[prairiewindmomma]

It's a matter of discretion for us, personally.  

Personally, we go in ambulances only when we have no other feasible safe option.  So, for us re: broken arm bones---visible bone = ambulance. Anything else is generally a car ride.  Insurance usually fights the bill, and it's usually $1500-2000.  In our minds, we have to think we will die or not receive important treatment if we go by car....like commit that paying cash for it is worth the tradeoff of potentially being stuck with the bill.

[Slache]

I would call 911 and be open to the operator telling me to drive. Things can go very wrong very quickly with a broken bone.

[zimom]

I would not.  I would reserve a 911 call/ambulance if the patient can not be transported safely.    Two family members broke their legs in such a way that they could not be transported safely.  In those cases it would do more harm to try to move them ourselves plus I felt confident insurance would cover the ambulance fees, although we still had a hefty out of pocket.  

[KungFuPanda]

No. I could get him there faster than the ambulance could come to my house and THEN go to the hospital. I’d want the car there to come back home. I don’t consider a broken arm a 911 situation. 

[Paige]

I would only if it was an open break but probably not otherwise unless I couldn't control or subdue the person in order to drive safely. 

[Slache]

5 minutes ago, Happymomof1 said:

????

Unless you are talking a compound fracture and even then I'm not sure. My husband would say it is ok to drive the person. with a non-compound fracture for sure unless there was some kind of other injury..  Ambulances are VERY expensive.  My son broke his wrist, you could tell it was hanging strangely.  I drove home.  Hubby looked at it and we drove to the hospital a couple of hours later so he could operate.   Now a compound fracture like from a car accident where you could have other internal injuries, yes.  If you cannot move them for some reason. But a basketball, playground whatever normal injury.  No ambulance.

I was picturing a bad break. I would not call for what you're describing. I have never called an ambulance for one of my kids, but if a single hair on my chinny chin chin said to I wouldn't hesitate.

[Carrie12345]

There are a few variables I’d consider. I don’t know what “bad” means in this scenario.  If I had reason to think it was a major or full break, 911 for sure. I have basic first aid training that can probably handle immobilizing a minor fracture without issue, but I don’t want to move a limb or hit pot holes with something that has the potential to shift bone and hit nerves and other inside parts.

[lovinmyboys]

Thanks everyone! It seems the hive mostly agrees no ambulance. 
 

I didn’t really want to move him, but he was laying in the street so obviously he had to be moved. Thankfully, he moved himself. It is definitely the worst injury I had ever seen, but I have been lucky. It was the first experience for his mom as well. I think we both learned to just go straight to the children’s hospital instead of the closer one. 

 

 

 

[wendyroo]

I would probably base it primarily on the child's current disposition.  If they are walking, talking, bitch'n and moan'n then I would drive them.  If they are screaming, hysterical, confused, etc then I would call for an ambulance.  When was as a child, a friend hit a pothole near my home on his bike and tumbled down into a ditch.  He broke is arm badly, but he also lost consciousness for a couple minutes, was not entirely lucid, and was at the bottom of a deep ditch.  His parents wanted to drive him to the hospital (which was a significant distance because we were very rural) to save costs, but my parents strongly urged them to call an ambulance.

[Bambam]

My youngest broke her arm (both bones) rather badly in our back yard. I drove her to the hospital, but I must say putting the seat belt on her was an awful thing. 
At the outlying hospital associated ER, they didn't have an orthopedic guy there, so they sent us via ambulance to their main hospital. That very short ambulance ride was almost $1000.  

[Carrie12345]

6 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I will also say, I live within a 5 minute drive of an ER.  The truth is that for me, in situations where it would be safe to transport the injured person myself, I suspect that I could get the person to the ER faster myself then to call 911, wait for them to dispatch the ambulance, wait for it to get to my house and then get to the hospital. 

I’m minimum 30 minutes unless I’m driving like a bat out of hell, so I’m sure that’s part of my position.

[lovinmyboys]

9 minutes ago, Bambam said:

My youngest broke her arm (both bones) rather badly in our back yard. I drove her to the hospital, but I must say putting the seat belt on her was an awful thing. 
At the outlying hospital associated ER, they didn't have an orthopedic guy there, so they sent us via ambulance to their main hospital. That very short ambulance ride was almost $1000.  

Yes this boy broke both bones as well and he had to be transported by ambulance to the children’s hospital from the one I took him to, so in hindsight it seemed like I should have just called the ambulance in the first place.

Edited June 16, 2020 by lovinmyboys

[Ottakee]

9 minutes ago, lovinmyboys said:

I think we both learned to just go straight to the children’s hospital instead of the closer one. 

 

 

 

Yes.  You almost always want the children's hospital for a child....unless it is either so minor they don't need more than urgent care type treatment or it is so severe that they need to be stabilized at the closest hospital before a transfer to the Children's hospital.

[Bambam]

4 minutes ago, lovinmyboys said:

Yes this boy broke both bones as well and he had to be transported by ambulance to the children’s hospital from the one I took him too, so in hindsight it seemed like I should have just called the ambulance in the first place.

We ended up at a regular hospital at the outskirts of our metroplex. There is a well known and respected children's hospital in there - but the drive would have been probably 30-50 minutes. Luckily the regular hospital had a guy willing to handle the surgery to fix the arm. This was late evening on a Saturday too - so I'm really glad he was able to do the surgery. 

[Lecka]

I would not want to send a child in an ambulance alone, and would not want to leave my other kids alone or hope someone else could come to be with the other kids before the ambulance arrived.

So I would only want to call an ambulance if there was no other option.  
 

I have never been the person to ride in the ambulance.  I have only waited to be called an hour later to hear how things are and what I need to take to the hospital.  
 

It is miserable.  I never would do that by choice.  
 

Now — for all I know it would be just as bad for some other reason.

But when I have had a bad experience, I don’t want to do it again, and that is how I feel about ambulances.

I have never had a really bad experience taking someone to urgent care or an emergency room. 
 

So that is how I feel!  
 

I also feel like an ambulance means “things are really bad” and so I do not want to do it.  
 

Also I would worry about the child being scared of the ambulance came, compared to being driven.  I would think it would be much more frightening.

But I think if another person’s comfort level is totally the opposite and everything would seem better with an ambulance, I think that makes sense!  I think either way is fine and it would have been totally appropriate to call the ambulance for this.  I would assume there would be quicker treatment which is very positive.  

[gardenmom5]

 a lot depends if they can move, or if they're cooperative.  my mom fell in the park, and witnesses called 911 - who called me to convince her to let them transport her to the hospital.  (she dislocated her shoulder, but insisted she was fine.)   Some friends were in a rural area when she had a compound break of her leg, and they had to pack her up in the back of the car and drive three hours to get appropriate medical care.

I regret not calling 911 when I had an inner ear infection.  I couldn't move without vomiting. It was difficult for dh and ds to manhandle me to get me in a car, and it took three people to get me out and in a wheelchair once we reached the ER. my face was planted in a bucket the entire time.  they cleared a room and took me right back, and pumped me full of drugs that stabilized me.  drugs an aide unit would have had on board.

[BusyMom5]

No, I am an hour from a hospital, but I am also at least 20 minutes from an ambulance reaching me.  The fastest thing I could do would be to put kid in the car and drive.  Infact, if it was a bad injury, I would put them in my car and call the Air Evac and try to meet them at the air strip (I have the number in my phone for emergencies).  Honestly this is what they do here!  If it's bad, Air Evac.   A few years ago a person down the road from me apparently remembered my phone number and called in a panic b/c her son was kicked by a horse and unconsciousness.   SHe wanted me to get the Air Evac coming and new I'd have the number 🙂  They met them at the helipad.  I also called the local police who met them there.  When you live rural, you don't wait on an ambulance unless you know wyou ahve time!  You meet them half way unless you can't move the person due to injury.

[lovinmyboys]

28 minutes ago, Lecka said:

I would not want to send a child in an ambulance alone, and would not want to leave my other kids alone or hope someone else could come to be with the other kids before the ambulance arrived.

So I would only want to call an ambulance if there was no other option.  
 

I have never been the person to ride in the ambulance.  I have only waited to be called an hour later to hear how things are and what I need to take to the hospital.  
 

It is miserable.  I never would do that by choice.  
 

Now — for all I know it would be just as bad for some other reason.

But when I have had a bad experience, I don’t want to do it again, and that is how I feel about ambulances.

I have never had a really bad experience taking someone to urgent care or an emergency room. 
 

So that is how I feel!  
 

I also feel like an ambulance means “things are really bad” and so I do not want to do it.  
 

Also I would worry about the child being scared of the ambulance came, compared to being driven.  I would think it would be much more frightening.

But I think if another person’s comfort level is totally the opposite and everything would seem better with an ambulance, I think that makes sense!  I think either way is fine and it would have been totally appropriate to call the ambulance for this.  I would assume there would be quicker treatment which is very positive.  

I think this is it for me. The whole thing was pretty frightening for me, so if it happened again I wouldn’t want a repeat. I would want an ambulance with an adult who actually knew what they were doing. It all turned out ok, but in the moment with his arm like that, it was just awful. 
 

But, I have never ridden in an ambulance or called one for anyone, so I didn’t really know the costs or other downsides to calling. I was just thinking a more comfortable ride and someone to stabilize his arm more quickly and maybe even have something for the pain (and also to know which hospital to go to).

 

I have been a legal adult for 20 years now, but sometimes I don’t feel like it!

Edited June 16, 2020 by lovinmyboys

[Scarlett]

Where we live an ambulance  would be a last resort.  They have to take you to the closet hospital and just no.  We were downtown a Tulsa when my husband passed out and I thought he was dying.   an ambulance was called to go a few blocks and I fought that bill for months.
 

for a child who could get up and walk to the car?  Definitely I would drive him to the hospital.  But I would be freakin gout somewhat too.  Not gonna lie.   

[EKS]

That would absolutely be a reason to call 911 here.

[Plateau Mama]

My neighbor is a volunteer EMT.  When my daughter broke her arm I had my son run to his house and get him.  His first question was did I call 911.  And then he asked multiple times.  He got her situated in the car, arm braced and iced but he definitly would have wanted me to call 911 if he hadn't been there.

Edited June 16, 2020 by Plateau Mama

[Pawz4me]

Here if you call 911 for something like a broken bone or a fall EMS is dispatched but not usually an ambulance. They would evaluate the patient and then either help you load the patient into your own vehicle or, if they felt the patient's conditioned warranted it, they'd recommend calling an ambulance. My MIL had a nasty fall at Walmart a year or so ago, and someone called 911. And the fire department came and evaluated her. She didn't want to go to the hospital, so one of the firemen who knew her took her home.That's a long way of saying yes, if I had any doubt I'd call 911. It doesn't have to be a life threatening situation. The first responders around here truly want to help people, and calling 911 doesn't mean you definitely need an ambulance.

[sassenach]

DD’s best friend had a badly broken arm on my watch. No, unless there is some other symptom of something very wrong (loss of consciousness, signs of internal bleeding), I don’t consider it an ambulance situation. 
 

When dh had an accident that severed his ulnar nerve, we called 911. They checked him out and said he was safe for me to transport and suggested that we not take on the bill for ambulance service. They left and I drove him to the ER myself. That ended up being a life-altering injury, but it wasn’t life-threatening and therefore didn’t require emergency transport. Injuries can be serious and yet not ambulance-worthy. 

[Pawz4me]

15 minutes ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

I really think it depends.  I live in a pretty urban area with lots of hospitals.  Because there are two nationally known children's hospitals within 45 minutes of my house, the doctors and anesthesiologists at the community hospital down the street don't do pediatric surgeries.

I think it's pretty much the same here. We have a university children's hospital, so all the pediatricians and GPs seem to send kids there for just about everything. Obviously if there wasn't a children's hospital nearby things would be different. I don't think kids necessarily *need* a children's hospital for most things, but if you've got one available . . .sure.

[bolt.]

(Canadian answer) I would call 911 if I felt unsure and concerned that the injury might be severe enough to be considered an emergency. If I felt medium-okay about it, I would call the dial-a-nurse line instead (they would definitely tell me to call 911 if that was the right thing to do).

In either case, I would do whatever I was advised to do. Our reality is that the operator makes a lot of the decisions based on a set of assessment criteria. Meaning: they aren't going to agree to send an ambulance based on my preference alone (though my preference would be taken seriously if I expressed one) nor would they refrain from sending an ambulance that they thought was necessary. If an ambulance wasn't necessary, they would stay on the line with me and do other useful things like alert the hospital prior to our arrival and pre-do some of the initial check in and triage in connection with the hospital.

[J-rap]

It wouldn't even occur to me to call an ambulance for that, or for anything that wasn't either extremely urgent or life-threatening, and assuming I could safely get the person into my car to drive them.

Edited June 17, 2020 by J-rap

[kiwik]

Possibly.  Here ambulances are cheap and the fee is a request not a charge.  I think I paid $50 both times ds13 had febrile convulsions.  (Once he was at daycare which was actually on the hospital grounds and the trip was about 100m).  I can see the hospital from my house though so I may just take them.  It would depend on whether I could fit all the kids safely in my car, whether I was worried about concussion etc.  The problem is if you are driving you can't react quickly to an unforseen complication.

[sweet2ndchance]

Ds had a seizure in the grocery store. We called 911 because his breathing was funny and he was a non-verbal toddler and couldn't tell us anything.

Last summer, at age 6.5yo and plenty verbal, I drove him to the nearest hospital when he burned himself badly. He still rode in an ambulance as he was transferred to children's hospital several hours away.

When dh was young, about 10yo, he got a badly broken leg playing pop warner football. His femur was snapped in half and his foot was stuck in his helmet. 911 was called but they were told that all available ambulances were attending other emergencies and they might consider transporting him themselves. So he was loaded into one of the parent's minivans where he could be laid down instead of made to sit up and that's how he was transported to the hospital even when an ambulance technically would have been safer. Luckily, it was only about a 15 minute drive to the hospital.

[Melissa B]

If you are uncertain, you can always call an ambulance in order to have a paramedic arrive and assess the situation and then choose to drive the patient to the hospital yourself.

[Bookwoman]

When I was 10 I fell while roller skating in my neighborhood and broke my arm. I broke both bones in my forearm so while there was no bone through the skin, my arm was obviously broken and hanging down in the middle. The neighbor called my Mom. Mom tried to get me to stand up so she could drive me to the hospital but I was afraid to move my arm. She called an ambulance and they came and splinted my arm before transport. I probably could have been convinced to stand and get in a car after some hysterics, but I’m glad that there was another option. 
 

My Mom mentioned this incident to me a few years back but she insisted that my bone broke through the skin. It didn’t, but that tells me how gruesome she though the accident was 😂

[wathe]

I haven't read the whole thread.  I'm in Canada and I have some medical training

I probably wouldn't for my own kid, even for an open fracture or pulseless extremity.

1) I can absolutely get to the hospital faster, probably a lot faster.  It's going to take a while for EMS to get to my semi rural location, asses, load up and go.

2) I know that EMS is going to immobilize, manage pain, and transport.  I can do that with pillows and pills and a car. 

3) I know that EMS is not going to actually treat the fracture - even for a pulseless limb. 

4) I know that arriving by EMS does not influence triage once at hospital.

Exceptions:  If I can't safely seat the child in the car with seatbelt (femur fracture), of course I'm calling EMS.  If I'm concerned about other injuries (multi-system trauma) then I 'm calling EMS.  If it's someone else's kid, my threshold to call EMS would be a lot lower and guided by parent preference.

I would go to my local hospital.  Canadian Emerg docs are generally very competent and can reduce most fractures (this is bread and butter for them, especially during ski season), and arrange out-patient ortho follow-up.  Ortho would only be called if the case had to go to the OR emergently (open #, pulseless limb that the ED doc tried and couldn't reduce).  General ortho manages probably 99%+ of operative paeds cases here; it would be very rare for otherwise healthy kids to be sent to tertiary care for a limb fracture.   Peads hospital is 150km away and is a true tertiary care centre.  No-one in my area would even think  of bypassing the local hospital to go to the paeds hospital unless they have a complex-care kid who is known there and actually needs specialized medical care.   That's a system difference, I think - Canadians use less specialist care and more generalist care.  (ie primary care paediatricians, primary care obs/gyn aren't really a thing in most parts of Canada.  Family doctors handle a lot)