This regularly happens in our ambulance service too, however, I went to a patient in the early hours of this morning who had 10 minute contractions, and her baby was prompty born on the bathroom floor! (a healthy baby boy and my first delivery). The sort of job that makes it all worthwhile.

Maybe you should put in a tip jar. ;)

hate to nitpick, but I vaguely remember from when my friend and his partner had their baby - they didn't have a car either, but they'd been told that before leaving the hospital they had to not only have a car seat, but demonstrate that they could strap the baby into it properly and then fix it into a mockup "passenger seat" at the maternity unit for that purpose.

I think the idea was to do with not taking the newborn on the bus during the first week, or accounting for getting lifts everywhere from doting friends/relatives who suddenly want to come and coo now they know what colour outfits to buy.

Fairy snuff.

totally in agreement though on poopy callers who don't need an ambulance and don't even say "thanks for the ride".

Anyone, be they maternity, pyschy, orthopods, surgical ... anyone taking the proverbial of the ambulance service, which at the moment is free, is exploitational.

As you may, or may not know I have a strong link with psychy care, and even when a very good friend of mine, who is very, very ill at the moment, called an ambulance because he was genuinely suicidal and slitting his wrists with a razor blade, got the short end of my tongue. He had other people who could take him into hospital. Harsh maybe, but we need to keep the ambulance services free for r.t.a's, etc, etc ....

Glenda