But again... if you're that badly dehydrated and can't even keep very small occasional sips of water down, that's an additional factor that makes it no longer a simple 24 hours of d&v. If you're all alone and can't stand up and you're peeing blood, that's more additional factors that make it no longer a simple 24 hours of d&v. Making it entirely reasonable and forgivable to call for help, even making it understandable that a person might dial 999 instead of hunting out the numbers for their GP or NHS Direct. No problem with that at all. The gobsmacking bit, for me, is that bit where the medically trained people arrive at the patient's house, check them over, listen to what they have to say, establish that there aren't any special or severe circumstances and that the patient is better off at home, and give their professional advice accordingly - and the so, so ill patient starts stamping their feet and demanding to be taken to hospital for no good clinical reason.