Apologies for the poor writing Tom's too good to imitate... My name's Gill I've just woken up in bed to the sounds of shouting downstairs, Dave, my husband is not in bed with me and I'm suddenly feeling very scared. I get up and slowly creep down the stairs, I hear a scream and I know its Dave, I start running down the stairs. At the bottom someone I don't know pushes past me and runs out of the front door. I'm panicked now and my heart is pounding. I find Dave on the floor of the kitchen, he's moaning and as I hug him I feel dampness on his chest. I turn on the light and there's blood over his chest, its dripping onto the floor. I grap the phone, they ask me where I live, I can't remember, they tell me! I say Dave's dieing, they tell me to put our dog in another room. We don't have a dog I start shouting I just want help, yes we're the only ones here. I wait, time passes, Dave's moans grow less frequent. I ring back, they say the Ambulance is near by, but they're waiting for the Police. I say again it's just me and Dave but they don't come. Dave is feeling cold now when I touch him, he's stopped groaning, I think he's gone. They find me, still holding him tightly, covered in a blanket of red and sobbing hysterically. Months pass, I've complained to the ambulance service and to my MP and to the local papers, I fill my days writing to people but I only get the same answer "The safety of our staff is paramount, but we have learnt lessons from this sad event... I don't dissagree with the policy of safety first, I'll always advise crews to seek a RVP and wait for the police, but they don't have an 8 minute requirement so it's worth pointing out that there are two sides to every call, that sometimes even 8 minutes call-connect is too late, and that people do die waiting for help to reach them and just because they don't wear green and we don't know them, doesn't mean they aren't loved and missed. I hope I never see an ambulance crew killed or seriously injured, and I hope we don't lose sight of the people who can be saved and aren't. The world of prehospital care isn't black and white and sometimes there are no answers just very poor compramises