In another vein though, was working on a hospital switchboard at night to have someone ring me saying "I'm having difficulty breathing". When I suggested to him that if he were truly having difficulty breathing he should ring for an ambulance not the hospital he declared that he didn't need an ambulance just the hospital. Surely, it's either serious enough to have the ambulance in or it isn't and he shouldn't be wasting people's time. Ringing the hospital for advice is a big no - no because we can't say anything because a) most of us aren't doctors and b) if we did say something we'd get sued when that person neglected to mention some salient detail. And another thing, I'm getting annoyed with people who think that ambulances are dispatched from the hospital... it's like they think ambulances are there only as a ferry service. I remember telling someone once that the crew would actually do a lot of the treatment before they get to the hospital and they wouldn't have it. Now maybe I'm misinformed, but evidently not as much as these people... I think it's time to edcuate people better /rant