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University Health Service
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In an emergency

In the case of an emergency call 999 immediately (or 112).

An emergency is broadly defined as: a life-threatening medical problem or a problem which must be dealt with very quickly to preserve or prevent the loss of life or significant long-term illness or disability.

Using either the emergency services (ambulance, fire and police) or Emergency Department at the hospital without due cause means:
• others with emergencies may die or suffer life-changing consequences due to unavailability of resources;
• putting others lives at risk by the unnecessary use of emergency response, which inherently carries additional risks of a road traffic accident;
• is enormously expensive for the NHS - the call out cost for an ambulance is over £300 per call out

There are a finite number of ambulances, if they are attending a non-emergency, they are not available to attend a real emergency.

Abuse of the Emergency Department at the hospital is also very expensive: it costs the NHS £100's every time someone visits ED. Therefore, we ask that you think very carefully before visiting them, when another service would be able to help you better.

If you need an ambulance, remember to:
1. be prepared to give accurate information about your location or detailed directions on how to find the incident if it is not easily identifiable;

2. be able to give the operator details about the casualty, such as are they breathing, are they bleeding, do they have chest pain, are they unable to move, speak or respond, what are they trapped by or in;

3. if possible, send someone to the nearest road to help direct the ambulance crew to the casualty

4. follow the life-savings instructions given by the operator to maintain the person's life until help arrives with you

It is very unlikely that you will need to request an ambulance or visit the Emergency Department during your time as a student.