Worry over 999 response times

“Kidwelly is in a rural setting. It does not have the sufficient population to require an Ambulance station permanently. This is why the Amb service is encouraging first responders etc in rural areas. Although they only have basic skills, in a cardiac arrest scenario, they can mean the difference between life and death.
People have to realise that there are only a certain amount of Ambulances on duty at one time and they are stretched to the limit. 8 minutes is the TARGET for an immediately life threatening call. It DOESN"T mean every time you call 999 you should have an Ambulance in 8 minutes!!!
Calls get triaged and if your situation, however dire it may appear to you is not regarded as life threatening, then you may have to wait up to an hour.
You may also be referred to NHS direct who may decide that an Ambulance isn't necessary and arrange for a DR to visit or just tell you to take a Paracetamol.”

“Have to agree with Neathboy here. The ambulance has to come either from Llanelli or Carmarthen and it takes pretty fast driving in a vehicle not built for speed to arrive in 21 minutes.”

“To be honest i think 21 min's is not bad. It all depends on the time of day, and what the tragic is like. I guess if you want one to come quicker move to a big town or city, there is a price to pay for living in the middle of nowhere and this is it.”

“People need to know and accept that that the way The Welsh Ambulance Service responds to calls has changed. Less importance is being placed on arriving at the scene within 8 minutes and more importance being placed on the patient's clinical outcome. In the past if someone made a 999 call and the Ambulance arrived within 8 minutes, then that call was deemed to have met the necessary targets - regardless of whether the patient lived or died!

Now 999 calls to the Ambulance service are assessed in a different way and available ambulances are dispatched to callers in most need first – so someone reporting chest pains, severe loss of blood or an unconscious patient will get an ambulance before someone reporting an incident where the patient is conscious, breathing unaided and not loosing blood, which may mean they will wait more than 8 minutes for an ambulance to arrive.”

“And not a word from the Welsh Assembly, who are in control of our health service. The only way to save lives, is to get them out of power and vote Plaid otherwise you will see more lives being lost.”