“A close one was gasping” - instead of help, the woman received humiliation and mockery from the ambulance 0 7

Caring for loved ones is one of the most natural human reactions. But sometimes the attempt to help a relative turns into shock and pain. This is the situation described by a woman who called the emergency service 113 at night due to breathing problems of her relative.

According to her, the dispatcher listened to the situation and decided to send an ambulance team. However, instead of support and sympathy, the woman faced humiliation. "I never complain, usually I try to swallow it and forget, but this time I want to express my pain. A close person had breathing problems at night, I called 113 to explain the situation and ask if an ambulance was needed. The dispatcher said yes, it was needed, but when the team arrived, they stated that there was no threat to life and literally mocked me for not being able to assess the seriousness of the situation myself," the woman said.

She tried to explain to the medics that she was not a specialist and could not accurately determine the patient's condition: "I said that I am not a medic, I was just trying to help. I did not demand that they come — I was consulting with the dispatcher, and he decided to send the team after asking questions."

However, one of the medics, according to her, reacted very harshly: "He yelled at me that 113 is not a consultation phone and that they are not clowns."

The woman admitted that instead of help and support, she received rude and humiliating treatment. "It was terrible — I was trying to help a person, and in response, I received insults. I acted according to the rules published on the National Health Service website, which states that in case of doubts, one can call 113."

Later, she reread the official instruction "How to properly call an emergency medical team?" and confirmed that she acted correctly — in case of doubts about a threat to life, one should indeed call 113.

After the publication of this story on social media and numerous comments, representatives of the Emergency Medical Service (NMPD) responded to the woman, emphasizing that in emergencies, she did everything right: "If there is a threat to life or doubts about it, we always urge to call emergency numbers 113 or 112. In less serious cases at night, one can call the consultation number for family doctors — 66016001. The medics will listen and give advice, and if help from a team is needed, they will connect with dispatcher 113."

The agency also asked the woman to provide detailed information so that the actions of the specific team could be checked: "Please send us privately the address, date, and approximate time of the call. This can be done through the form on our website," the NMPD message stated.

The director of the NMPD service, Liene Cipule, commented on the incident on the social network X, emphasizing that such treatment of patients is unacceptable: "This is unacceptable. A patient should report to the service with their negative experience so that we can find and evaluate the specific call. At first glance, the communication of the medical staff was indeed inappropriate. But to conduct a conversation, we need to establish who exactly it was among the 2000 employees. It is impossible to do this after one post on Facebook."