Help us, help you

Responders car

Before you ever have to dial 999 have you thought about whether the emergency services can find you?

Make sure you are found

Every day the South East Coast Ambulance Service answers over 1,500 emergency and routine calls.  Out of these a number of properties and patients are very difficult to find.

As responders we aim to get to you within 8 minutes, unlike the ambulance service, our vehicles are normal run of the mill cars with no special blue lights or sirens.  Instead we have magnetic door, window or roof signs  to make us easy to spot so help can be even quicker.

There are a number of things you could also do to help us and the ambulance find you quickly:

  • Stay with the patient until the ambulance crew arrives and call back on 999 if their condition or location changes.
  • Get someone to look out for and alert the ambulance crew or community responder.
  • If it is dark, turn on all your house lights and pull back the curtains, if the location is not obvious send someone to wait or place a torch or item at the end of the drive.
  • Lock away any family pets as these may get in the way.

Help us today

There are also a number of things you could do today to help ambulance crews in your area:

  • Check that your house name or number is clearly visable from the roadside - this is the cause of most ambulance delays.
  • Always keep an up to date medical form such as Message in a Bottle (a plastic container kept in your fridge). To find out more about Message in a bottle contact us or your local Lions group or ask one of our CFRs.