I've had to call the ambulance a few times for help in getting my elderly father (with complex health issues) back up again when he had fallen. Was it an emergency? No, but, even between us, my elderly mother and I couldn't get him back up again. And, apart from when he fell outside and broke his scapula, he always fell in the wee hours and no neighbours would appreciate being knocked up at 2am to get the 'old fella' back on his feet again! Being rural we couldn't exactly rotate between the neighbours either.
We checked with 999 about moving him (he always fell in an awkward spot so breathing was compromised or onto a hard (and very cold!) floor), After extensively questioning me and my father, the advice was usually - try and move him into a more comfortable position (he never liked that part!!) and cover him with blankets - we also checked if it was OK to put a pillow under his head.
The dispatcher would also apologise profusely that it would be (usually) about a 5 hour wait for a non-emergency crew to get out to us. We always reassured them that we knew we weren't an emergency and the wait was fine - the crew would get to us when they could and we told 999 that if his condition changed (it never did) we'd call back. Then we'd spend the rest of the night sitting around near my father, chatting - or letting him doze - until a crew could get to us. If there had been another option for "helping old dears back up again after a fall" we would have used it.
We also had to ring 999 for emergencies too - my father was in heart failure and kidney failure. And, after midnight one day, my mother developed severe pneumonia in what seemed like a matter of minutes - struggling to breathe, too weak to speak or move etc, etc.
BTW, whether it was an emergency or not, my mother would always ask if we should've called 111 instead... Not one of the attending crew thought that 111 was any good... Although I should point out that this was 10 years or so ago
I also had to call out an ambulance when I found an elderly neighbour I used to check on collapsed on his floor. The doors were bolted so I couldn't get in to check on him. As soon as 999 heard this they also dispatched a fire crew (who turned up about 2 minutes before the ambulance) to gain access. Both ambulance crew and fire were brilliant. After forcing the (wooden) door the fire crew hung around to fix it and repair the bolt. While the ambulance crew had to try and assess my neighbour around me - he had become delirious, convinced he was going to fall sideways (in a chair with arms) and wouldn't let go of my arm. We never knew what had happened but concluded he'd fallen (and, as it turned out, broken his femur) while making his dinner the previous evening. He had one of those emergency buttons but refused to wear it...
So, big cheer and huge thanks to our Ambulance Service (and the fire brigade!). To my mind, they are amazing.
Would I call an ambulance if I was ambulatory and compos mentis? No. At my speed it is a half hour walk to the nearest bus stop and I'd have to change buses, but I'd still get there under my own steam somehow - a trip to the hospital is around £30 by taxi so if there weren't buses I'd try walking there first!
If I can walk and my brain is still operating normally (!!) and I'm not "bleeding out" I don't class it as an emergency and, despite the 'helping old biddies up' bit, I class the ambulance service as emergency only.
