[Sundae]

I can tell you a little bit about the ambulance side of things in the UK.

The 999 call goes through to an operator(s) whose sole job is to put the call through to the relevant service - Fire, Ambulance or Police. Actually, I think the Coastguard is the fourth emergency service, but living so far inland I've no experience of it personally.

The call will then be diverted to a local office, although as thime has gone on, the offices have been less and less local. Mum used to work at the end of Dunsham Lane (10 minutes walk?). Now I think the office is in Northampton. 40 odd miles away.

When the call came through as an emergency (ie a 999 call) a light went off on the top of the consoles. The caller was then dealt with by a member of staff in the office, who had to get as many details from them as possible. They then decided which ambulance was closest/ free/ properly equipped to handle the nature of the call and contacted them on the radio. It was all done manually and required excellent knowledge of the roads and area and meticulous paperwork.

Note - my information is probably well out of date by now!

In the UK, even if the staff suspect it is a hoax call, or know the caller as a hypochondriac, the ambulance still has to attend. Mum said some of the most upsetting calls were when some old dear was on the phone trying to hold back tears and apologising for calling about their husband turning blue when Mum knew she'd sent an ambulance on a call to someone who probably only had bad indigestion.

She used to work shifts - 07.00-15.00, 13.00-21.00, 15.00-23.00 and 23.00-07.00. I could never get my head round what she was working when, so there used to be a big shift chart on the wall. I'd look ahead to days like birthdays and such and just cringe if it was nights. That was the worst shit in so many ways, and she used to be very difficult to live with. We had a couple of miserable Christmases when the shifts fell in the wrong pattern.

Dad worked shifts too, and I got older I might be the only person up for her to talk to when she got home at 21.30 (my sister has always been early to bed). I remember her coming home one night telling me about a Police motorbike fatality where they had to collect what they could in plastic bags... And of a woman split right up to her bellybutton, with everything below the waist lying on the road.

I'm not really sure how helpful I was to her. I was a selfish teenager. The stories have stayed with me though.

Still, at least I was the only call-centre member who never had to stop and think about the call sigh alphabet - we learned it alongside Mum when I was 11.