JEDDAH — Paramedics complained about the difficult situations they find themselves in when they respond to emergency calls, a local newspaper reported. The families of some patients refuse to let paramedics perform preliminary examinations and ask them to simply transport their relatives to hospital. They sometimes respond to calls that do not require paramedics, such as non-urgent cases where patients can be transported by their families to hospital themselves. Such cases result in preventing paramedics from attending to cases that urgently need their attention. Some families feel embarrassed by ambulances, and ask the drivers to turn off the siren and to leave quickly before their neighbors notice. A paramedic said that he attended to a medical case but the patient died shortly after his arrival. The ambulance returned to the station and shortly after relatives of the patient stormed the station and asked that they transfer him to a hospital. Regulations do not allow ambulances to transport bodies to hospitals, but in this case they had no choice. One of the major problems paramedics face is when drivers block ambulances from reaching their destination and ignore the siren. A paramedic said he once attended to a mentally ill patient. He and his colleagues put him inside the ambulance and were taking to police who were at the scene. While they were talking, the patient moved into the driver seat and drove off. The ambulance was chased by the police and was finally stopped after it caused a number of accidents. — SG
