This guide describes ambulances in general. What the ambulance for your trip carries, and who travels with the patient, is confirmed by our dispatcher before you book.
Call an ambulance at once if someone has chest pain or pressure that lasts more than a few minutes, or comes with sweating, breathlessness or pain spreading to the arm or jaw. Do not wait to see if it passes.
This page is general information, not medical advice. In an emergency do this: call, share your location and the patient’s condition. Then follow the dispatcher and the crew. In a life-threatening emergency in Bangladesh you can also call 999.
Warning signs
- Chest pain, pressure or tightness that does not go away
- Pain that spreads to the arm, shoulder, neck, jaw or back
- Shortness of breath
- Cold sweat, nausea or light-headedness
- Unusual tiredness or discomfort without clear cause. These can be the only signs in some people, including women and people with diabetes.
If you are unsure, call. A dispatcher would rather take a call that turns out not to be serious.
Why call instead of driving
- The crew starts checking the heart the moment they arrive.
- They can tell the hospital you are coming, so the team is ready.
- If the patient’s condition changes on the road, trained people are with them.
What to tell the dispatcher
- Where you are. Area, road and a landmark. Say if the building has a lift or the patient is upstairs.
- Who is unwell. Age and what they feel.
- Known conditions. Heart disease, diabetes, blood pressure.
- A phone number that stays on.
- The hospital, if a doctor has already named one.
While you wait
- Stay with the patient.
- Open the door and gate so the crew can come straight in.
- Keep their medicines and any hospital papers together.
- Keep the phone line free.
What happens next
The crew checks the patient and may record an ECG, then moves them to hospital. See what an ambulance can check for a heart attack and what a cardiac ambulance carries. For a transfer between hospitals, we run an ICU ambulance service. Our guide on what to know before calling an ambulance covers the call itself.
Call 01919-339689 any time. A dispatcher answers 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
