Paphos Life

There have been two instances in the last year when we have had to call an ambulance to the house. On both occasions it took an age for them to arrive as we live in the middle of a field, down a track. There is no real address.

I had great hopes for the “112 Cyprus” app, but it just does not work reliably.

Our daughter recommended “What Three Words” which apparently plots your position to a square metre, but this apparently requires the receiving phone to have this set up.

Are we missing something obvious? The thought of another emergency without medical help is too awful to contemplate. Last week my wife had to leave me semi-conscious and bleeding to guide the ambulance to our house. She was understandably beside herself.

An amusing anecdote to end on: at the time of my fall I was only wearing swimming trunks, and the paramedics covered me with a white sheet on the trolley. For some unknown reason they pulled the sheet over my head, and took me out to the ambulance. My wife saw this and thought I had died, as did neighbours about a hundred metres away. They raced down to comfort the bereaved widow.

I am happy to report “The report of my death was an exaggeration”.

Try to learn how to send a pin location on google maps, when you call the ambulance they will ask for it and then find you quicker.

This is a big worry to me as well Mac as I am now left on my own but with a dog in my house.. Like you I don't have any street name and no house number, just the name of a villa a

However, just over a year ago a Cypriot man and I became firm friends. He was born in the UK but had Cypriot parents, so he speaks the language fluently..

If I need an ambulance now I think I would ring him and ask him to contact them, and give them detailed directions.. He has been to my house and so he knows exactly where I live and could give directions in the Cypriot Language.

The point I am trying to make is, do you have any friends, with the Cypriot language, that you could contact in an emergency and get them to give directions upon your behalf..

To lessen the chance of accidents, my relatives have banned me from doing dangerous work like getting ladders out and climbing on the roof..

Let's hope that with care neither you or your wife will need the ambulance services in the near future

When I moved to a more rural area I visited the nearest hospital and spoke to the Medical Director about various emergency scenarios because I have a very limited time to get medical help should I have an episode of anaphylactic shock - the main worry being how to find me when at home!

He told me to find out the GPS co-ordinates (Latitude and Longitude) for my residence and to keep the details written down next to the landline phone. I also keep a record of these co-ordinates on my mobile phone in a text document.

The emergency services can then enter these co-ordinates into their Satnav system and it is accurate to within a few meters (5-10 metres).
Also much quicker to recite over the phone than a physical address and no confusion and easier for the person the other end to take down the details.

EG According to Google the co-ordinates for
Paphos is 34.7754° N, 32.4218° E I read this out as: 34.7754 Degrees North. 32.4218 Degrees East
Kathikas is 34.9127° N, 32.4255° E
Droushia is 34.9628° N, 32.3976° E
Argaka is 35.0657° N, 32.4891° E I read this out as: 35.0657 Degrees North. 32.4891 Degrees East

Also helps to give your house Name or Number for visual identification (that is if you have one displayed outside).

N = North / E = East / the little circle refers to Degrees

Viber is big in Cyprus, and you can send people your location using that. It may not be very accurate though, so check where it thinks you are before hitting send.

While walking in the Pomos area a few months ago, one of our group twisted her ankle. Two of us had to walk several km to our car and guide the ambulance back to our friend because they couldn’t follow a Google Maps PIN. They were driving a 4WD so that wasn’t the problem. The track was wide and easily able to take vehicles. Took us hours to race back to the road on foot so we could guide the ambulance. We could never get to the bottom of why they would not use the PIN we sent them. Anyone know?

Another way perhaps is that the location of every buildings' electricity meter has a reference number on the electricity bill or the number of your electricity meter. One wonders if that could be used? Would mean linking emergency system to electricity system. Can the Cyprus emergency services trace you if you are using your mobile phone for the call.

Is there a service available which offers you sort of a panic button which triggers an alarm in a call center which has your place of residence and your phone number on record? In Germany this is offered by organisations like the red cross etc. If you push the button and don´t answer the phone, they´ll send someone to check on you (problem with my grandmother was that she pushed it when she felt bored ). Maybe they are offering it in Cyprus as well?

We certainly have the personal button alarms in the UK, I have one, and test it every month, works very well. Maybe someone could start a call centre in Cyprus, at a fee of course.

Safe at Home Medical Alert Service https://www.mccareathomecyprus.com/medical-alarms/

I have put the name of our development of 10 plots on google maps. It has been useful when we have deliveries as we no longer have to go down to Olivios to meet them.
Our alarm was fitted by SAS and we have a panic button which can be used in the case of a burglary or medical emergency. They also train first responders and we are lucky to have one who lives close. We pay for monitoring but we think it is well worth it in case of a medical emergency or burglary. I've read of cases where the first responders have stayed until the ambulance arrived and have helped out with transport.

Tuppence wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:24 pm Safe at Home Medical Alert Service https://www.mccareathomecyprus.com/medical-alarms/

Interesting. I did not know of this alarm service. Do you use it?

Thanks to all for your contributions. We sents a Pin location to an ambulance but they said their gps wasn’t working. It works for deliveries but not for them apparently.

sunspot wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 7:25 am

Tuppence wrote: ↑Sun Sep 22, 2024 2:24 pm Safe at Home Medical Alert Service https://www.mccareathomecyprus.com/medical-alarms/

Interesting. I did not know of this alarm service. Do you use it?

No, we don't have need of it yet .............

Many moons ago before retirement I worked for a health, care & local community information service & old habits die hard for researching & keeping a note of useful, & sometimes useless, information.

MacManiac wrote: ↑Tue Sep 24, 2024 11:49 am Thanks to all for your contributions. We sents a Pin location to an ambulance but they said their gps wasn’t working. It works for deliveries but not for them apparently.

That sounds like BS to me. Earlier this summer one of my neighbours collapsed and I had to call for an ambulance. I rang the ambulance control centre and the first thing they asked me to do was send a location pin on Viber.

Don’t forget, as a Mac Maniac, if you have an Apple Watch, since version 4 they have an automatic fall detection function which can be used to trigger a emergency to call to a registered emergency contact - doesn’t necessarily cover all situations but it’s a step in the right direction. More details at the following link:


https://support.apple.com/en-us/108896

Ian

I’m sorry but it is not BS. On 22nd October, 2023, my wife broke her hip, nearly died and - despite me sending the correct Pin - and with my Cypriot landlord later speaking to 112 in Greek - they could not find our house. A second ambulance was dispatched and we could see them both driving around the upper village for ages. My landlord was apoplectic with rage and he questioned the crews who told him - in no uncertain terms - their GPS was not working. If that sounds like BS …

Understand your problem try [email protected] they send someone out to your house and record the route and details of difficulty of how to get to you we have been members since we arrived you do pay for the service and piece of mind.

wilky wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 12:48 am Understand your problem try [email protected] they send someone out to your house and record the route and details of difficulty of how to get to you we have been members since we arrived you do pay for the service and piece of mind.

I used to be a member of this Ambulance Company and have used them quite a few times over the years.
But there are times when they have had problems finding our house..

wilky wrote: ↑Wed Sep 25, 2024 12:48 am Understand your problem try [email protected] they send someone out to your house and record the route and details of difficulty of how to get to you we have been members since we arrived you do pay for the service and piece of mind.

Unfortunately they are based forty-five to fifty minutes away from us which is not ideal in an emergency.

As mentioned at the beginning. I still think the best way is to have a (Cypriot)? friend who speaks the language and knows where you live.. You can contact them by phone and they can give the directions