Luckily, this has never come up, but sometimes I wonder... What if one of the kids needed to go to the ER, but you didn't have access to a car with carseats? Would you drive them in a car without carseats or call an ambulance? Would it be weird to call an ambulance for something usually not ambulance-worthy just as a substitute for carseats - or would it be just the normal thing to do? (Of course, you'd much rather just have the car with carseats at home, but suppose for whatever reason it wasn't available.)
My friend is an EMT and told me once that it's perfectly fine to call for an ambulance in situations where you cannot drive yourself to the hospital, even if it's not a dire emergency. In my case, I had sprained/twisted my ankle, which, though painful, I knew wasn't a serious break or an emergency but I could not drive myself. He chided me after calling someone out to take me because he said it would have been ok to get an ambulance in that situation. I think not having carseats is a similar problem and they'd be ok. It can't hurt to ask dispatch, and call, anyway.
A very good question and something DH and I talked about when I went back to work. We only have one set of car seats and sometimes I need to take my car. So we decided if there were an emergency 911 would be called. We agreed that it's safer for them to be in an ambulance rather than not in a car seat while he's trying to rush through the city streets to the hospital.
If it's something that couldn't wait for the person with the car seats to get home, it's ambulance worthy. Also, here in SC, it's okay to not have the child in the right restraint or in the front seat if there's no other way to handle it. I personally would avoid an ambulance except for life threatening situations because of the cost. If I couldn't wait for the car seats, I'd buckle them in the regular belt and hope for the best. But before I did that, I'd check with my neighbors that have small children to see if I could borrow a seat.
That's what I'm thinking, too. DH can only fit two carseats in his car, so if I go out and leave all three kiddos home with him, I often take his car, so he has access to mine, which has three seats in it. But, I hate driving his car, so sometimes I just take mine...if he had to, he could put K&K in the seats, and just wing it with Nadia, as she's old/big enough for one emergency ride without a seat.
I think it's good to have a plan like this. Most times when I have a babysitter, I have all the carseats with me! So I tell them, if there's an emergency call 9-1-1 and then call me!
If it was something relatively minor but still ER-necessary (like a sprained ankle, or a cut that needed stitches but wasn't gushing blood), I'd borrow our neighbor's car (or her carseat) and leave the un-hurt child with her. But we're just lucky to have a next-door neighbor with small children. Barring that, I'd call an ambulance, and call DH and/or a friend to meet us at the hospital.
The one time that we had an ER worthy visit, my van was in the shop. (I was actually preparing the triple stroller in front of the house for the walk down there). The twins were 2 and Liam was 5 months old. I walked into the kitchen to find blood everywhere. Meghan's finger was cut and there was lots of blood. I called my husband, who called 911. I then called my sil and she was there before the ambulance to watch the boys. Meghan still talks about it now! So, I would say it is fine to call an ambulance if you don't have another way to get there.
