A man reportedly died due to the backlog caused by record-breaking ambulance delays. The incident reportedly occurred in the north eastern suburbs, where a triple-0 call was made for help after an elderly individual fell ill.
Unfortunately, a paramedic crew was not able to save the man.
The nearest ambulance station is about 1km away from Campbelltown. The tragic incident occurred in July, during a month when the number of hours lost due to ramp increased significantly.
It is believed that the call for help was initially listed as a priority three, then it was upgraded to priority two, and then to priority one, which is the most urgent.
It occurred during a time when the South Australian Ambulance Service was dealing with a high demand and an extended ramp.
In response to questions from the Advertiser, the agency released a statement, but it was not able to provide additional details about the incident.
The agency noted that a delay in responding to a call regarding a patient in an aged care facility led to the death of the individual.
The incident has been referred to the coroner, and the agency is not able to provide further details regarding the matter.
The death occurred in July, during a month when various records were broken. One of these included the longest person in the world to be stuck in a car park for over 12 hours.
On the same day, other patients were placed on the priority list for 12 hours, 11 hours, and 9.5 hours.
According to Leah Watkins, paramedics reportedly felt like they were playing Russian roulette when they were stuck in car parks with unresponsive emergency calls and caring for people in pain. They wondered if the person would still be alive when they finally got to their destination.
The members of the union are gravely concerned about the situation that they are experiencing, with delays in the community and in getting critically ill patients to hospitals.
This is the reason why they are fighting for a rapid ambulance offload.
Paramedics are trained to respond to emergencies, and they should not be held back when dealing with people in need.
This is why it is important that policies are enforced to ensure that the availability of ambulances is maintained.
Health Minister Chris Picton has expressed his condolences to the man’s family.
He said that he would ensure that the agencies involved would co-operate with the coroner’s investigation.
Mr Picton noted that the government was focused on improving the response times of the ambulance service.
The opposition’s John Gardner said that the death was another tragic incident that would shock the people of South Australia.
The health system of South Australia is in crisis under Labor, highlighted by the fact that over 5000 hours were lost to ambulance ramping in July.
This is a grim record that shows how little Peter Malinauskas has been able to deliver on his promise to fix the issue. More deaths are likely to occur as a result of this situation.