A man experiencing heart attack symptoms died after his wife drove him to the hospital following a nearly hour-long wait for an ambulance that never arrived.
Despite two 111 emergency calls, no ambulance had been dispatched, leading the wife to take matters into her own hands.
Tragically, the man suffered a cardiac arrest just three minutes from the hospital and could not be revived by emergency staff.
The Office of the Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC) investigated the incident and found St. John and a call handler in breach of the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers’ Rights for not providing timely care.
The HDC found several failures in the ambulance dispatch process, including the call handler’s decision not to re-triage the case during the second 111 call and a delay in using critical dispatch tools.
The investigation highlighted St. John’s failure to conduct a welfare check or advise the woman to wait for the ambulance, leading to a breach of the man’s rights.
St. John accepted the findings, apologised to the family, and committed to improving its systems, including providing additional training to staff and updating dispatching protocols.
Yeah, sorry really cuts it eh?
So sorry for the family and the man who died. The staff are but only human and not saints they feel they are. An utter shit show which should begin sacking those responsible and a kick up the arse for the staff who are left.
This is so incredibly sad to read.
My sincere condolences to the family.
There is nothing worse than awaiting the help from St John expertise with a patient in dire need of help.
We need to ensure these services are sufficiently funded and appropriately staffed. They are an integral part of our Health system and our Govt absolutely need to ensure St John are able to work efficiency.
It was St. John staff who provided the palliative care for my amazing Dad (in the aged care Hospital Level facility) as he was passing away….I will never forget their kindness and will be forever eternally grateful!