Anger at 40-minute wait for ambulance
A MAN who suffered a serious head injury at home waited 40 minutes for paramedics to arrive.
Worried Jenna Preston dialled 999 after her partner, Michael Griffiths, fell down the stairs at their Longton home, splitting his head open against a door frame.
Ms Preston says she told emergency staff that Mr Griffiths was bleeding profusely from a deep wound and slipping in and out of consciousness.
She was told an ambulance was on its way to their Sutherland Road home at 3.18am on Sunday, but paramedics didn't arrive until just before 4am, despite four calls from Jenna asking where they were.
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Ms Preston, a 27-year-old hospital porter, said: "We had been out on Saturday night and went to bed at about 2am.
"Michael got up at 3.15am to go to the toilet. I'm not sure what happened, but the cat has a habit of lying at the top of the stairs and whether he stepped over and missed his footing I don't know, but he fell headfirst down the stairs.
"I ran to the top of the stairs and from there I could see a big hole in his head. It was really deep.
"Then he turned his head slightly and blood started pouring out.
"I got him in the recovery position and dialled 999. I was told they were on their way.
"I applied pressure to the wound. The call handler was asking me if there was enough blood to fill a mug. There must have been at least a pint-and-a-half. I have never seen so much blood in my life, not even on TV.
"Michael was drifting in and out of consciousness. He was feeling sick and he didn't know where he was. He kept saying he wanted to go home.
"When we got to the hospital they said it was a nasty, deep wound. He needed 14 stitches.
"I just think it is wrong that we were kept waiting for so long. I was worried sick."
Mr Griffiths aged 35, who works as a site manager for Sky Gardens, said: "I can't remember much about what happened.
"What I do remember vividly, is the sound of Jenna's voice, how shocked and worried she was. It's not something I want to hear again.
"I'm getting really bad headaches. There's a lot of pressure on my head."
A West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said: "We have received a formal complaint regarding this incident and, as a result, are fully investigating the circumstances surrounding it.
"The call was received at a time of unprecedented high demand and the first ambulance to become available was sent.
"We will be in further contact with the patient and his partner to discuss this case."
According to national policy, all NHS ambulance services must respond to 75 per cent of 'red' emergency calls within eight minutes.
For less serious emergency calls, the time limit is 19 minutes.
Up until July of this year, West Midlands Ambulance Service responded to 81.5 per cent of red calls within the eight-minute time limit.
The ambulance service has not said which category Mr Griffiths's case fell under.
Ray Salmon, regional organiser of health union Unison, said: "I have not heard before of a call like that taking 40 minutes at that time of the morning."
Comments
by warren-lloyd
Monday, October 08 2012, 6:02AM
“Don't get my wrong, I'm not having a ho in my post at the Paramedics, having health problems, they have many times helped me in fact, there prophet work have saved my life more then once. I'll agree that the problem may lie on the misuse of the service and cut backs not of the services making. Do they use fast responds Paramedics at night, they have been sent to me three time in the day, and helped with pain, breathing and so on but never at night. Might be an idea to get that going round the clock. Its a real relief when someone in green turns up and helps.”
by DoctorDo
Saturday, October 06 2012, 9:36PM
“Blame poor management.
Should have kept Roger Thayne and the Staffordshire management team rather than allowing our ambulances to be managed by West Midlands.
I believe I'm correct when I say that prior to the merger Staffordshire had the best response times in the UK.”
by MBACJ
Saturday, October 06 2012, 5:03PM
“I have friends and relatives in the ambulance service in various parts of the country and most paramedics will happily cut short their break to attend a serious accident. I hope reports like this don't turn people against the ambulance service or paramedics who work long shifts (12+ hrs most of the time) and work hard with the intention of doing a job that helps others.
Several things stop paramedics doing their jobs to help people like those featured in this story. The story above took place on a Saturday night so if imagine that a large number of ambulances were tied up dealing with people who had been drinking all night. (my brother reckons about three quarters of calls on his saturday shifts are drink related). There are also a number of people who see ambulances as free taxis to the hospital for less serious injuries such as a broken finger. All that is before you even start to look into the impact of budget cuts which are blighting the emergency services.”
by THX1138
Saturday, October 06 2012, 1:12PM
“I wonder if the ambulance drivers were on a break and there was not enough cover in place?”
by warren-lloyd
Saturday, October 06 2012, 12:58PM
“Not good at all, makes you worry about if you need them at sometime.”
by mdavies
Saturday, October 06 2012, 12:38PM
“This sounds all too familiar. Thursday in July this year...my partner tripped over and gashed her head open on the door frame in our house. It was 8pm and i immediately called 999. I was asked the same questions. She was on the floor in a pool of blood...i had to keep her awake whilst we waited for the 1st responders...30 minutes later they finally arrived.We all had to wait another 30 minutes before the main ambulance arrived to take us to hospital.
We were told the ambulances were busy...thus the long wait.We got to the hospital 1 hour after the accident and saw about 3 patients in the large new A & E.
Even though she'd had a serious head injury years before resulting in a coma...she was not x-rayed... they glued a 2inch gash on her head and was sent home. She had severe headaches for weeks after..and still has trouble lying on her head...No after care or checkups.”