No ambulance cover for injured teenager

No ambulance cover for injured teenager

12 April 2017

DOWNPATRICK was left without emergency ambulance cover for a short period last Saturday evening, it has been confirmed.

Due to staffing issues, only one crew was providing cover and when it responded to a road traffic accident which resulted in a person being knocked down, there were no paramedics to provide immediate assistance if required.

The issue came to light when a 999 call was made at 11.20pm to provide assistance to a teenager who twisted his knee. With no ambulance available, the teenager was helped into a private car by police and driven to the Ulster Hospital in Dundonald.

The Ambulance Service says it regrets any delay in responding to calls for assistance and is asking the public to use the service “appropriately” to ensure the organisation can continue to provide the highest level of care to the most seriously ill.

Next week, South Down MLA Chris Hazzard is to discuss the issue with Ambulance Service chief executive Shane Devlin.

Mr Hazzard said the Ambulance Service was again left under-resourced on Saturday with a Downpatrick ambulance crew out of action due to staffing issues.

The MLA continued: “Whilst I absolutely appreciate the difficult challenges facing the organisation it is vital that a large rural constituency like South Down has the cover required for all eventualities — especially in light of our reduced services at the Downe Hospital.”

Mr Hazzard said when the South Eastern Trust reduced the 24-hour emergency department at the Downe Hospital to a “day-care facility,” a promise was made that fit-for-purpose ambulance cover would address any need for emergency care outside daytime hours.

“Unfortunately too often this has not been the case,” the MLA declared. “Last weekend’s episode once again raises fundamental questions for both the South Eastern Trust and the Ambulance Service regarding the unequal distribution of emergency care services for the South Down community. I look forward to discussing these issues with Mr Devlin next week.” 

An Ambulance Service spokesman confirmed a 999 call was received at 11.22pm last Saturday evening with the information received at the time indicating a 16 year old patient “had twisted his knee” at around 10.45pm, some 35 to 40 minutes prior to the call.

The spokesman said the Ambulance Service prioritised calls based on clinical need to ensure the most seriously ill or injured receive the fastest response. He explained Category A calls were for those which are immediately life threatening.

“Based on the information received and considering this was an incident which happened in a public place, this call was assigned as a so-called Category B,” he said.

“Increasingly, to ensure that ambulances are preserved for Category A calls, paramedics on arrival at scene will now seek to determine if attendance at an emergency department is appropriate and, if it is, if ambulance transport is actually required as opposed to alternative, private, transport.”

The spokesman said while Downpatrick normally has two vehicles rostered on a Saturday evening, last weekend, due to staff leave, only one vehicle was providing cover. 

He added: “The crew on this vehicle was engaged on a Category A call at the time of this incident responding to a patient who had been knocked down in a road traffic collision.

“The Ambulance Service regrets any delay in responding to calls for assistance and would continue to call for the public to use our service appropriately to ensure that we can continue to provide the highest level of care to the most seriously ill or injured.”