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ONE OF THE parents of a two-and-a-half year old child who went into septic shock due to bacteremia and was unresponsive for an hour said that they were given mixed messages about the location of the ambulance.
The parent wrote to the Minister for Health outlining their concerns about the ambulance service when they called for one on 27 March this year. The letter was released to TheJournal.ie under a Freedom of Information request.
The parent said that in the space of an hour and 15 minutes, their son began vomiting, his temperature rose to 39 degrees – the child then became “non-reactive, and went limp”.
The ambulance was called at 7.01pm, and the family were told by an operator that “it was coming from Cavan”.
Several minutes later we were told the ambulance had not left Cavan.
When the parents suggested meeting the ambulance partway between their home and Cavan town, the operator said that they should remain at their address in case they passed the ambulance on the way.
Fifteen minutes after first calling the operator, the family said that they “received mixed messages from the ambulance operator on the location of the ambulance, which placed the ambulance between thirty and forty minutes from our home”.
After pressing the operator for advice on self-transporting their son part of the way, the parents collected a defibrillator. They met the ambulance on the R190 in Lisnalong, a 30 minute drive from Cavan town.
Upon meeting the ambulance, an EMT told them “finally, parents with the sense to come meet us on the road”, according to the family’s letter to the Minister.
In the letter they said:
In reflection, this has compounded our concerns that (a) there is an inconsistency in messaging from ambulance control and EMT staff, and (b) the ambulance service is wholly inadequate in responding to calls in a timely manner within our region.
Upon arrival at the hospital at 8pm, the toddler had stopped breathing and required immediate intubation; the parents said that the anesthetist said “another 2 minutes and we would have been dealing with a very different outcome”.
The family raised a number of questions with the Minister about the ambulance service in the region, including why an ambulance wasn’t dispatched from Monaghan or Castleblayney, which they said was less than half the distance from Cavan town to their home (44 kms).
They also added that the care they received upon meeting the ambulance and arriving at the hospital was “exemplary”, “but accessing that care in an emergency situation not only failed to meet our expectations as parents, but failed in fulfilling the National Ambulance Service’s own mission statement of ‘providing high quality, safe and patient-centred care’”.
There have been a number of close calls with ambulances in areas across the country, particularly in rural areas where resources are scarce and ambulance crews must cover a large area.
In January this year a choking toddler in Galway had to be brought to hospital in a Garda car due to delays in the ambulance service. Other delays have been reported in Donegal, Roscommon, Monaghan and Dublin in the past year.
In February, a Galway GP invoiced the National Ambulance Service for attending an ambulance call to highlight its constant delays in responding to emergencies.
In a statement to TheJournal.ie, the Department of Health said that there has been an increase in the number of emergency calls for ambulances and that according to the National Ambulance Service, the total volume call this year to date is 167,576 – an increase of 11,155 on the same period last year.
“This year, an additional sum of €10.7 million has been made available which includes €2.8 million to fund new developments,” the Department said.
It also said that the Department does not hold a record regarding the number of complaints about ambulance delays for the first six months of the year.
The HSE was contacted for comment, but a statement was not made available at the time of publication.
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The healthcare system in this country is a tragic joke. If you are living in a major urban area you could face 8 hours in A&E before seeing a doc. If you live in a rural area you could be 2 hours waiting for an ambulance. We are a small country geographically and in terms of population. The only reasons for our terrible healthcare are ineptitude and corruption.
@Dan: This isn’t supposed to happen. As a parent and grandparent I can only imagine what these parents went through and know nobody should be placed in that position, I sincerely hope the child recovered.
We have to face up to the fact that our Health Service isn’t what we’d like it to be, our entire population is smaller than many cities and regions in other countries, and yet we still can’t seem to manage it. We like to continue pretending we’ve one of the best education systems in the world, no we haven’t. Neither have we one of the worst Health Systems, however it could certainly be better, and where it fails and lets people down, it does this really badly.
@Dan: This is terrifying, the parents, as always, tempering there complaints in couched language “exemplary care”. Of course they are extremly grateful for the care and expertise received, this goes without saying and is never taken for granted. But things could have been much worse because the first and most important step was so badly handled. This leaves parents both helpless and seething with rage. To be met with those comments from the ambulance crew would have sent me over the edge. I wish front line staff in our hospitals would take a sober look at the services being provided and try if they can to make complaints on our behalf to the HSE. None of the health service is fit for purpose. I cant agree more it’s ineptitude and corruption, the department of ineptitude and corruption
The call takers are not allowed to advise the public to leave the scene where the ambulance is required as it could complicate matters or delay the ambulance further.
A lot of people ringing emergency ambulances for non emergency calls, because they think they will be seen quicker in the ED and it’s free.
@Seán Dillon: A nurse at our local hospital told me that during the long hot spell the number of people who didnt turn up for appointments at the outpatients clinic was ridiculous. Consultants were left with wasted appointments and other people on the waiting list could have been seen if the no-shows had let them know even a day in advance.
@Seán Dillon: wrong ! The ambulance service has been stretched to the limit by incompetent management and cut backs
Was that EMT maybe a Paramedic?
And how long was the child sick for?
@Joe Bloggs: All Ambulances should have properly trained paramedics & not these EMTs as they call themselves? These people are not properly qualified just ordinary personnel with a fancy name!
@Murf: That is so condescending and down right ignorant. Have you any idea how long these guys and girls study to be EMT
@Murf: They are perfectly qualified to Emergency Medical Technician level. There is a vast amount they can do. Look it up sometime.
@Malachy Guilfoyle: Emergency Ambulances in Ireland have a minimum qualification of Paramedic. Another fact is that ambulance control can’t tell people to get in their car and meet an ambulance or drive to ED themselves, this is because we now as a culture have an attitude to sue for everything and if you get in an accident after being ‘directed to drive’ the HSE then get the blame and people see dollar signs. People need to us their own common sense
@damien ryan: yeah 4 weeks
If you live too far from the ambulance or there is any delay – surely the best thing to do is get into the car and boot it down the road??????
Just sitting waiting for an ambulance that probably will have to horse it back to the hospital anyway??? I never got this…. the parents saved this child by getting it there.
@Ciarán FitzGerald: people will sit and wait for an ambulance for over an hour and when it arrives will then get in their car and follow the ambulance and patient to hospital. Makes no sense at all
Omg..i feel fr u…the A/E departments are a WARZONE…. i applaude the medics who stay in a systome that is broken..while i decry our goverment who decided to spend upwards of 50 million to host the pope GSOS
I came across a motorcycle accident in Galway some weeks back. Two people called the ambulance and both ambulances were cancelled one thinking the other was not needed. Poor lad lying groaning or dying in a ditch and no help coming.
Irish public sector sucks!
@Mairtin Cathbhar: adding … then this Garda carried .. drove over debris without examining anything .. bit the head off people staying around to help …and was overheard saying to a local how he was on his way home when he was told to get to the scene of an accident and was not happy. Urgh!
@Mairtin Cathbhar: while the boy lay groaning in the ditch
@Mairtin Cathbhar: control make decisions on what’s needed before an ambulance get there so a crew would not decide themselves that they aren’t needed.
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