Blue-light response saved grandad’s life
The job of the Welsh Ambulance Service is to reach people in life-threatening situations as quickly as possible. Here, health correspondent Mark Smith speaks to one pensioner about his experiences of the service
Great-grandfather Ron Owens was watching Britain’s Got Talent at home with his family when he started suffering chest pains.
Believing it was the beginning of an angina attack, the 71-year-old took a medicated spray to try to prevent it.
But when the symptoms grew worse he asked his daughter, Theresa, to dial 999.
Ron, who previously underwent a double heart bypass in 2009, said: “I was sat down relaxing in my special chair and I felt a bit of heartburn coming on, which I thought was my angina at first.
“I took a couple of sprays under my tongue and that seemed to ease it so I didn’t say anything.
“But then 15 minutes later it started coming back with a vengeance and that’s when I thought, ‘this is a heart attack.’ I was feeling sweaty and clammy and my arms went limp.
“I spoke to the call operator and she told me to take some aspirin, so I started chewing and the next thing I knew the ambulance crew were at the door and walking in.
“I thought ‘blooming hell that’s quick’, and before they could do much there was another ambulance crew at the door.”
Welsh Ambulance Service urgent care service crew members Michael O’Neil and Andrew Jones arrived at Ron’s house in Quaker’s Yard, Treharris, in about two minutes and 20 seconds with a defibrillator in the event that he went into cardiac arrest.
They were joined minutes later by emergency ambulance crew members Amanda George and Paul Rowberry, who gave him treatment, including pain relief.
After being admitted to Prince Charles Hospital, Merthyr Tydfil, he was transferred to a specialist unit at the University Hospital of Wales, Cardiff, where he underwent a procedure to have a stent fitted and to widen one of his arteries to improve the blood flow around his heart.
Ron spent five days in hospital before being discharged and is now recovering at home.
Despite the setback, he has vowed to return to his part-time job working for a civil engineering company in Cardiff.
A heartfelt message of thanks which he posted on Facebook to all of the NHS Wales staff involved in his care has been liked and shared more than 3,000 times.
Ron said: “The type of people I’ve seen on ambulances are always helpful and they cheer you up when you’re down.
“There were no worries in my mind about going into too much pain or falling on the floor because they were there.
“I’ve been very happy with the service I’ve had from the National Health Service all my life, including for my family.
“Since I’ve been in and had this done I feel better than I’ve ever felt, and I’m going to do physiotherapy and gym class for a few weeks and hopefully get back off to work.”
Advanced emergency medical technician Amanda George, who has worked for the ambulance service for 23 years, said she was pleased that Ron is recovering.
She said: “Ron was very poorly to start with and because of his history we gave him pain relief and took him in.
“It’s seldom that we get to hear how patients are doing so it’s very good to know he’s well and on the road to recovery.”
Paramedic Paul Rowberry added: “I’m just glad we got him in and did everything we could. He was a really nice bloke.”
Ron’s call was assessed and categorised in the Welsh Ambulance Service’s “Amber” category – the second most serious.
Under the trust’s new clinical response model, calls in this category no longer attract a time-based target.
However, the trust says patients experiencing symptoms associated with a heart attack receive the fastest and most appropriate blue-light response.
The service is also measured on whether it provides the right care bundle for heart attack patients, which includes pain assessment and relevant medicines, as part of the Emergency Ambulance Service Committee’s Ambulance Quality Indicators.
Richard Lee, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s director of operations, said: “We are delighted to hear that Ron is on the road to recovery after what must have been a frightening experience for him. “Ensuring that heart attack patients receive timely assessment, treatment and onward transport to a specialist unit is an important part of our clinical work.
“We would like to thank Ron for his kind words, as well as our hardworking crews and the staff at Prince Charles Hospital and the University Hospital of Wales, whose collective actions made such a big difference for him.”
Latest figures published by the Welsh NHS show that more than 80% of the most serious “Red” calls to the Welsh Ambulance Service received a response within the eight-minute target in April.
It was a record high since the introduction of the new clinical model in October 2015.
Mr Lee added: “Our average response to a cardiac arrest or choking call is around five minutes. For other calls, we respond as quickly as possible using blue lights and sirens.
“Response times to these immediately life-threatening calls are at an all-time high since we introduced the new model, which is testament to our hard-working staff and proof that the work we’re doing to transform the way we deliver care is reaping benefits.
“At the heart of all of this is the patient, and we’ll continue in our endeavours to be a world-class ambulance service that the people of Wales can be proud of.”