Couple angered by St John after husband’s fall at home
When cancer-stricken 91-year-old John Roberts had a nasty fall at his Rangiora home, he activated his $80-a-month St John medical alarm and waited for help.
But none came. The fall was deemed ‘non life-threatening’’ by St John, and so Roberts was left lying on the floor, unable to get up, while his wife Margaret went for help.
Unable to find any neighbours at home, she came back to help her husband.
‘‘I tried to get cushions under his head and I still couldn’t get anybody in the neighbourhood. There was nobody home.’’
Margaret believes John would have died had it not been for the intervention of a neighbour who helped him back on his chair until medics arrived.
‘‘It’s pretty stressful. I was getting extremely worried and my husband was starting to lose his breath.
‘‘If my neighbour hadn’t come home, he probably would have died. I really mean that. It’s good luck on our part that he came home,’’ Margaret said.
Two-and-a-half hours after the initial fall at 9.40am on January 26, a response unit finally arrived.
St John’s Canterbury district operations manager Dion Rosario said they apologised for any distress that the couple experienced, however reiterated the fall was not a life-threatening incident.
‘‘We will make contact with the Roberts and offer to meet with them to discuss any concerns they may have.’’
She said St John was responding to a high number of calls at the time.
She said a representative from their clinical desk spoke to Margaret Roberts three times during the ordeal.
‘‘During these conversations Mrs Roberts informed us that a neighbour had come and helped her husband, and that he ‘most likely’ did not require an ambulance but they would like him assessed.
‘‘A response unit became available at 11.54am and arrived at 12.11pm at their residence. The paramedic assessed Roberts, who was adamant that he did not wish to be transported to hospital. No transport was required and Mr Roberts was left in his home.’’
Margaret Roberts questioned how qualified she was as an ‘‘ordinary person’’, to provide an accurate answer when asked how serious the incident was.
‘‘He’s not a well man. . . I’m not a nurse so I can’t say to the ambulance officer how much of a life threatening situation it is.’’
Roberts, 91, is undergoing treatment for recurring prostate cancer. Low blood pressure, heart problems and an artificial right leg and hip put him at risk of regular falls.
‘‘I’m basically an invalid. When I fall, I can’t get back up because I don’t have the strength.
‘‘I just feel it’s not the handle things.’’
The couple regularly donated to St John and paid a monthly fee of $80 for the use of his alert bracelet.
The service responded to more than 423,000 emergency incidents in 2016. way to