Man of 82 in 3-hr wait on garden path for 999 crew
Ken seriously injured after falling
A DIABETIC pensioner who fell and smashed his head was left lying in the cold while waiting more than three hours for an ambulance.
Ken Marwood, 82, was bleeding from the nose and vomiting after suffering a fractured cheekbone in his friend’s garden.
But despite worried wife Barbara, 72, making four calls to the ambulance service, stretched paramedics were too busy to treat his case as an emergency.
Barbara and friend Bob Taylor were only able to comfort distressed dad-of-two Ken after being unable to move him.
She said: “I was in front of him and the next thing I know he was behind me on the ground. I was ringing the ambulance while he was lying on the concrete. There was a big pool of blood on the flagstone.”
Bob, of Darlington, Co Durham, added: “He was lying in the front garden wrapped in blankets and hot water bottles for more than three hours. He was in too much pain to move him and I don’t think we could have lifted him anyway. He was bleeding from the nose and face.”
Barbara said call handlers repeatedly told her to carry out assessments on her husband before “moving him up the queue” after the fourth phone call.
Paramedics turned up at 2.05pm on Tuesday. The first call was at 10.34am.
Retired sales rep Ken was treated in hospital and discharged yesterday.
Barbara added: “I understand there are other people who have problems but I hope lessons will be learned.”
Douglas McDougall, head of emergency care (South) at North East Ambulance Service, said winter was a busy time.
He added: “If a number of emergency calls come in for the same area, patients whose symptoms are not life-threatening may unfortunately experience delays when ambulances are diverted to patients whose lives are at risk. We are extremely sorry for any delays patients experience.”