FURYAT 999 WAIT ‘DISGRACE’
First aider hits out as man, 89, lay bleeding in street for an hour
A HERO who rushed to help an 89-year-old man as he lay for more than an hour waiting for an ambulance after a fall branded the response “a disgrace”.
James Keegan, who waited with the pensioner in Sauchiehall Street after calling emergency services, said: “I didn’t know if he was going to live or die.”
The ambulance service blamed “high demand” for the ordeal.
I didn’t know if he was going to live or die ...
AN 89-year-old man with a serious head injury lay bleeding on Sauchiehall Street for more than an hour waiting for an ambulance.
A first aider who rushed to help has slammed the “disgraceful” wait, saying he didn’t know if the stricken pensioner would live or die.
James Keegan, who waited with the pensioner after dialling 999, said: “I didn’t know if he was going to live or die.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service has apologised after the man, who has a heart condition and was on blood-thinning drugs, was left on the ground bleeding heavily for more than 66 minutes yesterday.
James, from Cowcaddens, called an ambulance at 1.29pm but it was 2.35pm before paramedics arrived.
Current targets are for 75 per cent of the most serious calls to be responded to within eight minutes.
The Scottish Ambulance Service blamed, “exceptionally high demand” for the pensioner’s ordeal.
However, an ambulance source blamed “under-resourcing” of the service for the OAP’s ordeal. He told the Evening Times: “It’s too long as there are three red flags: head injury, bleeding with (possible) warfarin and elderly exposed to elements.
“Unfortunately this is not unique as areas like Glasgow ... are grossly under-resourced.”
Mr Keegan, a fitness instructor, said: “He had fallen backwards and smashed the back of his head. There was a lot of blood, it was a very deep gash. I was on my knees holding the back of his head with a compress.
“There were people coming out of shops and walking past and then coming back again and they couldn’t believe he was still there. Someone from I Love Glasgow came out with a blanket for him.
“He told me his name was William and he was originally a joiner and from Giffnock and in a care home. He was a really nice gentleman.
“He was on medication for his heart, blood-thinning which might have been part of the problem.
“My anxiety levels started to go up because he was starting to shake and saying he couldn’t feel his legs. I was shaking myself with the cold.
“When the ambulance eventually arrived, he was very apologetic but people were helping to put him in the ambulance.
“It just seemed very unprofessional and undignified and a complete disgrace. I understand the NHS is under the cosh but people pay their NHS contributions.”
Annie Wells, Scottish Conservative MSP for Glasgow, said: “This illustrates just how desperate things are right across Scotland’s NHS, including the ambulance service.
“There can’t have been many more pressing incidents than this, but still it took more than an hour.”
Scottish Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, Anas Sarwar said: “This is another example of the problems caused by the SNP’s under-funding of our health service. Paramedics and NHS staff simply do not have the resources to cope with the demand.”
A Scottish Ambulance Service spokeswoman said: “We were experiencing exceptionally high demand at the time and all 999 calls are prioritised to ensure the sickest and most seriously injured patients are given the highest priority.
“We would like to apologise to the patient as it took us longer than we would have liked to arrive on scene.”
A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Patients are right to expect the highest standards and the Scottish Ambulance Service has apologised to the gentleman.
“We’ve invested almost £900 million in the Scottish Ambulance Service in the last four years. We’re committed to supporting the Service to train an additional 1,000 paramedics over the life of this parliament, building on the 16.5% rise in SAS staffing over the last decade.”