Mercy dash hampered by roadworks on the A9
Mother dismayed by risk to emergency patients
A Bridge of Allan woman said roadworks through Plean doubled the time it took for an ambulance carrying her seriously ill child to reach Forth Valley Royal.
Alison Kilgour’s eight–year old son Lliam has panhypopituitarism – a condition of inadequate or absent production of the anterior pituitary hormones.
The condition can trigger adrenal crisis which requires immediate emergency treatment.
Lliam went into adrenal crisis last Monday evening and he had to be rushed to hospital as an emergency.
Alison said the ambulance had to use back roads due to multiple sets of temporary traffic lights on the A9 between Plean and Larbert caused by a £25million Scottish Power project to take down and place under ground cable currently carried by 51 pylons between Stirling and Falkirk.
She added: “I called the ambulance at around 5.15pm. So getting through to Larbert would have been at rush hour coupled with two lots of semi-permanent roadworks, of which there are two within a mile of each other.
“The ambulance driver, appreciating the urgency for Lliam, took a back road, which was single track.
“In my opinion, these works should never have been signed off allowing two sets of traffic controls to hog a main artery that is frequently used by ambulances with life-dependent patients on board.
“I can understand that infrastructure improvements need to progress but not two within a mile of each other, or at all.
“Lliam was in adrenal crisis when he was blue lighted to hospital. The paramedic crew were amazing but the driver was faced with a decision to take a single track back road to dodge the traffic lights in order to expedite the journey.
“Someone in Stirling Council sanctioned this ludicrous set up that could be jeopardising life saving care and forcing paramedic crews to make decisions that are not routine. They need to amend this regardless of any further delays to the work.”
Stirling Council says that the temporary traffic lights were approved to provide essential traffic management.
A council spokesperson added: “The lights are manually controlled by Scottish Power contractors from 7am to 7pm daily and there is a protocol in place with all emergency services to call a dedicated site phone number which notifies TTL operators to manage the lights, allowing emergency vehicles to pass through.
“We understand no call was made to the TTL operators and no issues over hold ups for emergency services have been raised at the meetings held at the Scottish Power site offices near Bannockburn.”
A Scottish Ambulance spokesperson said: “We always seek to transfer our patients in the quickest and safest manner, which is why we monitor changes to road layouts. We were kept fully informed by the council that there were temporary lights on the A9 through Plean and as a result there was only a minor impact on services.”
Work on the project started in September last year and when completed will see over 10 miles of underground cable installed between Manor Powis and Glenbervie.
Cables have been laid along a route starting at SPEN’s electricity substation at Springkerse Industrial Estate then heading north under the River Forth to Manor Powis and south on a route near the A91, the A905 and the A9 through Plean to Glenbervie.