Would you like a family member laying on the ground waiting for an ambulance for an hour?
Recently, my husband assisted a neighbour after his wife fell to the ground in the alley behind our house. Although it was earlier in the day, it was close to 35 degrees and in full sun and on asphalt.
After three calls to 911 starting at 9:49 a.m. (where he was told their call was not a priority) and the last one being at 10:15 a.m., an ambulance finally showed up just before 11 a.m. We live five minutes away from the hospital.
Because my husband’s first aid is very rusty and limited, on the second and third call he asked for the fire department to be called to attend. They did not show up — because they weren’t called.
He tried calling the fire department direct — but only got their new and improved phone tree. No answer.
We lodged a complaint with the Ambulance Service and three weeks later were advised that it was a dispatching error — and really, an hour was not an unacceptable amount of time to be laying on the ground with a fractured hip waiting for an ambulance.
What do you think? Overworked? Understaffed? Not acceptable!
Dawne Young
Penticton