A 75 minute wait for ambulance costs life of a heart patient in North Queensland

By Dr. Ananya Mandal, MDMay 11 2010

On Monday a 44 year old man from Marian west of Mackay, called an ambulance after he developed heart problems. The paramedics reached his home more than an hour later to find him dead. The man called an ambulance at 1.31pm (AEST) on Monday but the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) said paramedics did not arrive until 2.46pm. According to a QAS spokeswoman, this case was coded 2A for Cardiac Arrest. This means that the call needed a highly skilled ambulance crew to be at the patient location within 30 minutes after the call and during transit to the patient no lights and sirens were required. A Code 1 is a life-threatening emergency.

At present an investigation is underway in north Queensland said the Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS). One QAS spokesman revealed that the matter has already been referred to the Health Quality and Complaints Commission. Assistant commissioner Peter Warrener said in a statement, “We will investigate closely all facets of our response to this tragic matter…QAS staff are passionately committed to providing a high standard of care in all cases, and when a tragedy like this occurs, we need to review carefully all elements of our response to ensure our processes and procedures have been in no way deficient…I would like to extend my sincere sympathies to the family of this gentleman and I will be in personal contact with his partner.”

There have been similar incidents in the past. In 2008 a 62 year old man from Marian died when the ambulance was sent to a wrong address. A 44 year old man from Farleigh, north-west of Mackay earlier had died similarly in 2006 while waiting for an ambulance. Similar death was seen in another 63-year-old Pleystowe man in 2008. An investigation then had revealed that the call had been given the wrong priority code due to communication problems.

At present the union of ambulance officers does not believe that human error alone could be blamed for this death. Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union (LHMU) spokesman and advanced care paramedic Kroy Day feels that the investigation results should be revealed as soon as possible. “The process that should be followed is to break down this case into as much detail as we possibly can to see whether our processes are firm and correct…If there's a lesson to be learnt here, then those lessons are implemented as soon as possible,” he said.