A FLURRY of emergencies at the time Wagga man Max Irons desperately needed an ambulance has been blamed for a delay which resulted in his wife driving him to hospital.
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“NSW Ambulance offers our apologies to the patient and family for any distress caused by the delay in response and wishes him a speedy recovery,” a spokesman said in a statement in response to The Daily Advertiser inquiring about the incident.
“NSW Ambulance received a triple-0 call to respond to a patient suffering suspected heart issues in Wagga at 10.53am on October 15.
“At the time, the region was experiencing heavy demand for ambulances, with all duty and on-call resources from Wagga, Junee and Lockhart responding to emergencies.
“NSW Ambulance called for available off-duty paramedics in the region to respond and worked to clear units currently on the way to or at hospital with patients.
“The nearest available ambulance was responded from Holbrook.
“At 11.15am, the triple-0 caller phoned back and was advised that both a paramedic crew was responding from Holbrook and that an off-duty paramedic was currently retrieving an ambulance from Wagga station and was minutes away.
“The caller advised they would transport the patient themselves to hospital.
“Wagga ambulance was at full rostered deployment that day.” Murrumbidgee Local Health
District said there was no “bed block” at Wagga Base on Tuesday holding up ambulances.
