The mother of a Brisbane woman who passed away after waiting for an ambulance for almost 1.5 hours that never showed up has been held accountable by the Queensland Ambulance Service Commissioner.
Cath Groom, a 51-year-old single mother from Forest Lake, called triple zero at 10:26 p.m. on Friday due to chest symptoms.
Because of the urgent “code one” status assigned to her case, an ambulance was supposed to arrive in fifteen minutes.
But even after more than ninety minutes and several calls to the emergency hotline, no ambulance had shown up.
At before midnight, according to her relatives, Groom canceled the ambulance call and went to bed feeling worn out with the intention of checking herself into a hospital the following day. Overnight, a heart attack claimed her life.
On Saturday, her 52nd birthday, at 9.28 a.m., her son discovered her unconscious. Commissioner Craig Emery announced today that Queensland Ambulance had begun an investigation into the situation.
“We obviously should have done better in this set of circumstances, we have started a comprehensive review,” he stated.
“We should be able to respond to somebody in that set of circumstances in a much more timely manner.”
According to Emery, half of the available ambulances were waiting to unload patients when they became stranded on hospital ramps.
Hospital physicians expressed their frustration and annoyance with the ramping situation, citing data from the Australian Medical Association Queensland indicating that the state has not reached ramping targets for the past seven years.
“It’s really concerning doctors nurses health care workers because at the end of the day they want to be able to care for everyone,” Dr. Maria Boulton said.
Queensland Ambulance Service issued a statement stating that they were undergoing a thorough review and that they were dealing with a high volume of demand at the time of Groom’s call.
“Firstly the Queensland Ambulance Service’s thoughts and condolences go out to the lady’s family and friends,” the statement continues.
“During the time of the 000 calls, the QAS was dealing with a high volume of service requests. “In addition to referring to the coroner, the QAS is conducting a thorough examination of the clinical and operational aspects of this case.”
