Collapse of elderly man in street sparks medical response questions (From Gazette & Herald)

Collapse of elderly man in Malton street sparks medical response questions

3:00pm Wednesday 7th July 2010 in News By Gazette Reporter

CONCERNS have been expressed about a lack of vital medical equipment and ambulance response times after an elderly man collapsed in Malton.

A member of the public who went to the man’s assistance and a Ryedale councillor are now calling for more information regarding the location of defibrillators in the town.

They have also questioned the time it took for an ambulance to attend the scene.

John Millar went to the man’s assistance in Wheelgate. As he carried out first aid, Mr Millar sent a bystander to Morrisons supermarket, which he understood had a defibrillator. He is trained in the use of the life-saving equipment.

But the man returned empty-handed. A spokesman for Morrisons said: “The Morrisons Malton store has never been in possession of a defibrillator.”

Mr Millar, who lives in Norton, had to wait for the emergency services to arrive. “The ambulance service failed to meet the response time of eight minutes as laid down in national guidelines – it was 22 minutes before a rapid responder was on the scene. He was already en route to another call.”

Mr Millar added that he had spoken to the ambulance trust about the the incident.

He said: “I highlighted that although the crews were well outside the guidelines for response, they were calm, professional and treated the unfortunate gentleman with the utmost respect and are to be commended.

“What is not excusable is the under-funding of this public service which forces this situation to occur.”

Howard Keal, a member of Ryedale District Council, said he was ‘deeply concerned’ that a defibrillator was not available.

“The equipment is increasingly being put in public places and it is the sort of thing we need in our towns with publicity given to make sure there is an awareness of where to access it quickly,” he said.

“The time taken for the ambulance crew to arrive is also a concern which needs to be looked at.”

A spokesperson for Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: “We received a 999 call at 14.50 to say a gentleman was reported to have collapsed on Wheelgate.

“We were experiencing high levels of demand in the area at the time and deployed the nearest available resource which arrived just over 20 minutes later. Every effort was made to get an ambulance to the scene as quickly as possible.

“The patient, an elderly male, received treatment from ambulance clinicians at the scene before being transported to York Hospital for further care. We believe the patient passed away in hospital and would like to offer our condolences to his family for their loss.

“Yorkshire Ambulance Service is always happy to discuss the care it provides directly with those involved and would ask that the family of the patient gets in touch should they wish speak to us on this matter.”