Ex-fireman attacks 'ambulance delay' (From Witney Gazette)

Ex-fireman attacks 'ambulance delay'

2:39pm Tuesday 6th March 2007 in Witney By Tim Hughes

A FORMER firefighter has criticised the time it took to get an injured motorcyclist to hospital following a collision with a car.

Arron Hyatt, who until last summer worked as a retained firefighter, raised concerns after a motorcyclist waited at the scene of an accident in Witney for more than 40 minutes, before being taken by ambulance to hospital.

However, South Central Ambulance has defended its performance, and said response times were reasonable for a non-life threatening injury. The motorcyclist suffered leg injuries after he was involved in a collision with a Ford Focus at the junction of Ducklington lane and Burwell Drive, at about 7.20pm on Thursday.

The rider was thrown from the motorcycle, which then slid along the road and struck a young man on a bicycle, about 30 yards from the scene.

The cyclist was not seriously hurt, but was trapped beneath the 1200cc BMW motorcycle. Passers-by called immediately for an ambulance, and administered first aid, until a car-based paramedic arrived 16 minutes later - well within the the ambulance service's 19-minute target for so-called 'amber calls'.

The paramedic requested an ambulance four minutes later, which arrived on the scene 26 minutes later, at 8.07pm. The patient was treated by the crew and was taken by ambulance to the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, at 8.30pm.

A second ambulance was requested at 8.11pm, but was stood down at 8.27pm. It is believed a relative took the young man to hospital by car.

Mr Hyatt, who served as a firefighter for nine years, arrived on the scene shortly after the accident, and called the fire service, who arrived within six minutes.

Mr Hyatt, a builder, who owns Hyatt Construction in Station Lane, said: "To be faced with a medical emergency is bad enough, but to have to wait for an ambulance for 40 to 50 minutes is scandalous.

"In an emergency situation, the time spent waiting for an ambulance seems like an eternity anyway, and when it really is 50 minutes before one arrives, there may be very little they can do to help."

Helen Robinson, a spokesman for South Central Ambulance NHS Trust, said: "There was no delay.

"We had someone on the scene within 19 minutes, and the second vehicle was dispatched and arrived as quickly as it could do.

"The ambulance was not requested under 'blue light'."

She added: "We had no reports of injuries being life-threatening."