Adelaide man died waiting 10 hours for ambulance

The Ambulance Staff Affiliation revealed particulars of the person’s demise on Thursday afternoon, saying it strengthened the dangers of paramedics being unable to dump sufferers into crowded emergency departments and reply to pressing requires assist.

The union mentioned that on Wednesday December 27, all Adelaide metropolitan hospital EDs had been on Code White, the best score above capability, with “important ramping”.

“Tragically on that evening a 54-year-old male in Hectorville handed away after ready over 10 hours for an ambulance,” the union mentioned.

“The AEA understands that the 000 name was for belly ache and vomiting and the case was initially triaged as an Pressing Precedence 5 requiring an ambulance to attend inside 60 minutes.

“On account of important ramping, ambulances had been caught at hospitals as a substitute of being obtainable for the neighborhood. This led to lengthy delays in ambulance responses, and by the point an ambulance arrived for this affected person, he had handed away.”

SAAS chief government Rob Elliott this afternoon confirmed the incident occurred, saying there was “an prolonged delay which had a tragic consequence”.

The incident is now underneath overview.

Elliott mentioned the hospital system was on December 27 experiencing “extraordinarily excessive triple zero demand and plenty of important ramping as properly”.

He mentioned the affected person was categorised as a precedence 5 for 10 hours, till a name was obtained simply earlier than 5am that the affected person had deteriorated.

After that decision, the affected person was “instantly” upgraded to a precedence one and an ambulance arrived inside 4 minutes.

“We did keep in touch with the triple zero caller for this case… and we had contact with them via the evening,” Elliott mentioned.

“Once they rang us again to advise us that the affected person had deteriorated, the case was upgraded to precedence one and we arrived inside 4 minutes.”

Requested why they needed to wait till the top of the ten hours, Elliott mentioned: “We needed to prioritise the upper acuity calls that we’re receiving and a few of our decrease acuity sufferers did expertise delays.”

Requested if he was assured the affected person was accurately assessed as a precedence 5 case, Elliott mentioned: “We’re enterprise a overview of the case and the circumstances of the case. That will probably be topic to the overview.”

He later added: “That is a completely tragic consequence – our hearts exit to them (the household).

“This isn’t the usual of service that we wish to present.”

Requested if the general public ought to trust in calling for an ambulance somewhat than taking a taxi to hospital, Elliott mentioned: “I believe individuals ought to get some well being skilled recommendation and one of the best ways to try this is definitely ring triple zero and speak to one in every of our name takers.

“There are very very restricted and restricted circumstances the place a few of our healthcare skilled paramedics who do specialist coaching in phone triage could advise that an alternate type of transport is likely to be essentially the most acceptable approach to transfer to hospital.

“So I would favor individuals had confidence in SA Ambulance, ring triple zero, have that dialog and get actually good recommendation from an professional clinician about different alternate choices that is likely to be obtainable the place an ambulance isn’t.”

Requested if this particular person would nonetheless be alive in the event that they known as a taxi or Uber, Elliott mentioned: “That’s not one thing I can touch upon.”

On 27 Dec there was important ramping throughout Adelaide. Tragically a 54 yo male in Hectorville handed away after ready >10hrs for an ambulance to reach. This highlights the upmost significance of EDs clearing ramped ambulances to reply to the neighborhood ?.
? RAH: 10pm 27/12 pic.twitter.com/PrlKPwf3HQ

— Ambulance Staff Affiliation (SA) (@aeasa1981) January 4, 2024

The union mentioned that its members reported that on December 27 and different days, “ready room sufferers had been prioritised into the Emergency Division over sufferers in ramped ambulances, resulting in some crews being ramped and unable to reply for over 7 hours and leaving our neighborhood in danger”.

The union mentioned it had given particulars of the incident to an inquiry into claims that hospital employees had been pressured to prioritise and deal with ambulance sufferers over these already inside emergency departments in a bid to scale back ramping numbers.

SA Well being CEO Robyn Lawrence as we speak mentioned that inquiry – led by senior clinicians Invoice Griggs and Keith McNeil – could be increasing to look at the AEA’s claims. The overview was initially anticipated to be handed down on the finish of subsequent week.

“We’re taking these allegations of each the medical employees and our paramedic employees very critically and we’re trying to unravel it,” Lawrence mentioned.

“Our expectation.. is that sufferers are triaged at hospitals and they’re seen so as of precedence.”

Ramping reached a brand new state file in November, with ambulances and sufferers spending 4285 hours – equal to 178 days – parked outdoors hospitals.

The Malinauskas Authorities, which gained the 2022 state election with a key promise to “repair the ramping disaster”, arrange the overview on December 7 to research allegations by South Australian Salaried Medical Officers Affiliation (SASMOA) president David Pope.

Pope, an emergency drugs specialist on the Lyell McEwin Hospital, posted on social media on December 6 that emergency division clinicians had been being “intimidated to off load ambulance pts (sufferers) when there are sicker and extra pressing pts within the ready room”.

“The repeated calls from hospital managers demanding ambulance off-load counter to different affected person’s pressing scientific wants are so distressing,” he mentioned.

“We again up our nurses however they nonetheless obtain name after name. No clinician ought to be topic to this.”

The AEA as we speak disputed these claims.

“Regardless of these latest claims, the degrees of ramping and circumstances similar to this tragic demise show that this isn’t the case, and that sufferers locally are being put in danger resulting from delayed transfers of care and ambulances not being launched from hospital ramps,” it mentioned.

The union, which performed a outstanding half in Labor’s ramping election marketing campaign towards the previous Marshall Liberal authorities, mentioned ambulance response occasions had improved steadily since March 2022 however had “not too long ago began to say no once more and won’t enhance additional till we see a major discount in ramping”.

AEA industrial officer Josh Karpowicz mentioned the Hectorville man’s demise was a “stark reminder that when ambulances are ramped at hospitals, sufferers ready for assist locally are left with out take care of unacceptably and dangerously lengthy durations of time”.

“Ramping takes ambulances off-road and places sufferers vulnerable to deterioration in an surroundings the place there is no such thing as a one obtainable to assist them,” he mentioned.

SA Well being CEO Lawrence mentioned the AEA’s allegations had been “fully the other” of SASMOA’s.

“Because of this, the reviewers… have been requested to increase their overview to contemplate each of those units of allegations in response to authorities,” Lawrence mentioned.

Shortly earlier than as we speak’s press convention, SA Well being launched “switch of care information” – or ramping figures – for December.

It mentioned the three,595 hours recorded – equal to 149 days – was down 16 per cent on November, regardless of hospital displays rising by 2.2 per cent.

Ramping decline in December after reaching a file excessive in November. Picture: SA Well being

It additionally mentioned that Precedence One ambulance occasions for December had been one of the best for 3 years.

Opposition well being spokesperson Ashton Hurn mentioned: “The Labor Authorities has a elementary accountability to make sure that the sickest sufferers needing pressing care are given the best precedence.”

She mentioned the ambulance union’s revelations of the Hectorville man’s demise confirmed “it’s now clear that each medical doctors and paramedics lack confidence within the well being system underneath Labor delivering that precedence”.

“The lives of South Australians are extra essential than resorting to any kind of questionable techniques to desperately decrease ramping numbers,” she mentioned in an announcement.

“We assist professional clinicians making selections about how sufferers are clinically prioritised in our hospitals – with the affected person, not political guarantees, on the centre.”

Well being Minister Chris Picton is presently on paternity depart and unavailable for remark.

Supported by the Authorities of South Australia