QUEENSLAND AMBULANCE SERVICE LIVE EMERGENCY TELEPHONE CALL

An emergency operator delayed despatching an ambulance while he questioned elderly Mrs Fielder for several minutes following her urgent call to the Queensland Ambulance Service. 80 year old Mrs Fielder called to request an ambulance after her son suddenly became ill with an unidentified condition. The operator continued to ask questions as Mrs Fielder became increasingly anxious about her son. She was later told an ambulance would take up to an hour to arrive at her Wynnum home near Brisbane. Owing to seriousness of her son's condition, he was privately taken to hospital where he was found to have suffered two strokes. Mrs Fielder received an apology from the QLD Ambulance Service medical director Dr Stephen Rashford.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• QLD
• QAS
• Queensland
• ambulance
• service
• ambo
• ambos
• emergency
• despatch
• operator
• dispatch
• stroke
• telephone
• call
• hospital
• delay
• Fielder
• Wynnum
• Brisbane
• Paramedics

[mwethereld]

I spent several months at the Roma St station in brissy as a dispatch officer for the QPS, i quit because of stress i was 19 at the time, to me this sounds as if the man is altered, not knowing if hes in the kitchen or not and not being able to see everything, clearly sounds as if there is some sort of brain injury and also the fact the mother is obviously concerned enough, hindsight is 20/20 and shoulda coulda woulda, didnt, shows perhaps how overworked the system is here,,, thanks Anna Bligh!

[AussieGirlNSW]

Hey Anna,

Yep, I can understand that. I guess that a hundred things go through your mind when you take a call like that. "shoulda coulda woulda" says it all, aye. I have every sympathy for all parties in this.

Thanks for your comment.

[rapps101]

Complete sympathy for the 000 operator. I do this for the police, talk with the ambulance regularly and have no tolerance for this crap. Never send a crew to an unknown situation

[Barrenmore]

I am thinking that this is a regualr call on 000.

I use to be an EMD and know exactly what is happening and can understand the EMD's responses. QAS EMD's run use 31 different cards to deal with an emergency call these range from falls to cardiac arrest.

This EMD was finding it difficult work out which card to use as there is no "I don't know what is wrong card".

[ktmbikerider]

A brilliant call. Firstly from the call taker involved. Well done - i relate to this all the time - I too am a 000 Calltaker & this sounded like one of those calls where you just have NO IDEA where its leading too.....'Not Well' will not get you a Code 1 Ambulance. Secondly, a call from members of the public who cannot provide accurate information to the emergency services. At no point did i think this warranted an "Emergency Light s & Sirens Response" Very frustrating.

[Tesseract1976]

A loss of consciousness and confusion w/ possible head back injury is not a joke and the ambulance should have been sent right away. The 911 operator should be charged with negligence.

[qldambulance]

@bryzie26 Andrew Bryant, you are NOT a paramedic, nor are you an ambulance officer and you've never been one. You are a student EMD, and you've only just started your training to say the least. Stop pretending to be something you're not, or ever will be, and leave the ambulance work to the paramedics and student paramedics.

[src05202156]

I'm an EMD in the UK, the EMD on this call did well, trying to assertain what the problem was, but you can only go so far in questioning if the caller, or the patient doesnt know. With the info given from the call, i would have gone card 26 sick person.

[markjames]

sounds like dame edna making an emergency hoax call

[belojama]

@viruk78 Or hoax calls... had a few of them lately.

[SampsonandSimba25]

The Australian emergency medical dispatches by law must send an ambulance when you have made a call to the ambulance on 000. If it does not seem serious, they should still send paramedics out ASAP just to check out the patient.

[AustraliaProud]

belojama

Incidentally, I understand the casualty had suffered an embolic stroke and later suffered a second one, leaving him permanently brain damaged and unable to cotinue to work!

[AustraliaProud]

belojama

No, he didn't lose his temper, but any EMD can expect to be challenged by situations like these from time to time, and some far more demanding. The ability to hold one's temper, is an essential prerequisite character profile for this role. Just an open question, do you think the EMD did enough to ease the anxiety of the elderly mother? And yes, strategic protocol and timing will always be determined by the limitation in resources.