Monday, May 2, 2011

** UK mom of daughter with brain bleed threatened with no show ambulance if she didn’t calm down during 999 call

** Manitoba to mandate placement of defibrillators in high traffic public areas

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** East Midlands ambulance brass are on the hot seat after dispatchers told the mother of a brain hemorrhage patient to calm down or an ambulance would not be sent. That is the word from the Daily Mail (April 28) which said Paula Rudd made the help hail after her daughter became ill, complaining of a neck pain and a pounding headache. According to Rudd, after being warned about yelling, she phoned 999 three times and waited 75 minutes for medics to arrive. During this time her daughter was unconscious, groaning, foaming at the mouth and her eyes had rolled back in her head. Though the girl survived the brain bleed, Rudd said she is considering suing the ambulance service for their poor response. An ambulance service spokesman said an investigation into the matter has already started.

CANADA NEWS

** Manitoba paramedics may soon get some help saving the lives of cardiac arrest victims, now that the province has decided to place defibrillators in all high traffic public places. The Winnipeg Free Press (Larry Kusch/April 28) said the Defibrillator Public Access Act, which is not yet law, announced by Health Minister Theresa Oswald last week, would see the machines put in places like schools, airports, and arenas. Experts will be used for pinpointing exactly where the devices should be put. In addition, the proposed statue would mandate proper identifying signage, as well as registration so 911 dispatchers could ascertain the nearest machine to someone suffering a cardiac arrest.