By JOHN VAN KLAVEREN
AN 83-year-old Lara great-grandmother left lying in the rain for 90 minutes awaiting an ambulance later died from associated heart complications, according to her family.
Dorothy Read waited in agony after breaking her leg in two places when she fell about 4.30pm on 12 August, daughter Wendy Millane said.
Ms Read died in Geelong Hospital a week later. Her funeral was on Tuesday.
“When the paramedics finally arrived they said she was showing signs of a heart attack,” Mrs Millane said.
“But mum never had any heart problems in her life. That day, waiting in the rain on the ground was the first sign of any heart problems ever.
“They said she was also suffering from exposure and tried to warm her up – even when she got to emergency they were still trying to get her warm.”
Mrs Millane believed the stress of the long wait had contributed to her mother’s heart attack and death.
“I was in shock,” Mrs Millane said.
“She was getting out of my car in the drive of her home when she fell, so I rushed over to her. Triple zero told me not to move her.
“It was such a horrible time and when we got to emergency, the ambulances were piled up.
“It’s not the ambulance officers’ fault, that’s down to the government. The waiting times quoted in the papers are crap.
“Someone will die with those waiting times,” Mrs Millane said.
“The public is not aware what of happens. You want to know that when you call triple zero that an ambulance is going to turn up.
“I don’t have any trust in the system. People will be asking themselves whether they should go by car instead.
“I’ve been kicking myself ever since that I didn’t just call my husband and get her into the car and drive her to hospital.”
Mrs Millane said she called triple zero twice more during the wait to check on the ambulance response but was told each time it was on the way.
“They asked if mum was any worse and I said it didn’t look like it but she was in the rain and getting colder and she was distressed.
“She kept asking when the ambulance was going get here. I got her extra blankets but, unbeknown to me, she had gotten worse.
“People ought to know because we don’t want it all to be for nothing. We want this to make a difference.”
Mrs Millane said the family were ambulance members.
Ambulance Victoria regional manager Mick Cameron said: “Our thoughts and sympathies are with the family. We are available to meet with them to discuss any concerns they may have.
“We understand their distress and accept that 90 minutes is a long time to have waited for an ambulance following her fall.
“We prioritise our emergency ambulances based on information provided by triple zero callers and in this case we understood that the patient was conscious, breathing and alert with no indication of serious injury.”
