Couple add voices to ambulance fight.Byline: By Chloe Griffiths A couple watched their friend die as they waited for an ambulance to come 15 miles ( when there was a crew two miles away. Angela Hoare, 70, and husband Alan, 78, of Townfoot, Haltwhistle, Northumberland, have now added their voices to the campaign to end the lottery of paramedic par·a·med·ic n. A person who is trained to give emergency medical treatment or assist medical professionals. paramedic meal breaks. The couple spoke out about the dangers of the money-saving system after waiting around 15 minutes for an ambulance, after Guy Coleman, 71, had a heart attack. The couple later discovered an ambulance was only two-and-a-half miles away in Hexham, but the crew had not been alerted because they were on their meal break. The system, which began in June, means crews will not be disturbed while they are off the road for two hours every day. The system saves the service pounds 1.2m a year, but paramedics are trying to get the national decision overturned. The Journal gave three instances yesterday of patients having died after ambulances had been called from miles away because nearer crews were on their break. Mr and Mrs Hoare had been on a day trip on July 14 with friends Mr Coleman and his wife Daphne daphne, in botany daphne, common name for, and genus name of, certain low deciduous or evergreen shrubs native to Eurasia. In the United States several naturalized species are cultivated for their handsome foliage and fragrant flowers, e.g., D. , visiting from the South-East. Mrs Hoare said: "He began to feel a bit faint. We got in the car and started driving towards Hexham hospital. "I phoned 999 and they told us various things to check his condition." They pulled up in Acomb, where they were told to wait for an ambulance and were asked if they could do CPR Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) Definition Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is a procedure to support and maintain breathing and circulation for a person who has stopped breathing (respiratory arrest) and/or whose heart has stopped (cardiac . Mrs Hoare said: "They told us the nearest crew available was coming from Bellingham ... I knew it was 15 miles." Mr Coleman was dead on arrival at Hexham hospital. Mr Hoare said: "The paramedics from Hexham were quite distressed they had not been informed." North-East ambulance service head of communications Mark An electronic indicator used for directing attention to a particular object or position of mutual interest within or between command and control systems. Cotton expressed sympathy and said: "It is often very difficult to know if an earlier response time would have achieved a different result." He said the meal break issue was the trust's number one priority and it was seeking urgent talks with unions. |
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