A teenager who suffered a sudden seizure in the New South Wales Northern Rivers waited half an hour for an ambulance before his desperate mother was told they should make their own way to hospital. 10 ambulances were 'ramped' at the nearby Lismore Base Hospital at the time, waiting to discharge their patients. It comes as the region gears up for the arrival of thousands of schoolies and holiday makers.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00When 17-year-old Nick Lamanos-Budden collapsed in a seizure at his local gym, the manager
00:07called triple zero.
00:08It was kind of like tingling almost, like someone had put almost like a sheet over my
00:13head or something.
00:14I thought Nick was dying.
00:17He turned blue, you know, he wasn't breathing, and it was terrifying.
00:22But half an hour later, an ambulance still hadn't arrived.
00:25They basically said, we don't have an ambulance for you, you're going to have to get him to
00:29hospital yourself.
00:3030 kilometres away, 10 ambulances stood ramped at the Lismore Base Hospital.
00:36Lismore City Councillor and local solicitor Big Rob took his concerns to social media.
00:42I saw all the ramps full, and then I saw three more parked up the front, and a supervisor's
00:47vehicle parked up the front.
00:49Councillor Rob says it isn't the first time he's seen ambulances waiting to have their
00:53patients admitted to one of the region's two large referral hospitals.
00:58What happens if someone needs an ambulance, and without those resources, people will die.
01:02Northern New South Wales Health District declined to address the issue of ramping.
01:07In a statement to the ABC, it said multiple trauma events on Monday night had meant a
01:11much larger volume of ambulances presenting themselves to Lismore Base Hospital.
01:16In a statement, the health district also said the hospital was fully staffed at the time.
01:21You know, if that was a baby or someone could die, it's only a matter of time.
01:27As the Byron Shire prepares for thousands of schoolies to arrive next week, critics
01:31say the system is under strain.
01:33It's a symptom of a crumbling health system.
01:36Greens MLC Dr Amanda Conn said the government needs to come clean on its progress following
01:41a 2022 inquiry into ramping.
01:45We know that people across the state, particularly in rural regional areas, are waiting longer
01:49than they should for an ambulance.
01:51Nicholas is on his way to recovery and planning on a career in medicine.
01:57For more UN videos visit www.un.org