brother died in middle of road waiting for ambulance

[hangingonfordearlife1]

2 weeks ago my brother was driving taxi when he experienced chest pains. his customer called 999. 1hour and 30 minutes later he went into cardiac arrest and customer started cpr on floor in road. when ambulance turned up 15 minutes later he was still in cardiac arrest. tried 5 times to revive him and worked on him. arrived at hospital 45 minutes later and pronounced deceased.

the ambulance took 1hour and 45 minutes to arrive for a suspected heart attack and then a further 45 minutes to get him to hospital

he's gone and nothing we can do about that but legally where do we stand about asking for an investigation. Not for compensation but actual reasons so we can understand what happened. why did they take so long?

Also we didn't find out until 1 day later after calling round the hospitals to see if he had been admitted as hadn't heard from him. his address was clear on his driving license. why didn't they inform us?

I'm so so sorry that this happened. I can't help with the process to ensure some accountability happens, but just wanted to extend my sympathy.

I'm so sorry OP. Contacts PALs for a start i
would say.

That is really dreadful. I'm so sorry you lost your brother, particularly in such an awful way. I don't know what can happen with the NHS now but it just isn't working at all.

What a shock. I'm so sorry.

So so sorry

You need to write to the ambulance service and make a formal complaint, don't bother with PALS.

So sorry to hear about your brother :(

I'm so very sorry for your loss op, in such distressing circumstances.

That is really sad and unacceptable. There should be a complaints process for the area ambulance service. I would suspect it took a while for police to be notified and follow up with nok.

This is absolutely appalling

But it is reflective of the state of our emergency services

what I’d want to know is did they tell the caller to get a taxi? Because I know that has been happening in certain scenarios as the call handlers can usually give an estimate of time

I'm sorry this happened but why have you put it in legal, do you think any to make a claim? Not being harsh just want to understand

Estimate of time for the ambulance to arrive

So what if they want to make a claim?!

Report as a safeguarding issue to the local council. There should be a coroners inquest and the coroner can investigate and make recommendations to the Ambulance trust if the facts demonstrate failings.

OP has stated very clearly that she doesn't want to make a claim but wants an investigation.

It's not rocket science, OP wants to know how to request an investigation into what happened.

I am very sorry for your loss in such a sudden and traumatic fashion.
I think it is up to the coroner to do an investigation? Isn’t it called an inquest?

I’m so sorry for your loss. That’s awful.

The ambulance service will have a complaints process but I’d also consider writing to the chief exec of whichever service it was e.g. West Midlands Ambulance Service or whatever.

Thank you for doing this even at a time you are grieving. This needs to be raised.

So sorry for your loss. Tragic.
I would think there will be an inquest because it is sudden death. I would also contact PALS but not sure whether they cover the ambulance service although they might be able to point you in the right direction.
The hardest part is always going to be “the what ifs” and understandably so. However, the chances of resuscitation even with full resuscitation equipment is quite low, unfortunately this does not help you.
Sometimes the damage done during the heart attack means that the heart is too damaged to restart. Hopefully the post mortem and inquest will answer your questions.
And remember, the paramedics who attended will have been affected by the situation. If people didn’t use ambulances for trivial ailments which forces the ambulance to sit for hours outside of A&E depts then there were be more to attend the really life and death situations.

It doesn't need reporting to the council as a safeguarding issue - investigating ambulance waiting times is not the remit of adult social care

This is very sad, condolences to all who loved him.I think you're correct to want to know why the ambulance was delayed but don't displace your grief by letting this overwhelm you The positive side of your v sad story is the huge effort put in by the customer in the taxi, how traumatic this must have been for them but as Fred Rogers said there's always a helper.

I'm so sorry for your loss OP. That length of time for a suspected cardiac arrest is simply unacceptable. Unfortunately don't think it's unusual these days, our ambulance service is not fit for purpose. I would ask at the hospital about the complaints procedure for your local ambulance service and see where you go from there.

Won’t there be a coroner’s inquest as it was an unexpected death? That would be the place to deal with this and coroners make public recommendations - prevention of future death reports

This is very sad, OP. I'm so sorry. I don't know who you need to report that to, but it's completely unacceptable.

I work for a complaints department within the NHS. You need to contact your local ambulance service. Where about an are you based?. If you’re unhappy with the investigation then you can escalate it to the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsmen (PHSO). So sorry for your loss OP

All of this.

You are right to be angry, as each and everyone of us should be angry at what 14 years of austerity has done to all the services in the country.
Ambulances / paramedics can spend hours just sitting in a queue outside A&E so then aren't available to attend emergencies. It is shocking and we should all be up in arms about it, but unfortunately until it happens to someone you love, it isn't at the forefront of people's minds.

Plus, what a hero the passenger was. Tried, even though there is statistically very little chance of anyone in cardiac arrest surviving that outside of a hospital.

I am sorry for your loss.