NSW Ambulance Case

John was 73 years old, suffered from diabetes and about a month prior to his death had been discharged from hospital following a bout of pneumonia. John was an amputee and required a wheel chair or scooter to mobilise.

In the week before John’s death his health began to deteriorate, he was struggling to eat and drink, he was cold, he had difficulty sleeping, was drowsy, was drooling, he kept falling asleep and he was progressively struggling to breathe.

John’s wife, Sandy, knew something wasn’t right and telephoned 000 on 5 separate occasions over 5 days. The first call was made on a Sunday and she was referred to Healthdirect Australia as the operator did not believe John’s condition was life-threatening.

The next day, Monday, as Sandy was still concerned about her husband, she called 000 again. This time NSW Ambulance paramedics were dispatched and attended their home. Unfortunately, despite Sandy’s concern, and the fact that John’s oxygen levels were very low, the paramedics assumed John’s symptoms were psychological in nature and did not transport him to hospital.

As John’s condition was not improving on Wednesday and he was still struggling to breathe, Sandy telephoned 000 again and paramedics attended.  Again, despite Sandy’s concerns and the fact that she could not get him into a car herself, the paramedics determined again that John was suffering psychological symptoms and did not transport him to hospital.

The next morning, Thursday, Sandy was again very worried about John’s health which appeared to be deteriorating and called 000. Paramedics were dispatched to her house.  Sandy had packed John’s bag as she assumed given how sick he was that they would definitely take him to hospital this time. Unfortunately, they did not and again assumed he had psychological symptoms.

Just before midday, Sandy and John’s daughter, Bianca came to their house. Bianca was immediately concerned by the condition of her father and wanted to transport him to hospital herself. Unfortunately, even with her mother’s help she was unable to lift him from his wheel chair to her car. Bianca insisted her mother call the ambulance as John needed to be in hospital.

The paramedics arrived and after about 30 minutes, they decided to transport him to hospital. Shortly after John was placed on the stretcher, he sat up, complained that he couldn’t breathe and fell back down on the stretcher. The paramedics were not looking at John as they were doing other things. Bianca watched her father’s face change colour and had to tell the paramedics to check on him. John went into cardiac arrest and died in front of his wife and daughter.

As a result of the actions by NSW Ambulance, our clients suffered significant psychological injuries due to witnessing the distressing way in which John died.

We commenced proceedings against NSW Ambulance on behalf of Sandy and Bianca alleging a breach of duty of care by failing to leave appropriate documentation with John and Sandy following the 3 attendances at their home, failing to perform adequate observations on John during the four attendances, failing to adequately assess John against his background of recent hospital admission, treatment for pneumonia and sepsis and his pre-existing health conditions, failing to take account of information given by Sandy during the Ambulance attendances and failing to transport John to hospital following the 5 triple 000 calls and the first, second and third attendances.

Whilst it was not disputed that John was sick, our clients alleged that had John been transported to hospital on any of the 3 previous occasions, he would have received the care he needed and would not have died in the distressing manner he did. As a result, our clients claimed damages for past and future medical expenses including anti-depressant medication, GP attendances and psychologist attendances as well as non-economic loss (pain and suffering). Sandy also made a claim for the cost of John’s funeral, loss of his aged pension and for domestic assistance.

Sandy and Bianca recently resolved their claims against NSW Ambulance, both receiving significant financial compensation.

It is our clients hope, which is shared by this firm, that by bringing proceedings such as these, NSW Ambulance implements policies to ensure that systemic errors such as this do not happen again and that higher standards of care are adopted industry wide.

If you have been a victim or suffered loss as a result of medical negligence, call us today to speak to our friendly team.