Offshore Casualty Left Waiting 50 Minutes on Helipad at ARI
A Bond Emergency Helicopter today transported an offshore casualty to Aberdeen Royal Infirmary (ARI). Oil and Gas People was on the scene and was horrified to find the casualty had to remain in the helicopter for over 50 minutes until an ambulance was available to transport them the 140m journey from the hospitals helipad to the Accident & Emergency Department.
During the period the helicopter was waiting on the helipad, three ambulances passed the waiting casualty and none were made available to assist and instead departed on other calls.
A member of Her Majesty’s Coast Guard who are called to assist when a helicopter lands at ARI, stated that the response from the Scottish Ambulance Service is typically quicker than it was on this occasion but advised that there is politics involved in ambulance prioritisation. As the helicopter had a fully trained paramedic aboard, the priority of the call is downgraded and can result in a slower response time, as was seen today.
Although details of the injury are unavailable, the experience must have been daunting for the casualty as they lay in pain 140m from the hospital door for almost an hour until an ambulance responded.
During the wait Oil and Gas People contacted the Scottish Ambulance Service to both raise awareness of the lengthy period in which the casualty was waiting and to gain official comment. Shortly after this call two ambulances turned up at the helipad.
With the Bond Rescue 1 helicopter being a standby resource for medical emergencies offshore it is disappointing to see its importance mitigated by the Scottish Ambulance Service who see fit to put the resource out of service for almost an hour for the sake of a 1-minute journey from the helipad to the hospital door.
Babcock who operates the Bond branded helicopter refused to comment on an on-going operation.
A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service gave the following statement:
“Emergency ambulances are always prioritised to the most serious cases. The patient on board the helicopter was not a life threatening case and at no immediate risk while in the care of clinicians on board the helicopter. An ambulance was dispatched quickly to the helipad, but had to divert en route to a life threatening 999 emergency. A surge in demand then required local crews to respond immediately to other 999 emergencies in Aberdeen. While the patient waited safely in the aircraft, local ambulances were being dispatched to other cases to save lives and as soon as a crew became available he was transferred into the hospital. Had the case been more serious, or potentially life threatening, the original ambulance would not have been diverted to another emergency.”
Oil and Gas People has previously reported on similar incidents and has called for a non-emergency ambulance to be made available to transport patients in these cases. The previous article details a similar 20 minute wait in April of this year.
