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Push for safer crossing
Ambos ‘broken’ By Eleanor Wilson Ambulance services in the South East appear to be more stretched than ever, amid claims an elderly woman was left waiting several hours for an ambulance after she fell down a set of stairs at Village Cinemas in Fountain Gate Shopping Centre on Tuesday 24 May. Bystander Rhondda Strafford said she went to the cinema with her husband on Tuesday afternoon when she noticed a woman was being tended to by passers-by. “She was conscious and sitting up and it looked like they had an ice pack on her neck or something,” Mrs Strafford said. Upon leaving the movie session approximately two hours later, Mrs Strafford said the woman remained in the same position. “Nothing had changed and I just felt so sorry for her,” Mrs Strafford said. “You sort of, in naivety, think if something happens you ring an ambulance and you’ll get seen to, but obviously at the moment this is not the case.” The woman’s daughter confirmed to Star News her mother, who is nearly 80 years old, missed the last few steps of the stairs, sustaining a fracture on her cheek, laceration to her eye socket and severe bruising to her clavicle, shoulder, femur and fibula. Despite Village Cinema staff and family members ringing an ambulance several times, the woman, who would like to remain anonymous, remained at the base of the stairs for four hours. The woman’s daughter said Village staff were “incredible” during this time, providing
the woman with pillows, blankets and attending to her cuts. With the woman’s condition deteriorating, at 7:30pm her son and daughter-in-law, who work as a nurse and hospital consultant respectively, made the decision to drive her to the hospital. “She could’ve had a bleed on her brain, she could have broken her neck, we really didn’t know but we felt we had no choice but to drive her because she was in a lot of pain and we had no idea when an ambulance would arrive,” the woman’s daughter said. The elderly woman faced an additional 10hour wait at two separate South east hospitals, with her daughter claiming she did not receive treatment until 5:30 the next morning - 14 hours after she sustained the injury. “Honestly it’s not [the paramedic’s] fault, but something needs to be fixed, it is a broken system,” the woman’s daughter said. “I just feel for anyone in that position, it’s just horrible seeing someone you love in pain like that.” In a statement, Ambulance Victoria confirmed paramedics were called to an incident at Narre Warren on Tuesday afternoon. “We take seriously our commitment to providing the best care for every patient, and understand that the time waiting would have been frustrating for those at the scene,” an Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said. “Ambulance resources are allocated based on clinical need and prioritised to the sickest patients, particularly those with life-threatening conditions.” Continued page 5
Three-year-old Ariba enjoys a cupcake at Oakgrove Community Centre’s Australia’s Biggest Picture: GARY SISSONS Morning Tea. 281950
Tucking in for good cause Dining rooms across the City of Casey adopted a splash of yellow this month, as communities gathered for the Cancer Council’s annual Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. With an endless flow of tea and coffee,
locals opened their mouths to tiers of sweet treats, their ears to heartfelt stories, and their wallets to raise thousands for cancer research and support. Story pages 16 and 17
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