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Forum: 995 operator said all ambulances out covering Covid-19 cases
I was placed in the unfortunate position of having to call 995 after my father collapsed in the toilet on Sept 29.
I was shocked when the call operator told me that all ambulances had been deployed because of Covid-19 cases and there would be a 30- to 40-minute wait for an ambulance to reach us.
The ambulance eventually took 30 minutes to arrive, even though it was a weekday afternoon with little traffic and my home is a five-minute drive to the nearest restructured hospital, which the ambulance took him to.
I understand that we are in the middle of a pandemic, but I find it strange to be told at the time I called that all ambulances had been deployed and capacity was strained because of Covid-19.
Every second counts for patients who have suffered an emergency condition like cardiac arrest, stroke or a traffic accident, while the outcome is unlikely to be much different for a suspected Covid-19 case if he is taken to the hospital an hour later.
Is this the most effective way to triage? Are we inadvertently prioritising some lives over others in how we are handling this pandemic?
Tan Kexin
Now we are feeling the sampling effects of what a burdened healthcare system can feel like. At least, we don't have people dying on the streets like in Bangkok...
Health system in crisis, critics tell government
Ambulance service overstretched, bodies left lying in streets
PUBLISHED : 21 JUL 2021 AT 18:05
UPDATED: 21 JUL 2021 AT 18:21
WRITER:
ONLINE REPORTERS
A dead man lies in the middle of the road, covered by a sheet, hours after he died, on Soi Ban Phanthom, off Phra Sumeru Road, in Phra Nakhon district of Bangkok on Tuesday night. (Photo from Phuri Phatara Facebook account)
Critics accused the government of allowing public health services to collapse after three people were found dead on Bangkok streets, one infected with Covid-19 and left lying on the road for many hours before an ambulance finally arrived.
The infected man collapsed in the morning and later died as rescuers tried to revive him. He lay on the road for 12 hours.
Tests later found he was infected with Covid-19, metropolitan police confirmed on Wednesday afternoon. He had no identification on him.
Police also released details of the other two deaths. Only one carried an ID.
Former Human Rights Commission member Angkhana Neelapaijit on Wednesday called the government "cold hearted" on her Facebook page .
She said people had been left out on the streets without any chance of getting healthcare.
Move Forward spokesman and Bangkok MP Nattacha Boonchaiinsawat said Prime Minister Prayut Cha-o-cha had no plan to handle the health crisis that had led to people dying in the streets.
Their criticism came after three people were found dead in Bangkok streets on Tuesday, two of them in Phra Nakhon district and the other in Klong Toey district.
The most mentioned case on social media was a man who collapsed and later died in the middle of Soi Ban Phan Thom, off Phra Sumeru Road.
Chana Songkhram police chief Pol Col Sanong Sanemanee said on Traffic Police radio station that the man died about 5pm despite emergency responders' efforts to keep him alive. An ambulance did not arrive until 10.30pm, and took away the body.
A Facebook account named Phuri Phatara said the ill man had lain in the middle of the street since 10am. Rescuers arrived about four hours later. (continues below)
A body lies on the footpath along Ratchadamneon Avenue, near the Democracy Monument, on Tuesday night. (Photo from Kanit Chumchuay Facebook account)
Another body was found on the footpath of Ratchadamneon Avenue, near the landmark Democracy Monument.
The cause of death in each case was not known. However, ambulances adapted to handle coronavirus patients were used in each case to collect the body and ensure the safety of rescuers and medics.
On Wednesday morning, shortly after midnight, Kanit Chumchuay, the
thetsakit chief for the district, defended the long delay in the ambulances arriving. He said it was caused by the ever-increasing demand for ambulances. The service was overstretched.
The Poh Tech Tung Foundation was on duty on Tuesday night, but had only one ambulance equipped with Covid-protection kits and it had to collect eight other bodies before taking the three unclaimed bodies to hospital.
The Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) said on Wednesday afternoon that the man who died in the middle of the road had been taken to Vachira Hospital, where a sample taken from his body tested positive for Covid-19. He was carrying no identification.
The MPB press statement said the body found on Ratchadamneon Avenue was identified as Seree Ruengroterit, 59, from Rayong, and the Covid-19 test was negative.
Police were alerted to the Ratchadamneon case at 6.30pm and arrived at the scene five minutes later. The dead man was transported to Vachira Hospital at 8pm.
The body in Klong Toey was found on the footpath outside the Tesco store on Rama IV Road at 8.30pm, the MPB said.
A test at Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital was negative. The man's name was unknown. Police believed he had died between two and four hours before police arrived at the scene, the statement said.
It was earlier reported he had died at a temple in Phra Nakhon district.
