A Nova Scotia woman says she waited for hours earlier this month in excruciating pain at her Tantallon home in suburban Halifax, but an ambulance never arrived.
Instead, the 67-year-old woman was taken to the hospital in the back seat of her neighbor’s vehicle.
“I might be dying here. And they ain’t coming. They just ain’t coming,” recalled Lynn McLaughlin.
It all started on December 18, when McLaughlin started having stomach pains. It soon became excruciating, and she made the first calls to 911 but no one came.
“It was devastating. And I think it was a long time ago. I don’t know how many minutes last when you’re in pain, but I kept telling my daughter, ‘They’re not coming.’ Because I have heard a lot about it. People are saying they are calling and no one is coming,” she said.
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The first call was made at 5:08 PM, followed by a follow-up call at 5:24 PM
About 15 minutes later, firefighters arrived on the scene and logged McLaughlin’s vitals.
His daughter, Erin Harrington, called four different taxi services but they all refused to pick up McLaughlin.
First responders waited with the mother and daughter for more than an hour before neighbors rushed them to the hospital. they arrived at half past seven
“It was scary to see my mother in so much pain and not be able to help her. I’m sure the fire department felt the same way,” Harrington said.
McLaughlin put it this way: “All they could do was stand by and watch me die.”
His neighbor, Burt Morash, said that there was no question of taking him to the hospital.
“I will help someone in life, which is what I have been doing all my life. I was in the fire department for 20 years and 25 years now in search and rescue. That’s what I do,” he said.
Harrington said the doctor who saw her mother said she did the right thing by taking her to the hospital instead of waiting for an ambulance.
It turned out that a bad prescription had caused a hole in the intestine.
McLaughlin is now recovering at home, and says she no longer believes an ambulance will come the next time she needs it.
However, she doesn’t blame first responders – she blames the government.
“It’s decisions like these that are being made by firemen and ambulance attendants and a lot more than any kind of EMT staff. It is not their decision.
“The federal purse strings hold and the provincial government and health authority must advocate for money and help.”
In recent months, other patients have been sharing their stories of long waits for ambulances.
The union representing Nova Scotia paramedics and the EHS has told Global News The work is being done to help ease the pressure on the system, which has been hit by labor shortages.
Single paramedic response units are being deployed for low risk calls. Additionally, a physician, registered nurse and clinical support paramedic have been added to the EHS 911 team.
– With a file from Rebecca Lau
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