Ambulance union calls for inquest into woman's death

FIRST ON 7: The Ambulance Workers’ Union has called for an inquest into the death of a woman after paramedics took 20 minutes to reach her.

The woman, in her 80s, collapsed in a Strathalbyn tea room last month, but despite the efforts of paramedics, she later died in hospital.

The tea room is just around the corner from the ambulance station that is normally staffed by volunteers.

The SA Ambulance Service admits there was no volunteer crew at Strathalbyn that day, but said a full time crew was called in from Mt Barker as a replacement.

“There was actually a crew in the area, but unfortunately two calls came in at pretty much more or less the same time so even if a volunteer crew would have been in place, the likelihood is that that scenario would occurred anyway,” Robert Moreton from the SA Ambulance Service said.

The union claims a number of ambulance bases are unstaffed day and night. Crews from fulltime ambulance stations are called in to cover empty regional areas.

“So all in all it’s stretching the ambulance service to the limit to provide proper coverage” Phil Palmer form the Ambulance Employees Association

While the ambulance service is investigating the woman’s death, the union wants the government to go further.

“Any death that could be considered avoidable, should be considered by the coroner,” Mr Palmer said.

Health Minister Jack Snelling said: “Any South Australian who has not received the sort of service we would expect from our health system, I’d be very, very sorry that has happened.”