Tea-break ambulance man is suspended over 999 death

AN AMBULANCE technician has been suspended after he took a tea break and refused to respond to an emergency call in which a woman died of a heart attack just 800yd from the depot where he was stationed.

The devastated family of Mandy Mathieson have demanded an end to ambulance crews being allowed to opt out of responding to 999 calls.

Owen McLauchlan, the suspended technician, had been providing ambulance cover in the remote Speyside village of Tomintoul while the local full-time members of the ambulance crew - Ms Mathieson's sister and brother-in-law - were on holiday.

Ms Mathieson's sister, Michelle Fernie, 39, is the full-time ambulance technician in Tomintoul, and her husband Keith Fernie, 41, is the village's paramedic.

Ms Mathieson, 33, an accounts technician, is understood to have been pronounced dead after an ambulance finally arrived at her home in the village's Stewart Place from Grantown-on-Spey, 19 miles away, after her partner, Bobby Taylor, dialled 999 on Saturday, 16 October.

Her brother, Charles Mathieson, 40, an Aberdeen-based firefighter, said yesterday that the family was outraged at the failure of the ambulance technician to respond to the emergency.

He said "Our reaction is one of pure disbelief. We just can't believe that, after being told what was happening, he refused to answer the emergency call. He was only two minutes away."

Mr Mathieson said: "We actually believe that had he answered the emergency, it probably wouldn't have made a difference to the outcome. But even if that was the case, he did not know that.

"There is nothing that can be done now to go back to the Saturday that Mandy died - all we can do is to demand that the Scottish Ambulance Service takes action to make sure that this tragedy never happens again to another family.

"I don't think for one second that this is just a Tomintoul problem. It's an ambulance service problem, because they have people going on a break when they are unavailable.

"We want this policy completely changed. We don't want another family to go through what we have."

The actions of Mr McLauchlan were also condemned by Shirley Keith, who is the part-time ambulance auxiliary in the village. Mrs Keith was at home when she became aware of the emergency at Ms Mathieson's home.

She said: "There was ambulance from Grantown outside Mandy's house and an air ambulance hovering overhead. I phoned Owen at the depot to find out what was going on.

"He said to me it was a young female not breathing. He said 'You are not going to believe what I'm about to say, but I'm on my break and I refuse to go out'.

"I was completely numb.I couldn't believe what he was saying, so I hung up.

"Now I am just outraged about what happened. He chose not to go and never gave Mandy a chance. I can't believe someone with a mindset like that could be in the ambulance service."

A spokesman for the Scottish Ambulance Service confirmed that Mr McLauchlan had been suspended pending an inquiry by the Health Professions Council, the NHS regulator.

The spokesman explained: "On 16 October we received a 999 call for a cardiac emergency in Tomintoul at 12:45pm. The ambulance technician on duty in Tomintoul was on a rest break and chose not to respond.

"An ambulance crew was dispatched from Grantown-on-Spey and arrived on scene within 21 minutes, followed by an air ambulance helicopter eight minutes later.

"Unfortunately, the patient did not survive the cardiac arrest and our thoughts are with her family at this difficult time.

"The Scottish Ambulance Service has asked the Health Professions Council to consider the ambulance technician's decision-making and has suspended the individual while this consideration takes place."

TIMELINE:

An ambulance had to come from Grantown on Spey

Saturday, 16 October, 12:45pm: Scottish Ambulance Service receives a 999 call from Bobby Taylor, the partner of Mandy Mathieson, saying he has found her unconscious and not breathing at their home in Stewart Place, Tomintoul.

Control staff contact Owen McLauchlan, ambulance technician on duty at depot in Tomnabat Lane, Tomintoul, two streets and 800yd away. He refuses to respond because he is on a break. Ambulance crew is dispatched from Grantown- on-Spey.

1:06pm: Ambulance arrives.

1:14pm: Air ambulance helicopter arrives, and Ms Mathieson is pronounced dead