Investigation starts after delays in ambulance arrival

• NIAS is examining if a slow response caused eight deaths.
• NIAS medical director Nigel Ruddell said “the needs are endless.”
• We’re looking into the other four deaths to see if they fit that description.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) is looking into whether a slow response was a factor in the recent deaths of eight persons.

All eight fatalities happened between December 12 and the beginning of January.

Four of the fatalities are being treated by the NIAS as serious adverse occurrences, which are incidents that resulted in unplanned or unforeseen harm.

We’re looking into the other four deaths to see if they fit that description.

Although the patients’ identities have not been made public, it is known that one of the eight was a man who, in the middle of December, waited for an ambulance for more than nine hours.

Before the paramedics could come, the man’s health worsened and he passed away.

The demand on ambulance employees has been intense for months.

Because ambulances cannot move on to the next call, a delay in unloading patients to emergency rooms is a serious issue.

Some patients have been waiting to be admitted to the hospital for up to nine hours in ambulances outside the EDs.

The NIAS has further confirmed that five out of the eight instances did not receive a response within the advised time range.

The delays are a cause of “great concern,” but there is “no end in sight to the pressures we are facing,” according to the ambulance service’s medical director Nigel Ruddell.

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