What EKAB says about cardiac arrest incident in North Corfu
EKAB
07 Feb 2023
/ 13:39
CORFFU. Reactions and questions raised about the handling of the incident by a private ambulance.
According to information received verbally from the Ioannina call centre, "No call has been recorded at the EKAB call centre regarding the 54-year-old woman who suffered a cardiac arrest in North Corfu," said the Ambulance Service Employees Union
Following the disquiet caused by the complaint from the private doctor who handled the case, ambulance service employees issued a statement for the public's benefit to clarify any inaccuracies.
Statement:
Yet another unfortunate incident demonstrates the need for an EKAB base to be set up in North Corfu, following the sudden death of a 54-year-old woman at an event.
Attendees at the event called a private doctor and a private ambulance and a call was never made to the EKAB 166 call centre for an ambulance to be sent.
Over the last couple of days we have seen posts on news sites saying that when the private ambulance arrived the private doctor handling the incident called the EKAB 166 call centre asking for Corfu General Hospital to be informed so that a medical team could be ready to carry out resuscitation procedures.
On the sites we read that when the private ambulance arrived at the hospital, according to the private doctor, nobody was waiting there - there was just a nurse who said that no call had been received.
Emergency services
We need to clarify some things for the public.
First of all, such a serious incident should have been reported to Corfu Hospital or the Prosecutor so that it could be investigated.
EKAB employees have never found the Emergency Department empty and without doctors and whenever they have been asked to be prepared for a serious case, they do so.
Information that there was no call
EKAB is not responsible for informing the hospital of cases being transferred by private ambulance but, according to information we have received, there was no call to the ambulance service about this case, but this information was received verbally and no request was made to the Prosecutor's office to examine the call records, which would show exactly what happened.
Handling of the incident
Right from the beginning we, as qualified and certified paramedics, were concerned about the handling of the incident and wondered which actions had been taken and which hadn't.
1. Why wasn't EKAB informed immediately so that an ambulance could set off immediately?
2. What actions were taken at the location when the private ambulance arrived and did it have certified paramedics?
3. Why wasn't the patient taken to the nearest health centre, in this case Agios Athanasios?
4. If it is possible, the defibrillator should be checked as the latest models keep records.
5. It should be investigated whether the private ambulance crew issued a certificate, what actions were taken regarding the transfer and by whom. And what condition was the patient in when they picked her up?
These points raise a lot of questions and how the whole transfer procedure took place needs to be made clear.
Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and we offer our deepest condolences.
Christos Kypriotis - President
Athanasios Kouris - Secretary
Following the disquiet caused by the complaint from the private doctor who handled the case, ambulance service employees issued a statement for the public's benefit to clarify any inaccuracies.
Statement:
Yet another unfortunate incident demonstrates the need for an EKAB base to be set up in North Corfu, following the sudden death of a 54-year-old woman at an event.
Attendees at the event called a private doctor and a private ambulance and a call was never made to the EKAB 166 call centre for an ambulance to be sent.
Over the last couple of days we have seen posts on news sites saying that when the private ambulance arrived the private doctor handling the incident called the EKAB 166 call centre asking for Corfu General Hospital to be informed so that a medical team could be ready to carry out resuscitation procedures.
On the sites we read that when the private ambulance arrived at the hospital, according to the private doctor, nobody was waiting there - there was just a nurse who said that no call had been received.
Emergency services
We need to clarify some things for the public.
First of all, such a serious incident should have been reported to Corfu Hospital or the Prosecutor so that it could be investigated.
EKAB employees have never found the Emergency Department empty and without doctors and whenever they have been asked to be prepared for a serious case, they do so.
Information that there was no call
EKAB is not responsible for informing the hospital of cases being transferred by private ambulance but, according to information we have received, there was no call to the ambulance service about this case, but this information was received verbally and no request was made to the Prosecutor's office to examine the call records, which would show exactly what happened.
Handling of the incident
Right from the beginning we, as qualified and certified paramedics, were concerned about the handling of the incident and wondered which actions had been taken and which hadn't.
1. Why wasn't EKAB informed immediately so that an ambulance could set off immediately?
2. What actions were taken at the location when the private ambulance arrived and did it have certified paramedics?
3. Why wasn't the patient taken to the nearest health centre, in this case Agios Athanasios?
4. If it is possible, the defibrillator should be checked as the latest models keep records.
5. It should be investigated whether the private ambulance crew issued a certificate, what actions were taken regarding the transfer and by whom. And what condition was the patient in when they picked her up?
These points raise a lot of questions and how the whole transfer procedure took place needs to be made clear.
Our thoughts are with the family of the deceased and we offer our deepest condolences.
Christos Kypriotis - President
Athanasios Kouris - Secretary
