Martin Hale 47, was a diabetic who suffered a heart attack and collapsed at his home in Southampton in the UK. Sadly, the ambulance that was supposed to take him to the hospital took over 90 minutes to get to him, and by the time he was in the hospital, he was already brain dead.
They called three times before the ambulance arrived
Martin's mother, who is also a diabetic, said that she first called the hospital at around 7:45 pm, when her son suffered a heart attack and collapsed. However, the ambulance took a very long time to get to their home.
She shares, "Waiting for the ambulance to arrive was just awful. When no one came after my first call, I rang the ambulance again. I rang them three times in total. The third time I rang I was screaming down the phone saying, “He’s gone now, it’s too late."
"Apparently, when the paramedics finally arrived they said they’d only just got the call."
His mother adds, "If the ambulance had come earlier then who knows? Martin could still be alive. I just don’t want something like this to happen to another family."
By the time that Martin was taken to the hospital, he was still alive, but the brain damage caused by lack of oxygen to his brain was so extensive that the family decided to pull him from life support.
"It’s the worst decision I’ve ever had to make in my life but Martin wouldn’t have wanted to carry on like that."
This wasn't the first time it happened
Martin's death comes not long after another related incident wherein a man died after the ambulance service took over 4 hours to arrive, and that was after the man's father called a total of five times for the ambulance.
Supposedly, ambulances should arrive within 8 minutes for life-threatening concerns. According to reports, only 1 out of the 13 ambulance trusts in the UK was meeting that target. The response time for the other ambulance trusts was closer to 15 minutes, almost double the 8 minute goal.
A more recent investigation has also found that over the past 2 years, there has been a 52% increase in the amount of delays for ambulances.
Go to the next page to learn more about managing diabetes.
First aid tips for managing diabetes
Diabetes, if not managed properly, can, in some cases, prove deadly. That's why it's important for all of us to know how to manage diabetes, so that in case we or a loved one has this disease, we're already equipped with the knowledge on how to handle it.
Here are some helpful tips:
- Learn more about diabetes. Diabetes can be one of three things: it can either be a lack of sugar, a lack of insulin to manage the sugar, and for some pregnant women, gestational diabetes.
- Know the ABCs of diabetes. You need to know the ABCs of diabetes: the A1C test, blood pressure monitoring, and cholesterol management. Knowing these three things are all important when it comes to managing diabetes.
- Talk to your doctor to create a routine. A routine for managing diabetes is important when it comes to keeping yourself healthy. Your doctor will best be able to teach you what to do to manage your diabetes, and can also schedule regular checkups so that they can monitor your progress.
- Track what you eat. With diabetes, it's important to monitor what you're eating as your diet has a direct impact towards your blood sugar levels. Eating a proper diet with the types of food that your body needs is vital in keeping your body healthy and avoiding the negative effects of diabetes.
- Keep yourself active. Along with a healthy diet, keeping yourself active is also important when it comes to managing diabetes. A healthy body not only keeps you strong, but it also helps you manage diabetes better.
Sources: metro.co.uk, dailymail.co.uk
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