Mother dies after ambulance fails to arrive
A mother from Queensland has tragically died while waiting for an ambulance, after she called 000 complaining of chest pain.
Cath Groom called paramedics just before 10:30pm on Friday after growing increasingly concerned about persistent chest pain, but was left waiting more than an hour and a half for the ambulance to arrive.
Given the nature of Groom's symptoms, her case was deemed urgent, and she should've been tended to by paramedics within 15 minutes.
It is believed that Cath was found dead by her teenage son while still waiting for the ambulance to arrive, the day before her 52nd birthday.
Her friends and family have taken to social media to pay tribute to the “amazing mother” and to express their “deepest shock, grief and sadness” at the news of her sudden passing.
“She was and will always be my favourite human on this earth, I loved her to bits we were like a brother and sister I’m going to be lost without her,” one person wrote.
“What an absolute shock. Such a beautiful girl taken way too soon,” another said.
Ms Groom had long been a single mum after she was left to raise her son on her own after her husband died when the boy was just a baby.
“Rest In Peace Sis, may you rest easy now with Dad and your life’s love and husband Warren,” her sister wrote on social media.
The shock death has renewed calls for the Queensland and federal government to address ambulance delays, with Australian Medical Association Queensland president Dr Maria Boulton saying the state’s healthcare system is “not good enough”.
“This is what happens because the system is under such strain, we know that our healthcare workers do the best they can in a system that is completely broken,” she told the Today Show.
“This is not on them but it also affects them because they don’t want to lose any lives.”
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