Ledbury residents campaign to save lives

1:00pm Thursday 7th August 2008

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LEDBURY residents want to help the ambulance service in providing emergency care as a tribute to an elderly man who died last week.

Janet Meredith, a neighbour of Alfred Parry who died of a suspected heart attack while waiting for an ambulance, has called for residents to help compile a register listing the whereabouts of defibrillators.

Ms Meredith said one of the machines, which increases the chance of heart attack sufferers surviving, was found at Ledbury swimming pool days after the death of Mr Parry on Monday, July 28, at nearby Lawnside Road.

“We did not know it was there and it was several days before we discovered this,”

said Ms Meredith.

“We are going to liaise with the ambulance service to see if a register could be compiled – there is no point in buying this equipment if it’s not available to the public.

“People are still angry that we had a defibrillator so close and an ambulance station at the bottom of the road that was unmanned.

“But we want to work with the ambulance service, not against them, and as a lasting tribute to Mr Parry we would like to initiate this register.”

Mr Parry, aged 81, died despite the frantic attempts of friends and family to save him while he waited for the ambulance.

Murray McGregor, a spokesman for the ambulance service, said it took 17 minutes for an ambulance travelling from Hereford to Bromyard to reach Mr Parry.

They were required to get to 75% of category A calls within eight minutes.

The ambulance stationed at Ledbury Ambulance Station was at an emergency incident in Malvern, said Mr McGregor.

“Every effort was made to reach the patient as quickly as possible," he said.

“The Trust always sends the nearest available vehicle to incidents and our staff work very hard to ensure the highest level of care is always available.

“At the time of the call there was a high level of demand in Herefordshire and Worcestershire.”

Ms Meredith and Peta Barnes sent a petition signed by 130 people to the West Midlands Ambulance Service and Hereford NHS Trust drawing attention to these problems.

Councillor Keith Francis, the Mayor of Ledbury, said the town council had sent a letter to health chiefs asking questions about the delay and the opening hours of Ledbury ambulance station.

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of defibrillators can email CommunityResponseManagers@ wmas.nhs.uk