‘Off duty’ ambulance driver ignored accident victims

The South West Regional Health Authority (SWRHA) has launched an investigation into allegations that two victims of an accident in El Socorro waited two hours for an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) ambulance on Wednesday. According to reports, Lisa Ramjattan, 20, of Gilbert Street, Felicity and Melissa Mc Allister, 21, of Edinburgh 500, Chaguanas, were attempting to cross the Churchill Roosevelt Highway when they were knocked down by a car.  According to a release yesterday, reports also indicate that during the wait by the two victims, the driver of an ambulance passing in the opposite direction refused to provide assistance because he was allegedly “off duty.” The SWRHA stated it was extremely anxious to establish the facts relating to the incident.

“To ensure that the investigation is as thorough as possible, we require the assistance of the members of the public who were bystanders and other emergency staff who were in attendance,” the release stated. “We have already established that EMS did not receive a call for assistance until 9.57 am, and the ambulance arrived on the scene at 10.33 am. As has been stated on many previous occasions, all of our calls are logged which enables EMS to establish the precise time that calls are received,” the release revealed. The SWRHA is calling on members of the public who were bystanders at the incident, particularly those who called EMS and/or those who spoke to the driver of the ambulance that did not provide assistance to contact them at 683-0589.