A single mother suffering chest pains has tragically died at her home after waiting for an ambulance that never arrived.
Cath Groom, 51, called emergency services just before 10:30pm on Friday and was deemed an urgent code one, meaning an ambulance should have arrived to her home within 15 minutes.
Despite numerous calls to 000, an ‘exhausted’ Ms Groom waited 90 minutes before she cancelled the request andĀ decided to go to sleep, hoping her symptoms would subside.
The following morning her son made the heartbreaking discovery that Ms Groom’s had died in bed, leaving him orphaned.
Cath Groom, 51, called emergency services just before 10:30pm on Friday and was deemed an urgent code one, meaning an ambulance should have arrived to her home within 15 minutesĀ
Ms Groom had been raising her son on her own after her husband also tragically died 18-years-ago just a month after he was born.
Her friends and family took to social media to pay tribute to an ‘amazing and genuine woman taken far too soon’.
‘Rest In Peace Sis, may you rest easy now with Dad and your life’s love and husband,’ Ms Groom’s sister wrote on Facebook.
‘Cath you’re an amazing mother, woman and friend. Heaven is a greater place for having you,’ a friend wrote.
Queensland Ambulance Services (QAS) is conducting a review into how cases like Ms Groom’s fall down the priority line despite the urgency of their requests.
‘Firstly, the QAS’ thoughts and condolences go out to the lady’s family and friends,’ a QAS spokesperson told 9News.
The spokesperson said that despite Ms Groom’s case being worthy of a ‘lights and sirens response’, she was pushed back in the queue due to a large amount of calls to emergency services at the time.
‘QAS is undertaking a comprehensive review of the clinical and operational aspects of this case as well as referring to the coroner,’ the spokesperson said.
‘The service is engaged with the family and will continue to keep them updated throughout the process of the review.’
A source close to QAS told 9News that Ms Groom’s death was ‘entirely preventable’ if an ambulance was able to arrive at the scene on time.
The tragedy comes just two days after the death of Wayne Irving, 67, who was made to wait in an ambulance outside of a hospital for three hour.Ā
The following morning her son made the heartbreaking discovery that Ms Groom’s had died in bed, leaving him orphanedĀ
The tragedy comes just two days after the death of Wayne Irving, 67, who was made to wait in an ambulance outside of a hospital for three hourĀ
The foster carer and water rank cleaner began experiencing chest pains on Thursday around 7.30pm at his home in Coulson, about 80km south west of Brisbane with an ambulance arriving about 30 minutes later.
While he was waiting from 9:15pm that night until about 12:15am, his condition worsened to the point that he drifted in and out of consciousness.
As he was lowered down a ramp to be taken out of the ambulance, Mr Irving suffered a cardiac arrest and died a short time later.
His wife said she was ‘completely devastated’ by her husband’s death.
‘We’ve lost an amazing man,’ Ms Irving said.