FIRST LIFE LOST AFTER 999 CALLS TRANSFERRED TO BRIERLEY HILL

2.27.28pm GMT Mon 3rd Mar 2008

Following the recent transfer of 999 ambulance calls from Shrewsbury EOC to Brierley Hill, the first person has died in Shropshire as a result of emergency crews being unable to find a man in a remote rural village.

The man, who was staying at a caravan park in Clunton, died last Friday after the ambulance and subsequently the air ambulance failed to find him in time.

Call takers in Brierley Hill are reported to have been unable to understand the word Clunton, thinking it was Plumpton and asking for it to be spelt three times. They were told it was near Craven Arms, and mistook the town for a pub. The ambulance was dispatched and had difficulty finding the man. The air ambulance is reported to have flown up and down the wrong end of the village.

The day before this incident an Ambulance Trust spokesman admitted there had been an 11% drop in performance in call handling times following the transfer, but said response time had been recovered to near normal.

The incident in Shropshire underlines safety concerns highlighted by local campaigners if Bransford were to close.

Richard Burt said:

"Increases in call processing times may only add seconds averaged over 1000 calls, but it is the handful of cases like this when ambulance turnouts are delayed by minutes and location information is poor that pushes the overall response time up, and extra minutes costs lives."

Mr Burt also made an appeal for contributions to the legal costs for the campaign to save Bransford. Cheques made out to 'Bransford Appeal Fund' can be sent to Liz Kabani, C/o. 194 Brook Farm Drive, Malvern, WR14 3SL. Please print name and address on the back of the cheque.