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My neighbour when she was taken ill

Posted By TFG

"My neighbour when she was taken ill"

About: Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh at Little France / Accident & Emergency Scottish Ambulance Service

(as a friend),

My neighbour and dear friend called me for help, I went into her house and found her struggling to breathe in a collapsed state. I phoned 999 and was told that an Ambulance had been sent. My friend stopped breathing.

I called 999 again and was given clear instructions what to do over the phone. I did CPR until the crew arrived. The two women that came in and took over were like Angels, professional, efficient and calm. A man arrived shortly after with other specialist equipment to help. They did everything possible to save my friends life.

We then went in the ambulance to the Royal Infirmary, with the blue light and siren going. The driving was necessarily fast but I felt completely safe and reassured by the driver. Unfortunately my friend did not make it.

I am so grateful for the incredible emergency services that come to us in our most desperate need. I have travelled the world in my life and know that this service is just not there in many countries. We should really appreciate both the service we have and more importantly the amazing people who come to our rescue. Thank you!

The ambulance team were Laura, Pamela and Mark.

I can't remember the nurses name at the Royal Infirmary but we were in interview room 2 and she was amazing, a difficult job but done with empathy and care.

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Responses

Response from Martin Esposito, Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate, Scottish Ambulance Service 8 years ago
Martin Esposito
Consultant Paramedic - Major Trauma, Clinical Directorate,
Scottish Ambulance Service

Submitted on 17/09/2015 at 11:28
Published on Care Opinion at 11:38

picture of Martin Esposito

Dear TFG

I was so sorry to read about the sad loss of your friend.

I would actually like to begin by thanking you. You were able to dial 999 twice and carry out CPR on your friend in what must have been an unimaginably difficult and distressing situation for you.

Bystander CPR is so important for patients in cardiac arrest and whilst it was not successful for your friend, it can make a big difference to the outcome.

I was also pleased to read your kind words about the ambulance staff that attended to your friend and the nurse at the hospital.Cardiac arrest is the ultimate medical emergency and it was good to hear your comments about the calmness, efficiency and professionalism of our staff.

It would be good to pass on your feedback to those involved and wondered if you would be able to provide a little more information, such as the area, or full name of the ‘royal infirmary’ as there are a number of them in Scotland.

Thinking more about you, and what you experienced on that day, if you did want to speak to someone about your experience or simply have a chat, I would be more than happy to meet up with you or give you a call.

My telephone number is 0131 314 0003 and my email address is mailto:martinesposito@nhs.net

Thank you so much for sharing your story

Take care

Martin

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Update posted by TFG (a friend)

I phoned Martin and had a chat about things and gave him the information he requested. Thanks for the chat Martin it really helped.

Response from Jeannette Morrison, Head of Patient Experience, NHS Lothian 8 years ago
Jeannette Morrison
Head of Patient Experience,
NHS Lothian

Submitted on 05/10/2015 at 11:28
Published on Care Opinion at 12:01

Dear TFG,

At the outset please can l apologise for the delay in responding to you. Like Martin please can l say how sorry l was to read about the loss of your friend after what must have been a very difficult and stressful experience for you.

We really value your feedback and l have passed on your kind words to the staff at the Accident and Emergency Department. If you would like to discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact me and my number is 0131 536 3370.

Kind regards

Jeannette Morrison

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