"From start to finish he received the best care possible"

Dear NMB

Thanks for telling us about your experience. Clearly this has been a very worrying time for you and your family. I noted that you have highlighted some issues with the ambulance delay. I am sure that my colleagues from the Scottish Ambulance Service will look into this and provide feedback to you.

Thank you for your kind comments about the care you received at Hairmyres Hospital. I'll make sure that these comments are passed onto the staff that cared for your husband. They will be delighted to know that you felt that the care they gave was the best care possible. I am also delighted to hear your husband is on the road to recovery and enjoyed his 30th birthday with his family.

Kind Regards

Anne Leitch

Dear NMB

Thank you so much for sharing this truly amazing story on Patient Opinion.

Witnessing your husband collapse into cardiac arrest must have been an extremely distressing experience for you. Our call handlers are trained to assist callers in performing lifesaving CPR and I am glad they were able to help you help your husband. I was also really pleased to hear your praise for the ambulance crews who treated your husband and was glad they were able to restart his heart and assist his breathing until arrival at Monklands. It was also pleasing to read about his ongoing care at Monklands and Hairmyres and that he was able to celebrate his 30th birthday with you and your children.

I also want to highlight your importance in this story. You say that from start to finish your husband received the best care possible and this undoubtedly started with you. Early recognition of cardiac arrest and early bystander CPR are key components in the chain of survival and you were able to achieve both of these.

My only concern is the amount of time that it took us to get an ambulance to your husband. Improving survival rates for out of hospital cardiac arrests is one of our key clinical priorities and an important part of that is getting to those patients as quickly as possible. I would really like to take a closer look at this to try and find out what happened on that day.

I would also really like to pass on your thanks to the call handler and ambulance crews who cared for your husband but would need a few more details to be able to do this. Please can you contact me on 0131 314 0003 or at martinesposito@nhs.net

Thanks again for sharing and on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service, please pass on our best wishes to your husband.

Take care

Martin.

Dear NMB

What a terribly difficult expereince for both your husband and you. I am so glad that he is doing well, and that you are enjoying some much deserved family time now.

It is so kind of you to take the time to pass on your positive feedback to the teams at Monklands Hospital who helped to look after your husband. I know our staff often wonder how patients they treated previously are doing, so they will be delighted to hear of your husband's recovery.

I will copy your feedback to the teams today - it will be a real boost for them!

Thanks again and best wishes

Nichola

Dear NMB

Thank you so much for getting back to me. From the details you provided I was able to pass on your thanks to the Call Handler who assisted you and the ambulance crews who cared for your husband on that day.

In relation to the delay, our response did take a little longer than we would have liked, however I can confirm that the 2 ambulances sent were the closest resources to your address at the time the call was made. I am extremely sorry for the delay and I cannot imagine what you must have been going through at that time. You did such an amazing job!

Since your husband's collapse, we have been developing our service and are currently piloting a new clinical response model. This model is aimed at helping us more accurately identify and respond to patients with immediately life threatening symptoms. As part of the Scottish Government's Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest strategy, we have increased the training that our Student Paramedics receive in relation to cardiac arrests, we are continuing to increase the number of community first responders and our Ambulance Control Centre can now identify the closest Public Access Defibrillator to any emergency. We are also working closely with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service who are co-responding to cardiac arrests in some areas of Scotland.

Thank you so much again for sharing and for providing the details that have allowed me to pass on your thanks to the staff involved in this amazing story.

Take care

Martin.