When faced with an immediate life-threatening emergency, one would usually call an ambulance to transport the person to the nearest medical unit. An ambulance is supposed to arrive as fast as possible since a person’s life is on the line.
On 27th June 2023, a young man in Johor lost his life due to a late arrival of an ambulance. The ambulance from a local health clinic was reported to have broken down at that time, so another ambulance was sent from a hospital further away. The ambulance arrived 2 hours late, and the 38-year-old passed away before receiving any kind of treatment.
According to China Press, the sister of the deceased said that her brother was experiencing shortness of breath and cold sweat at around 1am that day. He was rushed to the Paloh Health Clinic. At the clinic, they were told that an ambulance service could not be provided because their vehicle had broken down.
The clinic explained that they needed to reach out to the Kluang Hospital for help. “However, it took nearly 2 hours for the ambulance to arrive, by then, my younger brother had already stopped breathing,” the sister said.
The sister and her family were deeply grieved having to send off the man at such a young age. The sister mentioned that her sister-in-law is also currently pregnant with their third child, “Who would understand the pain and suffering that my sister-in-law is feeling right now after having lost her husband?”
After the incident, the sister requested for the health clinic to provide further explanations for what took place, however, she was met with a disappointing response. Although she understood that the ambulance had to travel quite a distance, but it didn’t make sense why it took them 2 hours, given the distance between Kluang and Paloh.
She argued that her brother’s death was caused by the negligence of their local clinic and the hospital. “I hope that the Ministry of Health can provide an explanation, so similar incidents like this could be prevented in the future.” We send our condolences to the family and friends of the young man. We also hope that the family will receive a proper clarification after what happened.
Source: China Press
