Crash victim in 12-hour ordeal
Reece Lloyd-Grimwood was eventually driven by his parents from Masterton Hospital to Hutt Hospital.
His mother, Anne-Maree Grimwood, said doctors told her son he nearly lost his left arm and should have been flown from Masterton to Wellington as he endured intense pain from his injured hand and a gaping arm wound that exposed his forearm bone.
She was shocked the Wairarapa District Health Board could not transfer her son despite admitting there were manned emergency ambulances sitting spare.
I couldnt believe it. My main concern is that he had to wait to get transferred. The head nurse tried all day to get an ambulance but they didnt have a driver. I wouldnt want anyone else to go through that.
Mr Lloyd-Grimwood, 20, was driving home to Carterton about 1.30am on Wednesday when his car clipped the side of a bridge. The Honda Accord flipped and his arm scraped along the road through the upturned cars open sun roof.
Despite intense pain and heavy bleeding, he walked several kilometres to a farmhouse to raise the alarm.
Mrs Grimwood said doctors at Wairarapa Hospital said he needed to go to Hutt Hospital for plastic surgery.
Staff could not find an ambulance or driver to take him and said an air transfer was unlikely.
Her son was in severe pain so about 10am she offered to drive him over the Rimutaka Hill but was told this was not an option.
About five hours later staff accepted her offer. She and her husband drove Mr Lloyd-Grimwood to Lower Hutt in their own car with an accompanying nurse.
I was just shocked. When you are in an emergency you expect to be able to get transferred as soon as possible to where youre going to have treatment.
Nursing a bloodied stump after surgery on his hand yesterday, Mr Lloyd-Grimwood asked what would have happened if he suffered a heart attack or needed life-saving treatment.
Im all right. Ive made it now, but it doesnt mean that the next person will.
I didnt get into theatre till 11pm. It could have caused worse damage. I mean 12 hours to get a trip over to Lower Hutt? What do they mean they cant get an ambulance?
Wairarapa Ambulance Service manager Shaun Camp said the region had three emergency ambulances and one for patient transfers.
Another was in Palmerston North for maintenance on Wednesday. The transfer ambulance had been busy and staff were reluctant to tie up available emergency ambulances moving patients in case they were needed.
All off-duty ambulance officers were busy that day but an emergency ambulance would have taken Mr Lloyd-Grimstone if his condition was life-threatening.
We do have limited resources. Sometimes we cant fulfil every need all the time.
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Thursday, January 31st, 2008 at 6:08 pm under