BY-STANDERS who went to the aid of a dying pensioner intend to make an official complaint about the length of time it took for ambulance paramedics to respond.
Officials at the North-East Ambulance Service say their records show that a paramedic reached 84-year-old Vera Hindmarch, at Newton Aycliffe shopping centre, within 12 minutes of receiving a 999 call
Helen Emmett, whose husband, Andrew, helped to give Mrs Hindmarch first aid, disputes the response time given by officials.
"I am putting in a formal complaint. If they were there in 12 minutes, why did I make a second call from my mobile after 13 minutes asking when a paramedic was going to turn up," said Mrs Emmett, who believes the actual response time was more like 22 minutes..
An ambulance service spokeswoman confirmed Mrs Emmett contacted them about the incident. "Every complaint is investigated but at this stage we can't say anymore," she added.
According to Government targets, an ambulance has to reach the scene of a serious incident within 19 minutes in 95 per cent of cases.
Meanwhile, Denise Rutter, 29, the grand-daughter of Mrs Hindmarch, criticised the fact that lockable traffic bollards remained in place during the incident, preventing an ambulance getting close to the scene.
"This must not be allowed to happen again," she said. "Nobody could be found with a key to unlock the bollards and the ambulance had to try to get through the multi-storey car park, which lifted the roof off it."
The ambulance spokeswoman was unable to confirm the damage to the vehicle.
A spokesman for the Freshwater Group, which manages most of the shopping centre, said he could not comment on the matter.
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