
Stroke Patient Dies After Ambulance Driver Clocks Out
19
After suffering a stroke, 69-year-old Ali Asghar was unlucky enough to get an ambulance driver who really, really, hated overtime. The driver allegedly refused to work beyond his shift and clocked out part-way through the trip to the hospital. Since it was 15 minutes past quitting time, the ambulance was taken to the depot where the next shift's driver took over and finally brought Mr. Asghar to the hospital. Asghar deteriorated during the drive and died soon after arriving at North Tees hospital's accident and emergency unit. An NHS source said, "Paramedics pride themselves on the public being able to feel they are in the best hands when they are called out to an emergency. If this person wanted a nine to five job he should not have become a paramedic. A couple of minutes in a life or death situation is a very long time. Skimming off just a few seconds from an emergency call-out can save lives — that's why ambulances are fitted with blue lights and sirens."