Ambulance breaks down outside patient’s house

A seriously ill man suffering a life-threatening heart attack had to receive CPR at the side of the road after an ambulance sent to rush him to hospital broke down outside his home.

Dublin City Council have confirmed they are investigating the incident, which is the latest in a series of recent breakdowns involving the vital vehicles, after it occurred on Brian Road in Marino, Dublin, on Tuesday evening.

The Irish Examiner understands that a crew from the North Strand base was rushed out to the scene after being alerted by an emergency 999 call about a middle-aged man who was suffering a heart attack.

Within minutes the ambulance arrived at the scene and took him by stretcher into the vehicle.

In order to do so, the “tail lift” — a moveable platform at the back door of the ambulance — had to be lowered to ground level.

However, despite repeated attempts, paramedics were unable to raise the equipment back to its correct position due to a systems malfunction — leaving the ambulance stranded at the scene.

As the medics called for a back-up ambulance the patient went into cardiac arrest and had to receive CPR to keep him alive. A second ambulance arrived minutes later to take the man to the Mater Hospital, where he is understood to be in a serious but stable condition.

A spokesperson for Dublin City Council — which has authority for the Dublin Fire Brigade ambulances involved due to a long-standing boundary issue with the HSE — confirmed “an incident” occurred when an ambulance “experienced a problem with the tail lift”.

She said the matter is “currently under investigation“, but declined to clarify exactly how long the patient’s vital journey to hospital was delayed.

The incident is the latest in a number of recent breakdowns involving ambulances.

Last week, a tail lift on another Dublin City ambulance “fell off” due to metal fatigue, while earlier this year a man had to be treated for heart failure at a Dublin Dart station after an ambulance sent to treat him suffered engine problems.

Last week, the Health and Safety Authority also revealed that the HSE had to pay a €500,000 fine after paramedic Simon Sexton, a 43-year-old father of six, died in June 2010 when he fell through a rear-hinged side-door of the vehicle which had not been fully repaired.