Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Teenager in ‘nightmare’ wait for ambulance after collapse in A9 layby

Nicola Sturgeon was asked to explain long waits for emergency help
Nicola Sturgeon was asked to explain long waits for emergency help

The parents of a teenager who collapsed at the side of the A9 were left frantically calling for emergency help which never came.

Dad Jim, from Pitlochry, said his son’s lips were turning blue after he passed out in a layby.

With his wife, they called 999 but after 20 minutes were told no ambulance was immediately available.

Eventually, they took their unwell son to a clinic – which was shut – and got him seen by a nurse, by chance.

The frightening example was just one of several raised directly with First Minister Nicola Sturgeon in Holyrood on Thursday

It was a nightmare from start to finish.

It’s another account of how the Covid crisis has placed the health service under massive pressure, and led to claims in parliament the emergency services are underfunded.

We have already revealed shocking cases including an Argyll dad who suffered a massive heart attack and collapsed – only for his wife to be told there was no ambulance available.

In Aberdeen, a man claimed a 13-hour wait for an ambulance to take his grieving mother to hospital only ended because he pleaded for help on Twitter.

Jim, who did not want to give his full name, said: “I dread to think what would have happened if he’d been seriously ill.

“It was a nightmare from start to finish.”

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon apologised.

He was driving from Perth to Pitlochry with his wife and two teenage sons when his 17-year-old felt ill.

They pulled over at the side of the road where he passed out, striking his head and cutting his leg.

Jim said his one was out for a couple of minutes. His breathing was shallow and his lips started turning blue.

He came round, but was in a confused state while they waited in vain for help.

‘This was a shock’

“He just fell to the ground,” Jim said.

“He’s never ill so this was a shock.

“We phoned 999 but there was nothing for 20 minutes. We waited for a clinician to phone back, again, nothing.

“We decided to pick him up ourselves and take him to Pitlochry but the clinic was shut.”

A nurse happened to be in the building and told them there were no paramedics around.

First, I am extremely sorry.

– Nicola Sturgeon

His son was checked over and seemed better so was taken home. They took him to the local GP the next day.

Jim added: “The doctor said to phone for help if happened again. What are you supposed to think of that? Will help be available?”

He told local MSP Murdo Fraser before it was raised at First Minister’s Questions.

Jim said he was reluctant to fully identify himself for fear of being accused of making party political attacks.

Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross raised ambulance waits at Holyrood

In Holyrood, Tory lead Douglas Ross raised further examples. One involved a man in an assisted-living complex in Bearsden who had symptoms of stroke and phoned for an ambulance at 2.30 pm. They were not picked up until 4.45 am, more than 14 hours later

Mr Ross said: “People are dialling 999 and are asking for an ambulance. On average, they are waiting six hours, not 10 minutes.

“The First Minister tries to say that that is because of the pandemic. Our ambulance staff and technicians have done fantastic work during the pandemic and before it, but the problems began long before Covid-19.”

Told about Jim’s experience, Ms Sturgeon said: “I do not know whether Jim is watching, but he might be, so I will address him directly.

“First, I am extremely sorry that the wait that you had, happened, and I do not think that that is acceptable.

“I am trying to address the issues genuinely, because I do not think that the cases that Douglas Ross has cited are acceptable, and nothing that I have said today suggests that they are.”

This article originally appeared on the Evening Express website. For more information, read about our new combined website.