Mum told by 999 to give seriously ill son painkillers after ambulance delay

The parent of a Belfast antheral who collapsed extracurricular a infirmary aft being rushed determination by his parents said she was shocked erstwhile a 999 telephone handler told her helium should instrumentality painkillers arsenic they would person to hold hours for an ambulance.

Brian Rooney, 35, suffered a bosom onslaught extracurricular the Royal Victoria Hospital's exigency section aft his bowel had perforated astatine home.

He is present successful an induced coma pursuing exigency surgery, which resulted successful the removal of his intestine.

The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service (NIAS) apologised to Mr Rooney and his household "for not gathering their expectations successful presumption of the attraction provided to him".

It said it is "unable to remark publically connected the item of idiosyncratic cases" but would "welcome the accidental to discuss, straight with the family, the issues raised".

Mr Rooney is successful a captious but unchangeable condition.

His parent Isobel Benson called 999 aft her lad felt an "explosion" successful his thorax and was "screaming successful agony".

A infirmary advisor aboriginal told her the perforated bowel meant the organ had "effectively exploded and the full contents of his bowel would person been emptied passim his body".

Mr Rooney besides has epilepsy, colitis and gout, and had precocious been successful and retired of hospital.

In the aboriginal hours of Sunday greeting Ms Benson said she heard "an almighty scream" coming from her son's attic room.

After seeing "the panic mounting implicit his face", she phoned for an ambulance.

Ms Benson said she explained her son's aesculapian past and told the telephone handler helium was hyperventilating, successful agony and could not move.

After confirming helium was breathing, lucid and could talk, she was told it would beryllium a mates of hours earlier an ambulance could get to him owed to ongoing pressures connected the wellness service.

When Ms Benson responded that she needed an ambulance now, the telephone handler asked if she could instrumentality her lad to infirmary herself.

She said she could not due to the fact that she had a two-door car, which would beryllium highly hard for Mr Rooney to question successful fixed his level of pain, and her son's begetter could not thrust astatine nighttime due to the fact that of his ain wellness issues.

Ms Benson was told she would person to hold and to conscionable springiness him painkillers.

"I was truly traumatised aft that call. It conscionable beggared belief.

"My knowing of what a precedence telephone is - if you person terrible thorax pains, you're prioritized, that's an emergency.

"But successful this case, due to the fact that helium was coming crossed lucid, that it wasn't deemed an emergency, and that was the extremity of that and it wasn't up for discussion," she said.

Ms Benson said her lad started foaming astatine the rima and coughing up blood, truthful she decided to effort to bring him to infirmary herself.

"I had to manhandle Brian downstairs. I felt awful.

"He was successful agony and screaming astatine each determination and crook of the stair," she said.

She got him down 2 flights of stairs and into her car.

At the doors of the exigency section her lad collapsed.

She said information unit and past aesculapian unit came retired and "cut his garment up and started to springiness him CPR due to the fact that his bosom had stopped".

Ms Benson said the advisor successful the ED told her if they had not made it to the infirmary erstwhile they did "we would beryllium dealing with a corpse now".

She said she understood the pressures connected the wellness service, but ne'er thought, fixed her son's aesculapian history, helium would person to hold truthful agelong for an ambulance.

"They did accidental the ambulances that they did have, they couldn't permission the individuals that they were with, and 1 wouldn't beryllium disposable for a fewer hours," adhd Ms Benson.

"That to maine is communicating that we don't deem you an emergency."

One of Mr Rooney's sisters Roisin Wilshaw, who lives successful England, faced a hard travel backmost to Northern Ireland aft receiving a telephone telephone from her parent successful the mediate of the night.

She booked a formation but it was cancelled owed to atrocious weather, causing her accent arsenic she disquieted astir whether she would marque it location successful clip to spot her member if the worst happened.

"I was conscionable numb, erstwhile I archetypal realised that my formation was cancelled, my bosom conscionable broke."

She got location 12 hours later.

Ms Benson said her lad present faces an uncertain recovery.

As his intestine was removed during surgery, helium volition present usage a stoma to cod waste.

"We person been told, adjacent if Brian gets implicit this stage, the roadworthy up is not going to beryllium plain sailing – his beingness has changed.

"There's inactive complications to beryllium considered similar infections. All the rehab he's going to request due to the fact that of this.

"All these things that perhaps, we don't know, could person been avoided if an ambulance had of travel retired successful clip erstwhile I rang."