Woman’s death prompts investigation into WA ambulance ramping crisis

The 75-year-old died on Tuesday after she was taken to Busselton Health Campus by ambulance, understood to be complaining of back pain.

For more than three hours she was held in the Emergency Department under the watch of paramedics – a process called ramping – instead of being transferred into hospital care.

At some point during that time she suffered a suspected heart attack that killer her.

WA Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson has said the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death will be thoroughly investigated.

Dean Meade has told 9News he experienced WA’s strained health system first hand.

He said he was made to wait four hours in Joondalup’s emergency ward while pleading for care through excruciating pain.

When he finally got a bed and underwent scans it was discovered he had a ruptured appendix and needed emergency surgery.

The father-of-three, who also suffers an auto-immune disease, said he believes he could have died.

“There was other people in the waiting room that had been there for up to 10 hours and more,” he said.

Paramedics spent a whopping 5693 hours in March ramped outside WA hospitals.

The figure is up from 979 hours they spent ramping in March 2018.