A Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) based in Bury St Edmunds has been called an ‘angel’ after coming to the rescue of a pensioner who was badly injured following a fall.
After a 999 call for help was made, the pensioner waited 20 hours as her local Ambulance NHS Trust struggled to find an ambulance to send to her.
All the while, she lay in pain, having broken her elbow and dislocated her shoulder.
Sue Petts, a resident at the Montana Care Home in Great Barton, fell over outside an EE store in Buttermarket at around 14:30 hours on Monday.
But when Thaya Moses, manager of the care home where Ms Petts resides, called 999, she was told there would be a ‘long wait’ for an emergency ambulance.
Ms Moses told Suffolk News: “Fortunately, many people, including two retired nurses and the people from the EE and Card Factory shops, came to help us; they were all so kind.
“That wait was far too long for Sue to be there, that was not good at all but luckily God sent an angel.”
The help that Ms Moses was referring to came in the form of PCSO Mark Ellis.
PCSO Ellis was driving past the scene when he noticed a commotion outside the shop and stopped to see if he could be of any assistance.
He said: “They had helped the lady into a chair by then and had her right arm in a sling.
“Although it was not hot, she could not have been left there for around 20 hours.
“So I decided I should take her to A&E in the van, as it is as big as an ambulance, and though she was very mobile, people helped her in and off we went.”
When told that he had been described as an ‘angel,’ PCSO Ellis told reporters:
“I am humbled that I was talked about in that light, but I was just a glorified taxi driver.
“It was the members of the public that did the hard work”
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesperson said it was experiencing an extremely high demand on the service and that handover delays at hospitals were also continuing to have an impact on reaching patients as it would like.
Adding: “As this patient’s condition was not life-threatening, the police were able to safely transport her to hospital to minimise her wait.
“We would like to apologise for any distress that this incident may have caused to the patient and would encourage her to contact us directly if she would like to discuss this further.
“We are doing everything we can to balance operational pressures with the need to get to patients as quickly as possible and we truly appreciate the support of local communities in helping us prioritise our efforts.”
Before you go...
WE NEED YOUR HELP.Here at Emergency Services News, we aim to tell you stories that the mainstream media are not interested in reporting. Whilst the MSM love to berate and ridicule the emergency services, who is there to report on the realities of serving on the front line?
Emergency Services News is currently a loss-making entity. But our team of volunteers, all former emergency services personnel, do not do it for the money.
We do it because we are sick and tired of the mainstream media constantly trying to undermine the men and women who put their lives on the line to keep you and your family safe.
How many MSM journalists who speak ill of the emergency services have actually dared to don the uniform and risk their own lives to save the life of a complete stranger? If you would like to help back our mission of reporting on fact-based news, then please consider helping to support us financially.
You can support emergency services news from as little as £1. It only takes a minute. Every contribution, however big or small, is vital for our future.
Please help us to continue to highlight the life-saving work of the emergency services, NHS and armed forces by becoming a supporter.
The local A&E is the West Suffolk Hospital, about one and a half miles away. in the absence of a free Emergency Ambulance why did the care home manager discharge HER due of care to a resident in her charge and make alternative transport arrangements before the PCSO intervened ?