Woman 'almost choked' while waiting one hour for an ambulance

The Goulburn woman says she's still suffering trauma from the events of Saturday, June 15.

She and partner, Collin Gardiner were eating dinner late that evening when a piece of lamb chop became stuck in Heather's throat.

Several back blows from Collin failed to dislodge the meat and he said he called triple zero for an ambulance at about 11.50pm.

"I could feel myself going in and out of consciousness," Heather said.

"...I wondered whether I'd ever see my kids again. I thought I was gone."

Collin said Heather was gasping for breath but the ambulance operator told him a crew would be "90 minutes or so away." He later learnt the ambulance came from Yass.

"The operator told me to keep talking to her so I did. She was nodding her head but couldn't say anything. She was just coughing. The food was caught in her oesophagus," Collin said.

"I was told the nearest ambulance was in Yass. I did first aid back in 1996 and I was prepared to do it again. I wondered why an ambulance wasn't available in Goulburn."

He said by this stage Heather was "as white as a sheet."

The Post understands that no on-call staff were rostered that night and the single ambulance crew on duty in Goulburn was busy with another job. According to sources, it was not the first time this had occurred.

Collin said the ambulance arrived at about 12.45am on June 16. Paramedics' back thrusts also failed to dislodge the meat and Heather was immediately taken to Goulburn Base Hospital.

Heather said records later showed her oxygen level had dropped to 30 when it should be 95 or higher.

"I was already in respiratory distress, according to the medical notes," she said.

Heather underwent a gastroscopy and a bronchoscopy to remove meat from the oesophagus and the main bronchi.

She spent two days in intensive care and one day in a ward before being released from hospital on Tuesday, June 18.

Since then Heather said she'd had time to reflect on the events.

"I've had a lot of anxiety... and have been very wary about eating solid food," she said.

"I've been so angry since then. Where was the first response ambulance? I discovered it came from Yass. It's not like we live in Sydney where there's a wait time. We're in Goulburn. I'd expect several ambulances to be available."

Both she and Collin told The Post they'd like an apology and compensation for the trauma they experienced that evening. The disability pensioners say they're still awaiting the ambulance bill.

"It's pretty hard to watch someone go through that," Collin said.

NSW Ambulance apologised to Heather following The Post's questions.

"NSW Ambulance extends its sincere apologies to the patient and their family for the delay experienced in an ambulance responding to their Triple Zero (000) call," a spokesperson said in a statement.

"NSW Ambulance has contacted the patient to apologise and listen to their concerns. The safety of our patients is always our top priority.

"An internal review is underway, and we will continue to keep the patient and their family updated as this review progresses. It is not appropriate to make any further comment while the review is ongoing."

The Ambulance service would not answer questions on why no on-call crew was rostered that night, as the paramedic claimed.

Instead, it deferred to the review. However the service confirmed that the "current roster pattern" was: Two on-duty crews on day shift; one on-duty crew on night shift; and an on-call crew on night shift.

"NSW Ambulance is currently consulting with local staff on the roster pattern," the spokesperson said.

"During periods of high demand, NSW Ambulance continuously moves resources to where they are needed most across a region, to deliver the best possible emergency and mobile health care for the community."

The service confirmed that as a disability pensioner, Ms Fraser wouldn't be charged for the call-out.

A source told The Post there were people "available and willing" to fill the on-call shift that night but no one was assigned.

Heather, for one, hopes the problem is fixed promptly.

"Something needs to be done before this happens to someone else," she said.

Collin said he wanted a full explanation on why a Goulburn ambulance didn't respond straight away.