Woman Left To Die By The Roadside After Ambulance Bosses Refused To Let Crew Cross A County Boundary!!!!!!!

by **J The Kidd** Sat Oct 18, 2008 1:34 pm

A student was left dying by the side of a road after an air
ambulance 20 miles away was refused permission to cross a county
boundary, it has been revealed.

Rebecca Wedd, 23, had to wait 42 minutes for medical help after she
was hit by a car as she walked with a group of college friends to a
summer ball.

Police arrived in seven minutes, but it was almost three quarters of an
hour after the 999 call when paramedics finally appeared.

The national target for answering such a call is eight minutes.

Miss Wedd was eventually flown to a nearby hospital but died of her injuries the following day.

It has emerged that an air ambulance crew three minutes away from the
scene of the accident was initially refused permission to answer the
call from the A433 in Gloucestershire, because it meant crossing a
county boundary from Wiltshire.

The emergency controller contacted the Wiltshire Air Ambulance after
the accident but was told the helicopter could not fly outside the
county at night.

This was said to be part of a pre-existing arrangement between WAA and Wiltshire Police, which shared the helicopter.

The controller then contacted Wiltshire Police directly and persuaded them to bend the rule because of the emergency.

Permission was given and the aircraft was finally dispatched at
12.02pm, and arrived at the scene at 12.05am - 43 minutes after the
initial 999 call.

Woman Left To Die By The Roadside After Ambulance Bosses Refused To Let Crew Cross A County Boundary!!!!!!! DivX

Only a minute beforehand, the student graduate was being tended by a paramedic whose ambulance had been flagged down by police.

Miss Wedd eventually arrived at hospital an hour and 18 minutes after the accident, and died of her injuries the next day.

The shocking delay in flying the air ambulance was revealed after an
internal investigation into the tragedy was made public under the
Freedom of Information Act.

Miss Wedd's father said he believed his daughter might have been saved but for the delay.

Peter Wedd, of Harston, Cambridgeshire, 53, said: 'I cannot understand
why that rule applies and why that air ambulance could not fly.

'The bureaucracy that stopped the helicopter from flying that night is
unbelievable. Why are these rules there when someone's life is in
severe danger?

'The report is a catalogue of disasters. The resources available were
not properly managed and someone could have attended to my daughter
far, far quicker.

'It's hard to know if that would have made a difference. In my heart of hearts I believe it would.'

The report also highlighted other failings by the Great Western Ambulance Service that night.

A nearby ambulance dealing with a less urgent call was not diverted to
Rebecca's aid and no ambulances were available in nearby Cirencester
because of staff sickness.

At the time Rebecca was killed, Mr Wedd had been rebuilding his life
after his wife Carol, 46, died of breast cancer. He has one other
daughter Caroline, 22.

Rebecca was on her way to the ball at the Royal Agricultural College in Cirencester in May last year when she was struck.