The Eastern Regional Health Authority (ERHA) has challenged claims that its ambulance service took too long to respond to calls from the relatives of three-year-old Ariah Sheppard, who fell ill and eventually died.
Yesterday, the authority provided details of what transpired Tuesday evening. It said the ambulance driver even went to the house where the toddler was and they were informed she was already taken to the health facility.
The child was spending the July/August vacation at her grandmother’s house in St Helena Village, Matelot, when she fell ill. Relatives claimed she died on arrival at the Toco Health Facility after repeated calls for an ambulance to transport her for emergency care came to naught.
Yesterday, the ERHA, in a release, told its side of the story.
The release stated that at 5.20 pm on Tuesday, a relative of the on-call ambulance driver was contacted by the child’s relative requesting the ambulance service.
The ERHA said the on-call driver’s relative advised Ariah’s relative to immediately contact the Toco Accident and Emergency Department and explain the nature of the ailment for a remote assessment of the toddler’s condition to be done. The ambulance would then be dispatched.
The ERHA said the Accident and Emergency nurse who was on duty at the Toco Health Facility received a telephone call from the child’s relative at 5.30 pm.
The authority claimed the relative was concerned that the child had been ailing for six days and wanted advice on what next to do.
It said the nurse asked about the child’s general condition and was informed that Ariah was alert but a bit weak.
The nurse then advised the relative that the toddler required immediate medical attention at the Toco Accident and Emergency Department and the relative agreed.
The ERHA added that when the nurse attempted to reach an on-call ambulance driver, a resident from Matelot contacted the Toco Accident and Emergency Department at 5.31 pm saying that an off-duty member of staff was on the way to the Toco Accident and Emergency with the child and was accompanied by a relative.
The nurse discontinued her efforts to reach the on-call driver.
The release added that while the toddler was being taken for medical care, the on-call driver reported that after waiting some 30 minutes for a call from the Toco Accident and Emergency Department, he visited the family and was informed that the child was already transported to the Toco Health Facility.
The ERHA said Ariah arrived unresponsive at 6.10 pm and was immediately assessed by the medical staff.
The release said all attempts were made to resuscitate her and she was pronounced dead at 6.59 pm.
The authority said it had expressed its condolences to the family and was providing counselling.
However, when Guardian Media spoke with the toddler’s aunt Alana Alfred, she disputed that she was sick for six days.
She said when Ariah arrived in Matelot she was healthy, jolly and active, even dancing with the family. Alfred said this was recorded on video.
The aunt maintained that efforts to contact an ambulance were futile and added that the on-call ambulance driver never came to the house.
She said Ariah was rushed to the Toco Health Facility by a resident of the area who used his van which he uses to sell fish.
Alfred said the family remains traumatised by the incident and they are hoping to get answers when an autopsy is conducted on the toddler today.
The aunt made another appeal to the ERHA to have an ambulance stationed in Matelot and not at the Grande Riviere Outreach Centre to prevent a repeat of what happened to her niece.
The ERHA said it provided an ambulance service to the communities of Matelot and Grande Riviere through an ambulance stationed in Grande Riviere with a driver who is on call.
