Queensland mother Cath Groom dies after ambulance fails to arrive
A Queensland mother has died after an ambulance she called for chest pain failed to show up at her home.
Cath Groom called paramedics just before 10:30pm on Friday after experiencing the worrying symptoms, but she was left waiting for more than an hour and a half for paramedics to arrive.
The delay occurred despite Ms Groom’s condition being deemed an urgent code one, meaning she should have been treated within 15 minutes.
She died the day before her 52nd birthday and is believed to have been discovered by her teenage son Nicholas.
Her friends and family have taken to social media to pay tribute to the “amazing mother” and to express their “deepest shock, grief and sadness” at the news.
“She was and will always be my favourite human on this earth, I loved her to bits we were like a brother and sister I’m going to be lost without her,” one person wrote.
“What an absolute shock. Such a beautiful girl taken way too soon,” another said.
Ms Groom had been left to raise her son on her own after her husband died when the boy was just a baby.
“Rest In Peace Sis, may you rest easy now with Dad and your life’s love and husband Warren,” her sister wrote on social media.
Offering their “thoughts and condolences” to Ms Groom’s loved ones, Queensland Ambulance Services have said they will conduct a review into how Ms Groom’s case went from a priority to being pushed back in the queue.
“QAS is undertaking a comprehensive review of the clinical and operational aspects of this case as well as referring to the coroner,” the spokesman told 9 News.
“The service is engaged with the family and will continue to keep them updated throughout the process of the review.”
Ms Groom’s shock death comes just days after another Queensland man died while waiting in an ambulance outside Ipswich Hospital for three hours.
Wayne Irving, 67, called an ambulance to his home in Coulson, 80km south west of Brisbane at approximately 7:30pm on Thursday.
Despite paramedics arriving 30 minutes later, Mr Irving was forced to wait outside the hospital for hours before his condition worsened.
He suffered a cardiac arrest and died a short time later.
Originally published as Queensland mother Cath Groom dies after ambulance fails to arrive
