A Shocking First-Hand Experience With The Lackadaisical Attitude Of Malaysian Paramedics
According to Joe Najib, his family member could have been saved if the paramedics were more responsive.
By Mei Mei Chu — 31 Jul 2014, 03:01 PM — Updated about 10 years ago
Facebook user Joe Najib has shocked Malaysian social media users with his experience with the lackadaisical attitude of emergency health services
Only a week ago I posted an update criticising our hospitals and emergency services. Today, my extended family experienced this bad ordeal first hand, and I've never been more furious.
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Joe's family member suffered a heart attack at their home in Bandar Baru Bangi at 2am on 30 July 2014
A family member suffered a heart attack at about 2am this morning at their family residence in Bandar Baru Bangi. His sister and brother-in-law, around for the Raya holidays, both of them qualified doctors practicing in the United States, were with him when it happened. They attempted all the standard resuscitation measures and procedures, from CPR to even wanting to insert a tube into his throat to unblock his oxygen passageway, all but to no avail.
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They called for an ambulance and requested for paramedics to bring oxygen and necessary equipment over
While all this was being tried, another family member dialed 999 for an ambulance. A request was also made by the victim's sister for the paramedics to bring oxygen and necessary equipment over.
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The ambulance that was dispatched from Kajang Hospital took an hour to arrive at their home. Kajang Hospital was only 10 minutes away.
The ambulance, dispatched from Kajang Hospital just 10 minutes away, took almost an hour to arrive at their home.
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Joe was shocked that despite taking an hour to arrive, the three paramedics took their time to casually walk in and untie their shoelaces
What's more frustrating is that when the 3 personnel arrived, they casually walked in, untied their shoelaces calmly as though they're there for Raya visiting.
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When an anxious family member pressed for the paramedics to speed up, they hushed them with a "Miss, please be calm, patience."
When the family members told them to hurry, they hushed the family members with a "Kak, tolong bertenang, sabar".
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The paramedics then walked up to the man, placed a stethoscope on the man's chest and announced the man's death "without any emotions"
They walked up, with a mere stethoscope, placed it on the victim's chest, and without any emotions: "dah takde dah."
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According to Joe, the emergency services did not arrive at the scene to rescue the man, they were there to collect the body. The man could have been saved if the paramedics were more responsive.
When you arrive at an emergency scene one hour from the time of call, it's no longer to rescue; it's to collect. Needless to say, this was exactly the case: he has passed on, leaving behind a sister and her husband who now has to live with the guilt knowing they could have saved their younger brother if OUR paramedics were more responsive.
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Joe's frustration continued at the police station after they were asked to report the death immediately. Instead of attending to their needs, a police officer said "Can I finish eating first?"
If that wasn't enough, they then told the family members to make a police report immediately at the Bandar Baru Bangi police station. My brother in-law, arriving at the station in a panic state, wanted to get the report done immediately. And how was he attended to? The officer at the counter said "boleh tolong saya habis makan dulu tak? (Can I finish eating first?)". Unbelievable.
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Infuriated by all the inefficiencies that are causing the lives of unfortunate souls, Joe Najib has promised to get in touch with the media and the authorities to get to the bottom of this matter.
It took half a day for Kajang Hospital to trace the deceased's medical records from another hospital to come up with a post mortem. Half a day. In the end, the jenazah (body) was only released at 3pm, over 12 hours after he was brought in. Prayer and burial proceedings were delayed significantly by all these inefficiencies.
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I believe I will now use my extensive contacts with the media and the authorities to get to the bottom of this. Some heads are going to roll. This has to stop. Before other unfortunate souls - victims and families alike, suffer the same fate as my extended family did.
Enough is ENOUGH!
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