Grieving widow says she was put on hold for 10 minutes after calling 999 while trying to revive her husband after he suffered a fatal heart attack
- Emma Blehs, 48, had to try to resuscitate husband Paul after he had heart attack
- She said she was on hold for 10 minutes and that ambulance did not arrive for 22
- She tried to resuscitate husband before paramedics arrived but he later died
- The mother-of-two from Bournemouth, Dorset, lives just two miles from hospital
A devastated widow has told of how she was put on hold for 10 minutes before being connected to the ambulance service after husband suffered a fatal heart attack.
Emma Blehs, 48, said she spent 22 minutes trying to revive her dying husband Paul after being put on hold by a 999 operator.
The mother-of-two from Bournemouth, Dorset, frantically tried to resuscitate the 47-year-old while on speaker phone.
Emma Blehs, 48, said she spent 22 minutes trying to revive her dying husband Paul after being put on hold by a 999 operator
Paramedics worked on Paul for an hour before taking him to hospital where he was placed on a ventilator
An ambulance eventually arrived at the couple’s home 22 minutes after Mr Blehs stopped breathing – despite them living just two miles from the nearest hospital.
Paramedics worked on him for an hour before taking him to hospital where he was placed on a ventilator.
But sadly the father-of-one never regained consciousness and his life support was later switched off.
Now his widow is demanding answers of South West Ambulance Service which is conducting an internal review over four months after his death in May.
The father-of-one was placed on a ventilator but sadly never regained consciousness and had his life support was later switched off
Mrs Blehs, a veterinary nurse from Bournemouth, Dorset, said she lives just a three minute blue-light drive away from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital.
She has requested a recording of her 999 call to try and find out what went wrong.
The 48-year-old mother-of-two, whose first husband also died of a heart attack six years ago, said Mr Blehs had always been fit and healthy before he suffered the fatal heart attack.
She said: ‘It went wrong because I was on hold for so long.
‘The phone rang and rang for ages – around two minutes. Somebody answered, I said ‘my husband’s heart has stopped and he isn’t breathing’.
‘I couldn’t have been clearer. That’s not somebody you put on hold. The call handler said he’d put me straight through – but every few minutes he’d come back and say, ‘sorry, we’re still trying to connect you’.
Mrs Blehs, a veterinary nurse from Bournemouth, Dorset, said she lives just a three minute blue-light drive away from the Royal Bournemouth Hospital
‘All this time I was trying to resuscitate my dead husband.
‘I was on the phone for 22 minutes while trying to resuscitate Paul. For 10 of those minutes I kept getting put on hold by the 999 call operator.
‘I live a three-minute blue lights journey from the hospital.
‘I know as a vet nurse myself that with lack of oxygen to the brain, within six minutes your organs start to shut down – so I knew he wasn’t coming back.’
MailOnline has contacted South West Ambulance Service and Royal Bournemouth Hospital for comment.
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