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Miscellaneous See other Miscellaneous Articles Title: Ambulance denied in Swedish Health because caller still talking The mother of a 22-year-old Swedish woman who died after being denied an ambulance because she was “still talking” has reported the incident to Swedish health authorities. Ambulance call denied: woman 'was still talking' (14 Jun 11) Jill Söderberg, 22, came down with a stomach bug after Christmas 2010 that later developed influensa-like symptoms. Her mother Annika had been having trouble reaching her daughter and on January 27th finally decided to drive by Jill's apartment in Timrå in northern Sweden. “I was actually getting annoyed because she hadn't answered my calls or text messages,” Annika Söderberg told The Local. “I decided to stop by and drop off a bag of food on my way to work. I hung it on the door and knocked, but she didn't answer.” Later that evening, Annika asked Jill's father to go check on their daughter. “He found the bag of food still hanging on the door and discovered the door was unlocked. He went in and found Jill lying on the sofa, dead,” said Annika. What Jill's family didn't realise at the time was that their daughter had been lying dead for almost a week. Annika's suspicions that her daughter's death could have been avoided grew stronger when she later found Jill's mobile phone while cleaning out her apartment. Looking through the recent calls, Annika discovered that Jill's last phone call was on January 20th to ambulance operator SOS Alarm. “The call lasted 15 minutes, and that got me thinking,” she said. In total, Jill had placed three calls from her mobile phone to SOS Alarm, but to no avail. Eventually, Annika arranged a meeting with representatives from SOS Alarm during which she was allowed to read transcripts of her Jill's pleas for an ambulance. “I can't breathe,” Jill told emergency operators. “I want you to come and help me.” But the operator's response came as a shock to Jill's mother. “The operator considered her to still be communicating verbally and decided that she didn't need an ambulance,” said Annika. Jill's mother pressed SOS Alarm to explain how it was possible to deny someone an ambulance simply because that person was talking. “How could you even call for an ambulance in the first place?” she asked. “No one could answer that one.” After more than six months without any answers as to how her daughter's pleas for help went unheeded by SOS Alarm, Annika Söderberg last week filed a complaint with Sweden's National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen). “A mistake has been made, but exactly where it happened remains to be determined,” she said. “It shouldn't have to be like this – that someone isn't believed when they call for an ambulance.” Part of the problem with receiving an explanation regarding what happened stems from differing views from SOS Alarm and Västernorrland County health authorities about which agency had ultimate responsibility. In a statement issued to The Local in June when press reports about the incident first appeared, SOS Alarm's Klarström explained that, according to an internal investigation into the incident, the company's operators acted "completely in accordance with instructions" laid out in a contract between SOS Alarm and Västernorrland County health authorities. According to Klarström, attempts were made to connect the woman to healthcare professionals with a higher level of expertise available from nurses employed by the county in order to make a better assessment of her needs. Speaking with Expressen newspaper on Tuesday, Lennart Moberg, director of primary care at the Västernorrland County Council said that SOS Alarm still has the overall responsibility for dispatching ambulances. However, he promised his agency would cooperate with the health board's investigation. “We will support the National Board of Health and Welfare and turn over every stone to figure out what went wrong in this case. It's a deeply tragic incident,” he told the newspaper. An autopsy attributed Jill's death to breathing problems caused by her having taken anxiety medication in combination with muscle relaxers. While she had a prescription for the anxiety medication, Jill's mother isn't sure where her daughter received the muscle relaxers. Nevertheless, Annika still agonizes over the fact that her daughter's accidental mixing of the drugs proved fatal, but that Jill's death could have possibly been avoided if an ambulance had been sent. “Nothing is going to bring Jill back, but this can't happen again,” she said. David Landes news@thelocal.se +46 8 656 6518 Comments: by djmarko well if people here actually spoke with their neighbours and became friendly, she might have been able to call the neighbour to help out, to be found dead for a week is so disgusting without the neighbours noticing something strange, that is not right at all!!! Mb 65 Why didn't they have a key to the daughters flat? She lay there for one week surely alarm bells would ring when the hadn't heard from her. But i agree these so called emergency operators should be held responsible. The health service in Sweden is great so long as you are not ill. In July 3 women had their breasts removed for cancer they never had. it's disgusting. by Joshe This is what'll happen to those societies which depend more on a state/govt instead of establishing links within the community (human contacts). by swedejane The healthcare system works perfectly, it's just all of these patients who keep messing it up. by Ben Dover I'm from the U.S. I just can't wait until ObamaCare kicks in. I can't wait for some bureaucrat to decide what services are appropriate for me. by calebian22 Summo, Just go to the emergency room like all the illegals. It is against the law in the US for hospitals to ask about residency status, check your SS number before treatment, or deny you service. Only legals with valid SS numbers who can be tracked down for billing get hit with large payments. Ilegals with bogus SS numbers, get first class, "free by procrustes it's becoming clear that screening potential emergency patients by phone does not work. Perhaps all ambulance calls must be answered and those calls deemed not valid charged for the service. by johnoleson @would be artist @waxman @bend over Please don't get diverted. This is about Swedish healthcare and it generally works OK. We also know where the wealthy Swedes go for more serious ailments,.......................... you guessed it, the good old USofA. by Visew Comment: I am not sure whether you are aware that this SOS Alarm is a private company contracted by Swedish gov to do this service. As a private company, they are driven by keeping cost low. It is not government health care to be blamed. It is the combination of a kind of socialist system with private, for-profit service that causes this appalling incident (and also the death of the 23year old with ruptured spleen in the winter). What makes the quality of the service here different from that of the US system is that there is no competition. They have the monopoly and maybe that's why nothing happens to them yet. Look at what is happening to the education system too. Who knows what those private/charter schools are actually doing with quality of teaching. Who can stop them from propping up students grades to get their kids pass others to go to college and call themselves better. Think of Sweden a couple of decades ago, it was the dreamland of so many people including some of us here. Now the authorities seems to be too lazy to plan system in details, or may be that generation of capable, unselfish policy makers is gone, leaving us with people who only think of their own pocket first. Chartering, contracting may be the norm nowadays to "catch up" with the "modern world"! by cattie @Visew You make many valid points. One point that the Swedish government and many posters here miss is this. If privatization of public services and profit motive is a given. What is missing is system of checks and balances. In the USA, consequences and accountability for the private sector take the form of lawsuits with punitive damages. A government organization which gives administer small fines on private firm in the public trust is not enough. The risk of loss is very small for the private firm. However, if a a mistake like this would surely result in a huge lawsuit costing millions of crowns, you better believe the private firm would have checks in place so this mistakes would not happen. Without punitive damages in lawsuits, the privatization will continue to offer such results as this (deaths and disabilities) on a regular basis.
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
UNbelievable.
Break the Conventions - Keep the Commandments - G.K.Chesterson Coming to Obama care near you!
But Obamacare is wonderful - just ask Robin The Red.
LOL
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