MELTON, Australia — A woman with suspected appendicitis says she had to wait for nearly three hours for an ambulance.
Julia Mironova, 28, was experiencing stomach pains while spending the night at her parent’s home. Early the next morning, she called for an ambulance as her pains intensified, according to the Sunbury Leader.
A registered nurse quickly returned her call, but she felt like she was not being taken seriously, and the nurse told her that the earliest an ambulance could pick her up was 7 a.m.
She asked the nurse, “What would happen if I died during that time?” He told her to “give us a call before you do.”
After that call, she asked her father to drive her to the hospital and canceled the ambulance.
However, after calling the hospital, they advised her to call for an ambulance again. After doing so, she was called back by another registered nurse who asked her why she had canceled the original ambulance.
By 6:30 a.m., the ambulance finally arrived and she was taken to the hospital, where she got her infected appendix taken out, the Sunbury Leader said.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesman said all the calls were prioritized, with the sickest patients getting ambulances first.
“The patient was conscious... and their condition was assessed as being non life-threatening,” he said.