By EMS1 Staff
BEDFORD COUNTY, Va. — A man transported his wife to an urgent care center after 911 dispatchers said an ambulance would take 40 minutes to reach them.
Bill Richardson called 911 after his wife was bleeding profusely after she hit her head last month.
“They said the rescue squad is on the way, they’re coming from Big Island and I said, ‘Big Island?’” Richardson told WSET. According to Richardson, Big Island is nearly 30 minutes from his home.
Instead of waiting, Richardson drove his wife to an urgent care center that was three blocks from their home. He said it took an ambulance another 15 to 30 minutes to arrive at the center to transport his wife to a hospital.
“They [the rescue squad] did a great job when they got there and I’m sure they got there as quickly as they could,” Richardson said. “[If] we had a heart attack, anything like that, 30 minutes is way too long.”
Officials with Bedford County Fire and Rescue said responders aim to get to patients within 20 minutes of a 911 call, and that the average response time is between 10 and 11 minutes.