The Echo
PITSEA, U.K. — Thieves ransacked an ambulance while its paramedics were treating a patient.
Appalled ambulance staff have condemned the thieves for snatching medical supplies from the ambulance while it was on an emergency call in Pitsea, which could have put a patient’s life at risk.
The ambulance was targeted while parked in Polsteads, Pitsea.
While its crew were inside a nearby house looking after a female patient, the thieves opened the front door of the ambulance and stole a medical bag and two mobile phones.
The patient did not need to be taken to hospital, but on leaving the house, the crew found the ambulance had been raided and the cab was in a mess.
Luckily, the medical bag was returned minutes later by a resident who saw it being dumped in nearby Swanstead Road, but equipment and the mobile phones are still missing.
Brendan Saich, the East of England Ambulance Service’s assistant general manager for the Basildon area, said everyone at the service was shocked by the callous theft.
He said: “It’s unbelievable anyone would steal from an ambulance attending an emergency call.
“Fortunately, no harm came to anyone as a result of this theft, but if the patient’s condition had suddenly deteriorated and the medical equipment in the bag been needed, the thief would have put the life of an innocent person at risk.”
Mr Saich thanked the person for returning the bag and urged residents to come forward with information.
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