The Carlow Nationalist
KILKENNY CITY, Ireland — A shameful Tullow man faked a heart attack then used the ambulance service as his own personal taxi.
Anxious to get a lift to Kilkenny City, the man dialed 999 and then faked his own illness, forcing hard-pressed ambulance staff to rush to Tullow to assist him. The ambulance staff tended to the conman in Tullow then, falling for his bogus emergency, brought the fraudster to St Luke’s Hospital, Kilkenny.
The sham patient brazenly went into the hospital’s A&E unit, stayed a few minutes then hightailed it out of the hospital, having successfully used the vital ambulance service as his own free taxi. It is understood that the Tullow native is currently living in Kilkenny.
The Nationalist was contacted this week by a member of the public disgusted by the actions of this bogus patient, whose fake scam could have cost lives.
“He has done this before and I think it’s disgraceful,” said the source, who did not wish to be named. “It’s just not right. Someone could be dead waiting for an ambulance while that lad uses the ambulance as a taxi,” he fumed. “That little p**** is back out drinking today and someone could be dead because they didn’t reach the hospital on time.”
The Nationalist contacted the HSE, outlining the full details of this appalling abuse of emergency services, including the name of the phony patient.
The HSE issued the following statement: “There were just under 12,500 calls processed by ambulances at the Carlow and Kilkenny bases over a two-year period (to end of 2009). Only in 0.78% of these calls was a question raised as to their validity. The HSE, in common with other emergency services (such as gardaí and fire service) do encounter a small number of cases from time to time. It is the policy of the HSE to monitor these call-outs closely.”
Copyright 2010 Thomas Crosbie Media Ltd.