Family speaks out after beloved grandfather dies following medical episode as union slams ambulance response time

7NEWS

a day ago

A well-respected South Australian man and beloved grandfather has died after a medical episode behind the wheel.
Robert Tancock had only minutes to receive vital help that may have seen him survive his medical episode. Unfortunately, paramedics couldn't get there in time.
WATCH ABOVE: Ambulance Union calls for action on Adelaide's ambulance ramping.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today
Emergency services were called to Main South Rd at Sellicks Hill about 10.15am on Saturday but Tancock couldn't be revived.
Friends told 7NEWS that he was 'selfless and always gave back to the community.'
The ambulance union claims he would have had a better chance of survival if crews responded to jobs faster.
'Time is valuable and every minute counts,' they told 7NEWS.
'They performed CPR but unfortunately, with a very lagged downtime without oxygen to the brain, the outcome was unfortunate.'
There is an ambulance station on Port Rd at Aldinga, minutes from where the crash happened.
Tancock was triaged as category 1, which is meant to have a response time of eight minutes.
7NEWS understands it took about 15 minutes for paramedics to arrive at the scene and to begin crucial CPR. The survival rate for out-of-hospital cardiac arrest in Australia is about 10 per cent of patients surviving to hospital discharge or 30 days after the event.
SA Health Minister Chris Picton, however, said that the eight-minute response time doesn't apply in the regions and the Aldinga ambulance was detained at another job.
'Our crews did everything possible to get to that case as soon as possible,' he told 7NEWS.
'The only potential ambulance station that could have been closer, that ambulance was out in the community helping someone else at the time.'
7NEWS spoke with Tancock's widow, who said she was happy with the care her husband received.
The union blames ramping at Flinders Medical Centre and said paramedics can't respond to emergencies if they're stuck at hospitals.
'When they're stuck on a ramp, then obviously, we can't free them up to respond to the community,' they said.
The government has defended its health system, while South Australia battles more than 2000 flu cases, the highest weekly number since 2019 with 164 hospitalisations.
The Australian Medical Association SA said on July 4 that the ramping was at record levels.
'This pressure is reflected in our emergency departments. The latest ambulance ramping figures show 5382 total hours lost in June – making it the second-worst month ever recorded,' associate professor Peter Subramaniam said.
Shadow Minister for Health Ashton Hurn said South Australians are sick of waiting and sick of this government's failure to deliver on its clear promise to fix ramping.
'This is more than just data released each month, it represents sick South Australians stuck outside of our hospitals, desperate to get in,' Hurn said.
'It also impacts our paramedics who have to endure being ramped for hours and hours.'