This morning (Thursday) on 'Deise Today', the programme brought listeners' through the terrifying and worrying experience of one Waterford family after a member had a heart attack last Saturday night.
There was a rush to UHW, a subsequent journey to Cork University Hospital for treatment - and a lot of trauma and upset for those involved.
See the letter (below) which we read out in full at the top of this morning's show (voiced by 'Deise Today' producer and editor Jennifer Long) and which received a huge reaction from other listeners.
You can listen to the piece by clicking on the image above...
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Hi Damien,
I know this is a bit long winded but this is the events that happened over Saturday night into Sunday morning.
I called an ambulance around 22:42 and it came promptly in under 10 minutes and 2 paramedics came in to monitor my dad. They could see from the ECG that he was having some sort of cardiac event and knew it was a heart attack. They called someone else and a third paramedic arrived. Having worked on him they left the house at 23:31. It was decided they had to go to UHW before CUH to make sure he was stable as there is a pathway to follow. The consultant in cork wanted him to go to UHW first.
Upon arrival to the emergency department the team were waiting for my dad. I was asked to wait outside whilst they prepped him. I was allowed in after about 15 minutes. My dad was chatting away and without any notice his monitor beeped and the only way to describe it was my dad was hopping off the table. His machine had flat lined. I ran outside screaming for someone to help him. Everyone came running and started CPR and shocked him with the pads. They got him back but he definitely wasn’t stable. His ribs were broken from reviving him which is only a tiny price to pay for him being alive. He had a cardiac arrest. This was a set back as now they needed a doctor and nurse to travel with him to Cork. Problem was both had already gone in an ambulance minutes beforehand with someone else in the same position. Obviously this delay didn’t help my dad and he was put in a more critical position. The ambulance was due to leave shortly so I left with my aunt to drive to cork to get a head start. The ambulance only passed us at dungarvan which means there was another delay which we still don’t know why as everyone was due to leave around the same time as us. We arrived to cork a little after 3am.Upon arrival to cork my dad was brought straight to the cath lab. The professor looking after him came out to us to say both arteries were blocked and they were only able to clear one side and stent. My dad was too fragile and agitated and keeled over when they were trying to do the second stent. the consultant said my dad was in such a state he was putting his life at risk so they had to call it and put him on a ventilator to help his heart. He was brought to the cardiac icu department for close monitoring. I was told to go home and get rest there was nothing I could do and I was nearly in the way when all the nurses were trying to get his machines ready.I arrived back in Waterford and called before I went for a nap. Was told he had taken a turn for the worse that I should come back. The consultant spoke to us saying he was very sick and it wasn’t looking good. They were bringing him back to the cath lab that evening and inserting a balloon behind the heart to give it an extra pump. My dad was brought back about 2 hours later and was told they were able to insert the second stent and clear the other artery. We just had to see how he would react off of the machines. They slowly reduced his oxygen and he was tolerating. We stayed in a hotel on Sunday and on Monday 2nd December we arrived over to the hospital waiting for the team to take my dad off the ventilator. When we walked in he was off the ventilator and awake. I can’t even explain the feeling we had. There was plenty of tears. He was sore and very weak but everyone was so relieved.We left him to sleep and rang the ward regularly. He wouldn’t sleep as he was scared to close his eyes. I drove to him again Tuesday 3rd December and stayed with him all day. It’s the first time my dad grabbed my hand tight and told me he was panicking. The hospital organised through a charity for us to say in accommodation so we didn’t have to travel up and down. I can’t say enough about Bru Colombanus. They depend on donations and have volunteers helping all the families of loved ones who critical that have to travel to cork.Although too early to say, my dad is one of the lucky ones. Baby steps...but he is eating and drinking and took a few steps with the physio today Wednesday 4th December. He had an echo today and there is a clot on the heart. He is on more medication for this and more blood thinners. Slowly but surely he’s getting there.All of this could have been prevented if the cath lab was 24 hours. It’s absolutely disgraceful that from the time my dad arrived at the hospital he should have been brought to the cath lab to be stented but instead the delay led to cardiac arrest and all of these complications after. He is weak and frail. The politicians need to step up and actually fight for what they say they will do instead of making noise around the election window only. We were told he would not be in this position if we had access to the cath lab here. My dad is one of three people who had to go to the cath lab in Cork over the weekend. He is now out of work and because he is self employed, is not entitled to anything. The government has a lot to answer for.
Upon arrival to the emergency department the team were waiting for my dad. I was asked to wait outside whilst they prepped him. I was allowed in after about 15 minutes. My dad was chatting away and without any notice his monitor beeped and the only way to describe it was my dad was hopping off the table. His machine had flat lined. I ran outside screaming for someone to help him. Everyone came running and started CPR and shocked him with the pads. They got him back but he definitely wasn’t stable. His ribs were broken from reviving him which is only a tiny price to pay for him being alive. He had a cardiac arrest. This was a set back as now they needed a doctor and nurse to travel with him to Cork. Problem was both had already gone in an ambulance minutes beforehand with someone else in the same position. Obviously this delay didn’t help my dad and he was put in a more critical position. The ambulance was due to leave shortly so I left with my aunt to drive to cork to get a head start. The ambulance only passed us at dungarvan which means there was another delay which we still don’t know why as everyone was due to leave around the same time as us. We arrived to cork a little after 3am.Upon arrival to cork my dad was brought straight to the cath lab. The professor looking after him came out to us to say both arteries were blocked and they were only able to clear one side and stent. My dad was too fragile and agitated and keeled over when they were trying to do the second stent. the consultant said my dad was in such a state he was putting his life at risk so they had to call it and put him on a ventilator to help his heart. He was brought to the cardiac icu department for close monitoring. I was told to go home and get rest there was nothing I could do and I was nearly in the way when all the nurses were trying to get his machines ready.I arrived back in Waterford and called before I went for a nap. Was told he had taken a turn for the worse that I should come back. The consultant spoke to us saying he was very sick and it wasn’t looking good. They were bringing him back to the cath lab that evening and inserting a balloon behind the heart to give it an extra pump. My dad was brought back about 2 hours later and was told they were able to insert the second stent and clear the other artery. We just had to see how he would react off of the machines. They slowly reduced his oxygen and he was tolerating. We stayed in a hotel on Sunday and on Monday 2nd December we arrived over to the hospital waiting for the team to take my dad off the ventilator. When we walked in he was off the ventilator and awake. I can’t even explain the feeling we had. There was plenty of tears. He was sore and very weak but everyone was so relieved.We left him to sleep and rang the ward regularly. He wouldn’t sleep as he was scared to close his eyes. I drove to him again Tuesday 3rd December and stayed with him all day. It’s the first time my dad grabbed my hand tight and told me he was panicking. The hospital organised through a charity for us to say in accommodation so we didn’t have to travel up and down. I can’t say enough about Bru Colombanus. They depend on donations and have volunteers helping all the families of loved ones who critical that have to travel to cork.Although too early to say, my dad is one of the lucky ones. Baby steps...but he is eating and drinking and took a few steps with the physio today Wednesday 4th December. He had an echo today and there is a clot on the heart. He is on more medication for this and more blood thinners. Slowly but surely he’s getting there.All of this could have been prevented if the cath lab was 24 hours. It’s absolutely disgraceful that from the time my dad arrived at the hospital he should have been brought to the cath lab to be stented but instead the delay led to cardiac arrest and all of these complications after. He is weak and frail. The politicians need to step up and actually fight for what they say they will do instead of making noise around the election window only. We were told he would not be in this position if we had access to the cath lab here. My dad is one of three people who had to go to the cath lab in Cork over the weekend. He is now out of work and because he is self employed, is not entitled to anything. The government has a lot to answer for.
Thanks for reading.
