A 63 year-old man collapses and dies on the Harris Promenade in San Fernando. Keith Sitahal died in the presence of his wife yesterday. They were at the time making their way to the nearby San Fernando General Hospital.

Many passersby sought to help and it is reported that it took the ambulance about 45 minutes to get the scene. It is also reported that there were several ambulances on the compound of the nearby hospital at the time.

In the end, Mr. Sitahal was not taken to the hospital by ambulance but by staff members from the San Fernando Disaster Management Unit who were requested to do so by San Fernando Mayor Kazim Hosein. Mayor Hosein said it is a very sad situation.

He is reported as saying Mr. Sitahal’s life could have been saved if the ambulance had responded on time. In a release the mayor said he was compelled to make a personal call to the Minister of Health to get an ambulance to respond.

He said to avoid further delay he asked that members of the San Fernando Disaster Management Unit transport Mr. Sitahal to the hospital. The Chief Executive Officer of Global Medical Response Paul Anderson says as far as he knows the ambulance took 30 minutes to arrive. He says all other ambulances may have been on calls and the one at the hospital may have been delayed because of the handing over of a patient.

(newscentre5)