Daughter says Parksville, B.C. man died while family on hold with 911 for 30 min
Barbara Blakey's family had gathered to celebrate a family wedding, but just days before the ceremony, 72-year-old Harry Charles Blakey died in his Parksville, B.C. home.
He passed away on Aug. 27, while his family was on hold with 911. They had been trying to get an ambulance for half an hour, but all they got was a recorded message saying to wait for the next available attendant.
"During which time, listening to this, my father passed away on the floor of his kitchen," Barbara Blakey struggled to say while speaking with CTV News on Wednesday.
Charles Blakey died from a heart attack, and while his daughter does say he had a terminal illness, his doctors had said he would likely live until Christmas.
His daughter says that Charles was active, especially in sports, and that the family was excited to celebrate a wedding together this summer.
Now, the Blakey family is trying to find out what caused the delay in getting through to dispatchers, and have contacted the BC Health Authority and the patient care and quality review board to investigate the matter.
"We needed help for him and we didn't get it and I just really worry for anyone calling an ambulance in that area," said Blakey.
"You don't know that when you call 911 nobody's going to come to the phone to help you," she said.
Troy Clifford, president of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC, says he's also looking for answers.
"It's devastating to the paramedics and dispatchers that would be involved in that, but more importantly it's the impacts on that family and their experiences (that) is tragic," he said Wednesday.
Clifford hopes that a recent recruitment push by the province, and the hiring of a new chief ambulance officer, will bring positive results.
On Tuesday, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix said that the province would be making the "largest hiring push in B.C.'s history" for the paramedic service in rural ambulance service areas.
The plan includes the hiring of 85 new full-time paramedics in some locations and 30 new full-time dispatchers.
The province also plans to convert 24 stations from on-call staffing to 24/7 stations, and will move 26 other stations to scheduled on-call staffing.
The hiring push, which the province estimates will be complete by December, comes too late for Harry Blakey, however, who was a former RCMP investigator.
"When he saw something wrong in a system he immediately took to paper and wrote a letter to try to do something about it," said Barbara Blakey. "So I'm stepping up to try and do something on his behalf."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Poilievre will do 'anything to win,' must condemn Alex Jones endorsement: Trudeau
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is ramping up his attacks on Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre as he promotes his government's federal budget.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
All Alberta wildfires to date in 2024 believed to be human-caused: province
There are 63 wildfires burning in Alberta's forest protection area as of Wednesday morning and seven mutual aid fires, including one in the Municipal District of Peace.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Suspects waving weapons, smashing glass in Toronto jewelry store robbery caught on video
Arrests have been made after five men were captured on video rampaging through a jewelry store in Toronto, waving weapons and smashing glass display cases.
New evidence challenges the Pentagon's account of a horrific attack as the U.S. withdrew from Afghanistan: CNN exclusive
New video evidence uncovered by CNN significantly undermines two Pentagon investigations into an ISIS-K suicide attack outside Kabul airport, during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2021.
Pilot proposes to flight attendant girlfriend in front of passengers
A Polish pilot proposed to his flight attendant girlfriend during a flight from Warsaw to Krakow, and she said yes.