Paramedics responded to an emergency call made from Orkney – 130 miles away in Aberdeen.
The Scottish Ambulance Service has been forced to apologise after an Inverness control room staff member sent a vehicle to Great Western Road, Aberdeen, when an elderly man suffered injuries on a street of the same name in Kirkwall.
And last night north east Labour MSP, Lewis Macdonald, said the incident was an “example” of why Aberdeen’s police and fire control rooms should not be closed.
A passerby dialled 999 after the man, said to have been a tourist, suffered minor injuries following a fall on the afternoon of Saturday, October 18. He was taken to hospital 20 minutes later.
Mr Macdonald said: “I’m sure the control room people always try to get it right, but I think we have to learn from experience. It’s an example of how easy it is to get it wrong. I think in this case the outcome wasn’t too bad, but for somebody else 20 minutes in an emergency situation is vital. It shouldn’t happen.
“In the north east we have control rooms for police and fire that have the benefits of local knowledge while covering a big area. There’s no down time in control rooms, it’s busy. I think it would be a big mistake to get rid of the ones here.
“There’s still time to go back on the decision, the police in particular have said they’re prepared to look at it again. I think this is something that they should look at as the consequences of what can happen.”
Aberdeen’s ambulance control centre was closed down in March 2003 as the centres were reduced from eight to three across Scotland.
Yesterday, an ambulance spokesman said: “The Ambulance Control Centre in Inverness has successfully managed the response to 999 calls in Orkney for more than a decade. On Saturday, October 18 there was a delay of around 20 minutes in responding to a 999 call to assist a patient in Great Western Road in Kirkwall who had fallen.”
He said the error had been due to “human factors”, adding: “We will be contacting the patient to apologise for any anxiety or discomfort caused by the delay.”