Shropshire fall girl in one hour wait for ambulance
A seven-year-old girl had to wait over an hour for an ambulance as she lay on the ground with a broken leg after falling from a tree house in Shropshire.
Caoimhe Shields, of Whixall, near Wem, also suffered bruising in the fall at a friend's house in the village.
She was treated at the scene by a paramedic who arrived within 11 minutes of the 999 call, but had to wait much longer for the nearest ambulance to arrive and take her to hospital.
Helen Shields, her mum, said they had to wait about two hours for the ambulance.
But West Midlands Ambulance Service officials said it was "in the region of one hour and 20 minutes".
They also said that at the time of the call crews were dealing with a road traffic collision on the A49 near Prees and 999 demand was already up by 10 per cent as a result of the hot weather.
The Whixall Primary School pupil spent two nights in the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital after the fall at about 8pm last Thursday.
Mrs Shields said: "It was a very scary time. Someone is going to die if it carries on like this.
"The problem is that there is no longer an ambulance station in Whitchurch.
"She was calling out for help and said 'what's happened, where am I'. We were really worried for her and thought she might have had brain swelling."
Caoimhe cannot remember much, but found the whole experience "very scary".
Steve Parry, a West Midlands Ambulance Service spokesman said the ambulance, which was dealing with another incident, came from four miles away.
Caoimhe's fall comes just weeks after dog walker, Ian Alexander, had to wait more than an hour for an ambulance after falling and breaking his leg at Dearnford Lake, near Whitchurch.
