A CLYDEBANK resident who saw a man fall from a high-rise flat has condemned the time it took for an ambulance to arrive.

Craig Edward lodged a complaint with the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) following an incident in which a 32-year-old fell from a third floor flat at Burnside Court, Dalmuir, on February 27.

After an investigation, the SAS responded with a complete review of the calls relating to the incident. They said the situation was out with their control due to a “very high level of demand” and the “volume of other significantly unwell patients” that night.

They stated that their ambulance control centre received four emergency calls from Police Scotland and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service at 6.42pm, 6.51pm, 7.14pm and 7.15pm.

The review stated: “The calls were all triaged, as above, as emergency responses, but unfortunately due to very high demand we did not have an available ambulance to send at this time.

“The first available ambulances were dispatched at 7.15pm and arrived at scene at 7.22pm.”

However, Mr Edward said the government needs to ensure the SAS is properly resourced because lives are at risk.

He told the Post: “I felt compelled to log a formal complaint because it simply wasn’t right that there was no ambulance crew available despite repeat calls.

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“I am still not convinced that the SAS has the resources they need.

“They responded to my complaint advising that they are recruiting 1,000 extra staff, but that is in relation to Covid-19, not because of this incident.

“I even checked the job adverts myself and there are ‘bank staff’ which is temporary working. Sticking plasters won’t work.”

He went on to say: “The public undoubtedly has great admiration for the work our SAS crews do everyday, but the Scottish Government need a wake up call that lives are dangerously at risk; this must change.

“It seems to me a resourcing issue so if they need more money to have additional permanent staff, then the Scottish Government must meet that request.

“We need a functioning NHS now more than ever and any funding requests should be looked upon favourably by the cabinet secretary for health to ensure the SAS is properly resourced. This is literally about life and death.”

A spokesperson for the Scottish Ambulance Service said: “We apologise for any delay in responding to patients.

“Unfortunately at the time of these calls we were experiencing exceptionally high demand and we have contacted the patient to apologise.”

The Scottish Government did not respond to the Post’s requests for comment.