It has been reported that a 68-year-old man died on Wednesday, 7 January, in Tavira after waiting more than an hour for a delayed emergency services responde, according to a family source quoted by the Lusa news agency.
According to the same source, the man fell ill in the late afternoon after visiting a pharmacy and purchasing cough syrup.
The incident timeline, accessed by journalists, records the first emergency call at 6.07 pm. This was followed by a second call querying the delay in the arrival of assistance.
The patient was initially classified as Priority 2, with an estimated response time of 18 minutes. During a third call from relatives at 6.47 pm, the case was upgraded to Priority 1, following reports of cardiac arrest.
The first ambulance was only dispatched at 6.42 pm.
Additionally, an ‘Immediate Life Support’ vehicle from Tavira, sent out at 6.49 pm, as well as an INEM psychological support unit and the police, were sent to the scene.
According to the family source, the first emergency responders only arrived more than an hour after the initial request for help.
The incident follows the death, on Tuesday 6 January, of a 78-year-old man in Seixal, who had waited almost three hours for emergency assistance.
Commenting on that case, the president of INEM denied institutional responsibility, attributing the delay to a shortage of resources and to ambulances being held up in hospitals due to a lack of available stretchers.
Source: LUSA
