TAIF: A bureaucratic difference between a hospital and the Red Crescent led to an elderly lady falling into a coma as she waited for an ambulance earlier this week. The patient, due to be taken to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital in Taif, was left waiting at Al-Maweih Hospital for six hours, despite the presence of four operational ambulances parked outside the facility. The woman's grandson said that the situation was exacerbated by an absence of ambulance drivers.“Doctors said my grandmother had suffered a stroke that started in her hand and spread to her leg, until she eventually went into a coma,” said Nasser Al-Adhyani. “The Red Crescent was asked to take her urgently to Taif, but they said they were too busy, so an ambulance was requested from nearby Radhwan and finally, after six hours waiting, it arrived.” The spokesman for Taif Health Affairs offered an apology to the lady's family. “Unfortunately the driver on duty at Al-Maweih Hospital was ill, and the stand-by driver wasn't answering his mobile telephone,” Saeed Al-Zahrani said. “When the Red Crescent office only one kilometer away was asked to urgently send a vehicle they said they needed to receive official notification before they could do so. An ambulance from Radhwan Health Center on its way from Taif was sequestered and the patient was taken to King Abdul Aziz Specialist Hospital. “We will be taking the appropriate measures concerning everything that happened,” Al-Zahrani said.
