By XAVIER SMERDON
A TARNEIT man who broke his neck when he crashed his motorbike claims paramedics made him walk to and from an ambulance despite his injuries, possibly making his condition worse.
Paul Busuttil lost control of his motorbike and landed on his head when he was riding with his son last month.
Even though he was in excruciating pain he managed to drive home after placing a brace around his neck.
After he arrived home he called an ambulance and that is when, according to Mr Busuttil, he was treated “with contempt”.
“I told the paramedic that my neck was killing me but she basically just looked me over and said nothing was wrong with me,” Mr Busuttil said.
“She said I just had a couple of bruises and then she took my neck brace off me and threw it on the bench.”
Mr Busuttil said despite three paramedics attending, including one trainee, he was made to walk to the ambulance without any assistance.
He was then taken to the Werribee Mercy Hospital where he was again made to walk without assistance.
After waiting about an hour Mr Busuttil was taken for scans before the bad news was broken to him.
“As soon as I took the scan he looked over me and said ‘you’ve got a broken neck’,” he said.
It was later revealed that he had broken two ribs, fractured his sternum, fractured three vertebrae in his back and had sustained a “near fatal” break in his C2 vertebrae in his neck.
He will now spend a total of 12 weeks in a head and neck brace.
“Maybe I did the wrong thing by driving home but when you call an ambulance they’re supposed to look after you and they didn’t do that,” he said.
“For the paramedics to make me walk is disgusting. The ambulance crew that came here shouldn’t have their jobs.”
Ambulance Victoria Group 6 Manager, Tony Elliot said the incident was being reviewed.
“Paramedics work hard every day to show compassion and care for their patients and our standard practice is to check a patient’s vital signs and assess the injuries that they have,” Mr Elliot said.
“It’s disappointing for us to hear Mr Busuttil’s story, we are currently reviewing this case and welcome him contacting us directly so that we’re able to discuss his concerns.”
