“I was in and out of consciousness and I was making no sense to my husband. I really felt like that was it, that I was dying,” she said.
The 68-year-old support worker is now making an impassioned plea for more Government funding for Hato Hone St John to speed up response times.
Her ordeal started about 2.30am on July 26 when she could no longer stand and started losing consciousness.
For about a month, Chapman had been feeling weak and lightheaded due to a urinary tract infection. But that wasn’t out of the ordinary and she had been taking her usual medication to treat it.
What she didn’t realise was sepsis had crept into her system, a life-threatening medical emergency that can lead to septic shock, multiple organ failure and potentially death.
“I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t eat. I had no control over my body.”
Her husband Barry frantically called 111. The operator said she was being prioritised and an ambulance was on the way to the couple’s Bottle Lake home in Christchurch.
The operator called back every 15 minutes, checking to see if Chapman’s condition had worsened.
Chapman said her husband was unsure of how to effectively communicate her dire symptoms to the operator due to the stress of the situation.
“He was getting more panicked watching me. I think it was really getting to him,” she said.
In each call with the operator, Barry was told the response was a priority and an ambulance was on its way.
“When demand for ambulance services is high, some patients who do not have an immediately life-threatening condition may wait longer for an ambulance,” he said.
St John was facing high demand in the early hours of July 26 and all available ambulances were already committed to other emergencies, Moores said.
Chapman is understanding of the high demand issue, but questions if the operator should have asked for more information about her worrying symptoms and put her in a higher priority category.
“I’m quite disappointed in their response. They should have been asking more comprehensive questions. It wasn’t Barry’s job to know everything to say to them.”
Chapman had a check-up with a doctor on Monday who confirmed her vital signs during the medical event were life-threatening.
Chapman wishes the operator had told them there would be a slow response so her husband could have decided to drive her to hospital.
“He would have gone to the neighbours and helped me into the car if he knew it would take three hours.”
When the ambulance arrived shortly after 6am the paramedics said they had just started their shift and were not aware of the slow response time.
Said Chapman: “It’s not the staff's fault at all. St John was fabulous when they got here. They saved my life. They’ve just got to get more funding.”
Chapman’s request for more funding comes as more than 2500 ambulance officers have voted to go on a nationwide strike next Tuesday and Saturday.
Members of the FIRST Union and the New Zealand Ambulance Association say the action is a last resort after St John failed to offer a pay rise, and the Government refused to confirm any funding increase to the service.
Ambulance personnel will still respond to life-threatening calls during the strike.
The Government currently funds 82 per cent of St John’s $395 million budget.
Chapman was in hospital for four days and has spent the past two and a half weeks recovering at home with support from her husband and friends.
“I’m home again and I’m alive, but no one should have to wait three hours.
“This is the first sick leave I’ve had in 22 years. Everyone has been texting and ringing and dropping off meals and baking. They’ve been fabulous.”
