KEY POINTS:
St John has apologised to an elderly woman who used her St John Lifelink emergency button but had to wait almost three hours for an ambulance to arrive.
Margaret Muir, 91, of Wanganui said she was lucky not to die after a health emergency yesterday morning, the Wanganui Chronicle reported.
St John said the delay was the result of a "trained procedure" not being followed.
Once Mrs Muir was admitted to Wanganui Hospital, doctors found her blood pressure measuring a dangerous 200/168.
Her son, Colin Muir of Marton, was angry with the Lifelink system -- which costs $80 a month.
"I just think the health system in New Zealand is a total failure. It's just not working. How do you wait three hours for an ambulance? She could have been dead by then."
St John Central Region ambulance manager Grant Pennycook said the dispatcher had not followed the "trained procedure".
"St John accepts that this was not acceptable, and apologises to the family."
- NZPA
