A pickup truck driver whose car was hit by an ambulance yesterday refused to let the medical team go pick up a patient from her home in Nonthaburi, resulting in her death.
Bang Bua Thong Hospital responded to a call yesterday at around 3pm and sent an ambulance out to pick up a 72-year-old woman who was suffering from chest pains. Natchapol Sakorn, 35, was driving a medical team in an ambulance with the siren turned on.
On the way, Natchapol switched lanes and accidentally clipped a pickup truck. The medical team begged the pickup truck driver to excuse them to get to the patient. However, the 53-year-old motorist, whose name was undisclosed, insisted that they wait for his insurance claim adjuster because he was afraid to lose the credibility that would allow him to renew his insurance coverage.
“I and the medical team begged him to let us go receive the patient. We saw that his car was only slightly scratched. He didn’t let us go,” Natchapol said.
Natchapol ended up calling the hospital to send another ambulance to rescue the elderly woman.
The pickup driver said that the ambulance cut him off and scraped his car, claiming he didn’t know the ambulance was on the way to pick up a patient, according to Thairath.
The two carried out their negotiation at Bang Bua Thong police station. Both were fined THB400 for reckless driving.
A moment later, Pol.Lt. Eua-angkoon Chinchote-theeranan, sub-inspector of the police station, went to inspect the death of Chusri Onsampan. The elderly woman died after suffering chest pains because the ambulance didn’t get to her in time.
The sub-inspector told Thairath that Chusri’s family was grief-stricken and enraged. They wanted to see the driver who kept the ambulance from saving their loved one.
