Woman has whiplash after St John drops her on her head

Published on Stuff.co.nz

A Hamilton woman has suffered severe whiplash after a St John ambulance officer dropped her on her head.

A stretcher used to pull her from an ambulance collapsed under her, causing her to hit the ground below.

Vickie Thompson was at home on March 17 when she became faint, and needed an ambulance to take her to Waikato Hospital. She was attended to by two St John officers, a male and female.

"When I got to hospital they pulled me out and the legs under the heavy end of the stretcher didn't lock in. They dropped me head-first onto the concrete."

She immediately felt a sharp pain running down her neck.

Thompson was given panadol at the time and went to her GP a couple of days later, who told her she was suffering from bad whiplash and referred her to a physio.

Thompson said the physio recommended she see a specialist for further scans on her neck and back - a $250 appointment she could not afford.

"I can't live like this. I've got young children. We're dairy farmers and even stuff like housework you can't do easily because everything hurts.

"I had a back injury before and it was pretty much better, and it had upset that again. I'd spent a long time getting my back right."

St John's Waikato District operations manager, Stuart Cockburn, said the charity apologised to Thompson, both verbally and in writing.

"While Ms Thompson was being transferred from an ambulance an error in the deployment of the wheels at the head end of the stretcher occurred when one of the officers failed to adequately check that the legs of the stretcher had deployed fully.

"A formal disciplinary process was followed and comprehensive retraining provided to the ambulance personnel involved in this incident.

"St John takes the safety and welfare of all patients very seriously at all times and endeavours to provide the best level of care possible to its patients and their families and supporters."

Thompson said she bore no grudge towards St John, who had been "really good" to deal with.

"It shouldn't have happened, but I'm happy with how they've handled it."