Thread: In Car GPS

Mother forced to call private ambulance for toddler because NHS got lost by sat nav

Last updated at 21:23pm on 14th February 2008 Comments (1)
When her 17- month- old daughter went into convulsions, Emma Buckley rang 999 for an ambulance.
But as minutes ticked by, there was no sign of it.
After making several increasingly anxious calls Miss Buckley was told the ambulance crew's satellite navigation system could not find her at the biggest supermarket in Canvey Island, Essex.
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Ross Bardwell and Emma Buckley are outraged that their daughter Lily Bardwell was left waiting for an ambulance after paramedics failed to find her due to a sat nav blunder

Miss Buckley, 27, said the drama happened after she left Lily with her mother Sharon as she put her trolley
Miss Buckley, a recruitment consultant from Canvey said: "Mum said she had suddenly started twitching.
"She went into a kind of trance and then went floppy.

Sat nav systems like this one are supposed to make life easier - but that is not always the case

"An off-duty fireman put her in the recovery position. She started to moan but she wouldn't respond to us.
"I was in a state of total panic. We waited and waited for the ambulance. They must have been phoned five or six times.
"Then they told me the sat nav in the ambulance couldn't find Morrisons.
"They said to look out for flashing blue lights but they never came."
Another quick thinking shopper rang for a private ambulance which arrived within three minutes, before a paramedic from East of England Ambulance Service finally turned up.
Even then the drama was not over because the paramedic did not have the right equipment and had to rendezvous with an ambulance which took Lily to Southend hospital.
Miss Buckley said she and her partner Ross Bardwell were outraged the ambulance had not been able to find the supermarket.
"The paramedics said the convulsions were brought on by a virus," she said.
"She was treated and released but I dread to think what might have happened if it had been something life-threatening."
The case is the latest blunder involving sat-navs. People have driven on to railway lines or into rivers, and lorries have become wedged in narrow country lanes because of the systems.
An East of England Ambulance Service spokesman said: "The crew will be spoken to about the incident.
"Should they raise an issue about the sat- nav system it will be investigated."

Lost: The ambulance couldn't find the sick baby at the Morrisons supermarket in Canvey Island, Essex, despite having sat nav









Steve Wheaten, deputy chief operating officer of the Essex Ambulance Service, confirmed it took 20 minutes for paramedics to arrive.
He said: "The Ambulance Service was called to the scene at about 2.31pm and a rapid response vehicle was there in 20 minutes.
"This meant the child could be assessed, cared for and given initial treatment before being taken to hospital for further care.
"If the family wishes to, we urge them to contact the ambulance service should it feel the need to take any issues further."

Well I'll keep that in mind if I'm ever looking for the sick bay at Morrisons supermarket in Canvey Island, Essex.

Shopping centres (in Cairns at least) have designated Emergency Vehicle points.

Yeah but he doesn't care about that, he's just going to keep trying to dig up stories about where GPS devices have gotten people lost.

I think he works for UBD.

I haven't been very lost ,yet...
I have found some roads that are now closed & I have also found some roads that I didn't know were there.
I have also seen some old roads in the rainforest that are marked on the map but now disused, there is at least one that I would like to go for a walk on, it looks very interesting.
It comes off the side of a main road & I didn't know it was there til I saw it marked on the map as I drove past, now that I know it is there, it is obvious.

Maybe I'll start posting anecdotes about times I've relied on the TomTom and it's got me there:

Friend's place in Revesby to friend's place in Heathcote - got me there.
Brisbane to home of Biting Midge - took me straight to his door
Home of Biting Midge to Australia Zoo - no problem
Australia Zoo to Eumundi - knew the route like the back of it's hand
Eumundi to Tee Jays place - OK some bastard moved the exit ramp, but it got us there
Port Macquarie to somewhere in Adamstown, Newcastle - found it easily

In fact, if I add up the number of times it has got me there and compare that to the number of times it went wrong, it's something like 95% hit rate, which is pretty good. In fact, in the time I used it, it never failed to get us there, it just took a couple of wrong turns.

The funny thing, wheelinround, is that people only seem to relate the anecdotes when they went wrong. You never hear anyone turn up at your door and say "hey, guess what, this amazing GPS navigator got me here without a single wrong turn". When they work, it's unremarkable. That's why you only hear the bad stories. But if you had ever actually used one, instead of just relying on hearsay, you would know that.

Don't know what is going on here but TomTom is a favorite mate in the car since he came along.
Made life much easier for the wife (and me).

Spot on most of the time, amusing when involved in major road reconstruction works. (Thinks you are on a bike track cause they moved the road there).

What's going on here is you have a bloke who has never used one, but because he's heard a couple of stories of people getting lost, he reckons they're not worth the money!

Gotta love hands-off experts.

G'day All.
Just back from Perth today. Spent 4 days there. Flew in at 10pm and hired the car. fitted my TOMTOM and away I went. No problems at all.
The little tool squeezer behind the Avis counter tried to hire me a garmin for an extra $40.

The Tomtom worked great 100%.

Never been to the west before. Sat nav made too easy.

TOMTOM is better than sliced bread.

Why would anyone map Canvey Island it's a sh@thole.

HH.

Originally Posted by wheelinround

Mother forced to call private ambulance for toddler because NHS got lost by sat nav

This IS NOT a GPS problem per se!!

THIS IS BUCK PASSING IN THE EXTREME

It is the SHEER INCOMPETANCE of the ambulance drivers There is NO excuse for NOT being able to get to the site in question. There are mobile phones, the abulance base, the concerned parents even passers by to contact to FIND the location required!

The GPS is ONLY and will forever be ONLY a tool to assist people. It is NOT a device on which to base a life and death situation!

For &#^@# sake how do you think we survived WITHOUT GPS's. If emergency vehicle drivers are now below the common sense level at which they cannot comprehend the means (ANY means) by which they can obtain directions to a location, then they SHOULD NOT BE IN SUCH A RESPONSIBLE POSTION

My view is that in car GPS's demonstrate that the west has more money than sense and we are looking for gadgets to waste our money on. They are 'the' gadget to be seen with here in Port Macquarie at the moment...for god sakes

Too stupid to read a map, too stupid to drive

Originally Posted by dazzler

My view is that in car GPS's demonstrate that the west has more money than sense and we are looking for gadgets to waste our money on. They are 'the' gadget to be seen with here in Port Macquarie at the moment...for god sakes

Too stupid to read a map, too stupid to drive

G'day Daz.
In my line of work. I get to go to different location. Usually by plane. Hire a car and drive myself.

It was not fun with a street directory on my lap and trying to see street signs at the same time as dodging city drivers.
The TOMTOM has (I feel) made me a better (safer) driver in unknown locations.
Case in point. last week in Perth. Never been there before. arrived at 10pm. dark. I was tired from the all day flight. Plug in the TOMTOM and set it for the motel. press go and wallah...I'm there.

Now, doing it the old way. reading a directory at night? no way! in a strange location while tired? no way! I'd still be trying to find the bloody motel .
So....I'll take the TOMTOM over a street directory any day.

Am I a gadget freak?....maybe.
AM I practical?...Bloody oath.
Am I into self inflicted pain (street directory).... NO bloody Way...

Okay

Permission granted, you can have one. The rest of you are morons!