A 15-year-old boy died after suddenly losing consciousness in the village of Karitsa in Larissa, central Greece, despite efforts to save him.
The incident began Sunday night, when the boy’s family called EKAB, Greece’s emergency medical service, reporting that he had lost consciousness and urgently needed to be transported to a hospital.
The EKAB operations center attempted to find an available ambulance in the area. However, ambulances from the nearby health centers of Agia and Gonnoi were already responding to other incidents.
An EKAB mobile unit was ultimately dispatched from Larissa and arrived in Karitsa at 9:50 p.m., according to an announcement from the 5th Regional Health Authority of Thessaly.
The boy was found without a pulse and not breathing. He was transported to Larissa University Hospital, where his death was confirmed at 11:39 p.m.
Ambulance delay
Michalis Giannakos, president of Greece’s federation of public hospital workers (POEDHN), said the ambulance took about 45 minutes to reach the incident because the nearest available units were already occupied.
He said there is no permanent EKAB station in the area and that ambulance transfers are therefore handled by nearby health centers, which have limited numbers of emergency medical personnel or staff from other specialties.
“Where there is no EKAB station, the health centers handle the transfers with the minimal number of emergency medical personnel or other staff they have,” Giannakos said.
According to Giannakos, both the Agia and Gonnoi health centers had ambulances in use at the time of the emergency. One was transporting a patient to Larissa University Hospital, while the other was handling a transfer to Sykourio.
The distance from Larissa to Karitsa is approximately 55 minutes, while the journey from Agia takes about 50 minutes and from Gonnoi about 47 minutes, according to the 5th Regional Health Authority of Thessaly.
Giannakos said the ambulance from Larissa arrived after the delay and found the boy dead.
Asked whether the lack of an immediately available ambulance was connected to the outcome, he said it was impossible to know whether an earlier arrival would have changed the result.
“No one knows whether, if the ambulances had arrived in time, his outcome would have been better,” he said, adding that the boy had no pulse when the unit arrived.
Health authority gives account
The 5th Regional Health Authority of Thessaly said the health centers in Agia and Gonnoi have ambulances and crews covering the area around the clock.
According to its statement, the EKAB operations center received the emergency call at 9:05 p.m. Sunday, September 20, concerning the incident in Karitsa.
At that time, the ambulance from Agia was transporting a patient to Larissa University Hospital, while the ambulance from Gonnoi was handling another transfer to Sykourio.
As a result, an EKAB mobile unit was sent from Larissa and arrived in Karitsa at 9:50 p.m. The rescuers found the boy without a pulse and not breathing and classified the incident as R1, the highest emergency category cited in the statement.
The boy was then transported to Larissa University Hospital, arriving at 11:39 p.m., where his death was confirmed.
Cause of death under investigation
The cause of the teenager’s death has not yet been established.
Giannakos said there was reportedly no known history of illness. A preliminary assessment suggested cardiac arrest, but the exact cause is expected to be determined through a forensic examination
