Tragedy unfolded on the island of Aegina when a woman collapsed and died on a beach, while bystanders spent about 55 minutes trying to keep her alive by performing CPR.
According to eyewitness accounts, people at the scene contacted the Aegina Health Center for help. However, they allege they were told that no ambulance was available.
The ambulance eventually arrived 55 minutes later. Despite their efforts, the woman died on the beach.
“At 1 p.m., I realized that something was happening by the sun loungers,” an eyewitness told MEGA. “I called the Health Center and was told there was no ambulance and that they would see what they could do. I called them again. I called the police, who told me they would send a patrol car with a doctor and a defibrillator, because it had been stolen and there was none in the village. We also called the Coast Guard. It was 1:50 p.m. when the ambulance arrived; five minutes earlier, the Coast Guard had arrived with a doctor.”
The eyewitness added: “A private boat sent a defibrillator after they saw what had happened. A friend of mine, who also called the Health Center, was told, ‘Take your complaints to the ministry.’ The doctor told us to take her to the Health Center ourselves. It is an organized beach, and there was neither a lifeguard nor a defibrillator. It is a disgrace! Everyone who was there performed CPR.”
According to reports, informal information from the 2nd Regional Health Authority, which oversees the Aegina Health Center, indicates that the issue was not a lack of an ambulance driver, but the absence of a second doctor at the Health Center. This meant there was no doctor who could remain at the Health Center while one of the two doctors left to accompany the ambulance.
