THE Yarrawonga community is in shock after one of its own was impaled on a fence for about 45 minutes before an ambulance arrived.
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Businessman Dominic Fotia said he was “blown away” by the agonising wait faced by Kim Broadbent after she became pinned through the groin and stomach on the fence in Coghill Street on Tuesday night.
“She would have been in a fair bit of stress and it just shouldn’t happen,” he said.
“It’s enough that country people have to put up with all sorts of a lack of services compared to the cities but these sort of things you think they would have covered.”
Mr Fotia, the owner of Dominique’s Jewellers, said the incident was particularly concerning in the lead-up to Christmas when the Yarrawonga population, normally 7500, swells to 30,000.
“A lot of tourists, when they come here, involve themselves in all sorts of activities including water sports, which can be prone to accidents,” he said.
“And so, once again, we need services here not only from the point of view to ensure the tourists keep coming, because they know are going to be adequately taken care of, but also when accidents do occur that people’s lives aren’t put at risk.”
Natalie Savory, 20, was holidaying in Yarrawonga with family when she heard of the incident.
“I don’t think it’s right,” the Melbourne nursing student said.
“In Melbourne it should take less than 15 minutes but here, being a water sport place as well, (you’d think) if there were problems that the ambulance would be there.”
Yarrawonga mum Cindy Gash said waiting almost an hour for an ambulance was “disgusting”.
“That’s terrible, especially if you’ve got kids,” she said.
“Forty-seven minutes is a long time.”
But shop assistant Kellie Peirce defended the ambulance service after seeing it in action on several other occasions previously.
“I’ve seen a lot of incidents in town and the ambulance has been there fairly quickly,” she said.
“I think it’s a bit unfair that they’re getting all this publicity because of this one incident.”
Ambulance Victoria said earlier this week it was investigating the response time after an ambulance had to be sent from Wangaratta because no officers were on duty at Yarrawonga.
