LIFE-SAVING ambulance equipment has been reported to fail every day amid fears that lives may be lost, according to new data.
Figures released under freedom of information laws showed that at least five pieces of vital apparatus fail to work each day.
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Ambulances carry defibrillators, air and gas, and a suction unit to aid choking incidents.
Failures in any one of these pieces could be lethal, the Daily Record reports.
Last year, the Scottish Ambulance Service revealed that equipment failed to work 1,826 times, three times as many as in 2018.
Incidents are recorded on a web-based software system used by healthcare organisations to manage risks and report incidents called Datix.
The computer program gathers information about processes and errors to alert the healthcare system to risks that lead to harm or death.
The data was shared following a Freedom of Information request by Scottish Labour.
It found that the number of incidents has slowly increased from 2018, which was 553 recorded failures.
The incidents increased to 690 in 2019, and again to 747 in 2020.
However, in 2021 the number of failures doubled to 1463 before gradually increasing again in 2022 with 1681 failures.
An ambulance insider told the Daily Record: “We took over new defibrillators at that time, and staff are starting to notice bits aren’t working.
“We are supposed to get time to check over equipment at the start of a shift, but we don’t get nearly enough time now.
“If we had able to carry out checks at the start we could fix them before we left but once we are out on the road and it fails, it becomes a patient issue and has to be recorded on the Datix.”
Pat McIlvogue, Unite’s industrial officer, said: “The fact that there has been a 230 per cent reporting increase over five years in faulty and substandard medical equipment onboard ambulances is shocking and deeply alarming.
Labour’s health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “Ambulances race through streets to rescue us at our time of greatest need.
“It’s tragic to think this incredible effort could be put in doubt by something as simple as an equipment failure, but these figures show that such incidents are becoming all too frequent.
“The SNP Government must deal with this ambulance equipment meltdown – it’s a matter of life or death.”
The Scottish Ambulance Service claimed the statistics were “misleading”.
A spokesperson said: “There has been no reduction in any vehicle or vehicle-based equipment maintenance arrangements.
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“Frequency, scope, training and funding have all remained consistent or have been enhanced through learning opportunities.
“We continually encourage staff to report events and issues, irrelevant of how small, and this has resulted in an increase in issues being reported.”
