00:00When 17-year-old Nick Lamanos-Budden collapsed in a seizure at his local gym, the manager
00:07called triple zero.
00:08It was kind of like tingling almost, like someone had put almost like a sheet over my
00:13head or something.
00:14I thought Nick was dying.
00:17He turned blue, you know, he wasn't breathing, and it was terrifying.
00:22But half an hour later, an ambulance still hadn't arrived.
00:25They basically said, we don't have an ambulance for you, you're going to have to get him to
00:29hospital yourself.
00:3030 kilometres away, 10 ambulances stood ramped at the Lismore Base Hospital.
00:36Lismore City Councillor and local solicitor Big Rob took his concerns to social media.
00:42I saw all the ramps full, and then I saw three more parked up the front, and a supervisor's
00:47vehicle parked up the front.
00:49Councillor Rob says it isn't the first time he's seen ambulances waiting to have their
00:53patients admitted to one of the region's two large referral hospitals.
00:58What happens if someone needs an ambulance, and without those resources, people will die.
01:02Northern New South Wales Health District declined to address the issue of ramping.
01:07In a statement to the ABC, it said multiple trauma events on Monday night had meant a
01:11much larger volume of ambulances presenting themselves to Lismore Base Hospital.
01:16In a statement, the health district also said the hospital was fully staffed at the time.
01:21You know, if that was a baby or someone could die, it's only a matter of time.
01:27As the Byron Shire prepares for thousands of schoolies to arrive next week, critics
01:31say the system is under strain.
01:33It's a symptom of a crumbling health system.
01:36Greens MLC Dr Amanda Conn said the government needs to come clean on its progress following
01:41a 2022 inquiry into ramping.
01:45We know that people across the state, particularly in rural regional areas, are waiting longer
01:49than they should for an ambulance.
01:51Nicholas is on his way to recovery and planning on a career in medicine.
01:57For more UN videos visit www.un.org
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