Ambulance struggles to reach Slyne school boy due to parked cars

The headteacher at Slyne-with-Hest St Luke’s CE Primary School has now repeated calls for parents to park considerately and safely during drop off and pick up following the incident on March 12.

Leigh Tomlinson, from Bolton-le-Sands, said she was picking up her youngest daughter from the school in Shady Lane with her son Tristan, aged eight, who is currently ill.

While waiting in the car, Tristan started to have trouble breathing, so she called an ambulance and took him inside the school to get a postcode.

She said following the call, a first responder arrived in five minutes to treat Tristan, and a second ambulance arrived a short time later to take him to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary.

Outside however, another parent, who did not wish to be named, said the second ambulance “simply couldn’t get through for the amount of parked cars”.

She said: “An eight-year-old boy is at school struggling to breathe and the ambulance cannot get to him due to parents’ thoughtless and in some cases illegal parking!

“Every school, including this one advises parents over and over again about the consequences of bad parking.

“It is the same parents parking on and opposite the yellow zig zag lines.

“Parking on and around junctions, and also double parking.

“Where there is no room to double park they park on the pavement.

“Almost every road into school during pick up hours would not fit any emergency vehicle through.

“This incident highlights the reason that laws are made and parking restrictions put in place.”

Leigh said: “I was inside so I don’t really know what was happening outside, I was just focused on Tristan.

“We were trying to get him inside the ambulance, but they had to move the main one because of people trying to get out.

“I know from past experience though that people park up on the pavements, so people with prams can’t get through, people park on the zig-zag lines, it’s disgusting really.”

She added that the ambulance staff were great, despite one parent complaining that they were blocked in by the second ambulance.

Tristan was taken to the Royal Lancaster Infirmary following the incident.

Paul Bowden, headteacher at Slyne-with-Hest Primary School, said: “The situation is the same as a vast majority of primary schools.

“At drop off and pick up times, the area around schools becomes very congested, we do everything we can to let parents know to park courteously.

“We have signs outside the school, and the vast majority of parents take that into consideration.

“But there’s always a group who think they can park where they want. This causes problems with the local residents, as well as for the emergency services.”