Woman in Melbourne about to give birth prefers Uber over ambulance

Despite the ban on ambulance ramping made by the Western Australian government beginning July 1, 2015, it seems Aussie trust on the reliability of ambulances across the country is declining. Proof of this is a pregnant Indonesian woman living in Melbourne who was in labour opted to call an Uber service rather than an ambulance.

News.com.au reports that Rati Sinuraya, who was giving birth for the first time in late June, experienced labour pains on early Tuesday morning. However, instead of calling an ambulance, Rati and partner Jip called an Uber service, which charged them $22 for the trip, to bring her to the hospital.

She explains that a vehicle using the ride-hailing service could be tracked, unlike an ambulance which leaves them in the dark about its estimated arrival time, reports 3AW. In contrast, the Uber car’s location and arrival time could be monitored online.

“When we looked at Uber it said five minutes away, so were like let’s just Uber it,” says Rati. Another factor she cites is that the new mum-to-be experienced contractions very early, at around 2:30 am, and there was no traffic, but “I didn’t know how long was the ambulance going to be.”

Although the baby was not due for one more month, upon arrival at the hospital, Rati began pushing right away and the baby soon came out. Because of the premature birth, her 2.5-kilogramme daughter would have to stay in ICU longer in the hospital while Rati would be discharged two days after delivery.

However, Ambulance Victoria General Manager for Emergency Operations Anthony Carlyon says all their ambulance vehicles could be located and tracked in the company’s control GPS fitted on all vehicles. But the option of tracking the ambulance is not available to the patient possibly fighting for life and the anxious family members with the sick person.

VIDEO: Uber Review Australia