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A PARAMEDIC was ordered to sit and watch for 13 minutes as a teenager stabbed in the neck bled to death in the street.

Mairi Lennon, 35, begged to be allowed to respond to Stuart Baillie's screams for help and is convinced she could have saved his life.

But she was told over her car radio to sit tight and wait for the police because she was on her own at the scene of a violent incident.

She could have been sacked if she had ignored the order but Mairi, who is haunted by the tragedy, is off work suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and receiving counselling.

A close colleague said: "She begged her bosses to get out of the car to help the poor boy but was told to stay put until the police arrived. It was torture for her.

"Mairi had to sit across the road in a car and listen to the screams for help.

"It is like a bloody horror movie.

"She will never forget that boy's face as he lay there dying before her."

This horrific incident was highlighted after the Record revealed shock plans to replace ambulances with single-manned rapid-response cars to meet time targets.

Last night, Transport and General Workers' Union convener John Gallacher hit out: "Mairi Lennon is a victim of the spreadsheet management.

"It has nothing to do with patient or staff safety.

"It is to do with ticking boxes and getting to the scene within that target time of eight minutes."

Lone paramedics in rapid response cars are regularly forced to beat their target time to get to major incidents - then do nothing until back-up arrives.

Mairi, of Glasgow, refused to talk about the incident in Easterhouse last August, for fear of losing her job but fellow ambulance workers said other paramedics are regularly frustrated in similar life-or-death situations.

One source said: "These kind of incidents happen all the time - about one in three jobs.

"But this is a perfect example of why replacing ambulances with these vehicles to boost their response time and make the service look good will cost lives."

The ambulance worker said 19-year-old Stuart Baillie might have been saved in Netherhouse Place if it had not been for the policy and response targets.

The source continued: "If Mairi had been in an two-man ambulance, they would have been able to assess the situation and if there was any danger, they could have put the young man in the back of the vehicle and got out of there fast.

"But, because of cutbacks, mismanagement and policies, Mairi was not allowed near the scene. She had all her equipment in the back of the car and she thinks there is a good chance the boy would still be alive today had she been allowed to do her job.

"Sadly, what happened to Mairi, is reflected in one in three jobs where paramedics are sent out on their own just to beat the clock but when they get there they can do nothing to help.

"There is an increasing number of highly trained staff going off with stress because they are being forced to sit and watch people die because they are banned from attending to the patient when they arrive at the scene.

Mairi's torment over the incident left her sick and unable to do her job.

She went off sick with stress earlier this month, as the boy's killer was jailed for 11 years at the High Court in Glasgow.

She had been dreading having to face Stuart's family and friends, who could not understand why she had to sit in her car and not respond to their screams to help the dying boy that night.

She feared having to relive her ordeal by giving evidence at a murder trial.

But the trial did not go ahead after knifeman Ian Lowrie, also 19, pleaded guilty to a charge of culpable homicide.

After he stabbed Stuart, of Ballieston, to death, a taxi driver overheard him boasting that he had "plunged the b******, I put it right through him".

Mairi's colleague said: "The thought of having to face the family brought back the full horror of the situation to Mairi and she went off with stress.

"She has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress and is being treated for it.

"Mairi loves her job and has been a paramedic for 10 years.

"She had been working on the rapid response vehicles for 18 months when she was told to attend the stabbing.

"She was able to go to the boy's aid when police and an ambulance arrived 13 minutes later but, by then, the boy was dead.

"When the people who were screaming for help saw her, they were very hostile towards her because they had seen her sitting in the car 150 yards away, doing nothing to help.

"Mairi is haunted every day by the whole horror of it all. She suffers from flashbacks and the guilt is eating her up.

"She is convinced she could have saved that boy and the family wouldn't have suffered the trauma of it all. She is struggling to come to terms with that.

Mairi was "extremely distressed" when she returned to the ambulance depot after the incident and asked her bosses for time off and counselling.

The source said: "She was forced back out on an emergency call on her own that night and told if she didn't go, she could be disciplined or sacked.

"She expressed concerns about returning to Easterhouse, for fear of repercussions but was told that was just tough and she would have to go where the calls came in."

The Scottish Ambulance Service admitted that Mairi arrived first at the scene, within five minutes and 16 seconds, and was ordered to stay in her car until the police arrived.

They confirmed she was told not to get out of her vehicle for her own safety because it was a violent incident.

A spokesman said: "Because of the circumstances - a very violent knife attack - they were advised to wait at the end of the street for police support in the interests of their safety.

"The safety of our staff is paramount and, at times, we have to make difficult decisions to protect them."