Heart attack victim stranded after communication blackout
A communications blackout on the island of Berneray left one resident having to walk to a neighbour to raise the alarm that she was having a heart attack.
Last week the local community council wrote to the Gazette over the on-going issues, after becoming increasingly frustrated that nothing was being done, by either EE, the main mobile phone provider, or BT, responsible for internet connections through their Openreach partners.
The issue is further exacerbated by the switch over from analogue to digital for landlines, meaning for many in Berneray they have effectively been completely cut off.
This week community council chair Margaret Macaskill shared more of the problems that have arisen, which range from people being unable to work from home to major health scares.
“There is a poor lady who lives alone who suffered a heart attack during the night,” she said. “Luckily it wasn’t a full cardiac failure and she was able to get to a neighbour to get a phone. She was flown away and is still in recovery. It’s really quite scary”
They have also become increasingly frustrated over being unable to contact someone to get services restored.
“How are you supposed to report a fault when you've got no internet, no mobile and no landline?” she said.
Speaking in the House of Commons on Tuesday the MP for Na h-Eileanan an Iar Torcuil Crichton called on the Security Minister, Dan Jarvis MP, to get the private companies to “up their digital game”.
Referencing the recent disruption to electricity supply in bad weather, he said that “in the islands resilience is built-in but we have major problems with this switch from analogue to digital phone lines meaning when power goes out households are left with no phone or internet and often with no mobile signal”.
“Openreach resilience plans – battery packs for vulnerable customers – are simply not adequate and the commitment of mobile phone providers to servicing and maintaining masts is like their signal – patchy,” he added.
“Can I press the minister to call the phone companies in, get them to build up digital resilience - not in the easy places but on the edge, where people are isolated from their neighbours, where the ambulance is an hour away and the wind is blowing at 70mph.”
Mr Crichton said that a number of constituents had been affected and left with no landline or mobile signal. He said: “In one case, in Harris, a vulnerable person on their own could not summon help and a neighbour had to drive a distance for a doctor. The doctor, in turn, had to drive a distance to get a signal to summon an ambulance.
“The delay, when lives are at stake in bad weather, is unacceptable and I’ll be calling on the private companies and the government to find a solution that puts 21st century phone resilience on a par with what we had in the 20th century.”
A BT spokesperson said: “We are aware of an issue impacting broadband services on the Isle of Berneray. Our engineers have identified the issue and are working to restore services as quickly as possible.
"Specialist equipment required to complete the repair is being expedited, and our teams are ready to carry out the necessary work as soon as it arrives. We apologise for the inconvenience and thank customers for their patience while we work to resolve this.”
EE have also been contacted for comment.