AN OKEHAMPTON woman whose baby daughter was struggling to breathe was told that it would take more than half an hour for an ambulance to reach her. Nicola Cook was horrified when she called 999 at around 7pm last Thursday evening after eight-week-old Scarlett started to choke on vomit ? only to be told that it could be 35 minutes before any help would arrive at her home in Hare Tor Close. Baby Scarlett had been out in the family?s garden with Nicola. Nicola said: ?She started struggling to get up some sick. ?I picked her up and tapped her on the back as usual, but nothing happened, so I tapped her harder but she was still just struggling to get in tiny breaths.? Nicola rushed to the phone and called 999. ?They didn?t say how long the ambulance would be, but I know we only have one around here, so I asked them and they told me 35 minutes. I just thought ?Oh my God! I can?t wait that long?,? she said. ?I was alone and had my two-year-old son with me so I had to run across the road to a neighbour. ?I thought I?d leave my son with her and drive to the hospital, but then I realised I wouldn?t be able to drive and help Scarlett at the same time, so she offered to drive me.? Nicola said the emergency services operator did not offer her any first aid advice and seemed ?keen to get off the line? even though she needed reassurance. ?My head was in a spin,? she said. ?I do know some first aid but I forgot what order to do things in.? The operator did stay on the phone, though, until Nicola had confirmed that she could get Scarlett to hospital under her own steam. Once at Okehampton hospital, Scarlett was seen immediately and her breathing soon improved. ?I?ve no criticism at all of the staff at the hospital,? Nicola said. While mother and daughter were at the hospital, an ambulance arrived from Northlew, which then took them to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where Scarlett was monitored and checked further. Happily, the little girl has now made a full recovery. Nicola is worried, though, about the state of emergency services in Okehampton. ?I think that it?s terrible that I might have had to wait 35 minutes for help in a town the size of Okehampton, which is growing so rapidly,? she said. She is concerned that the ambulance service in the area has to cover such a large patch with so few resources. ?I am also worried that if this had occurred after ten o?clock at night I would have had nowhere to turn,? she said. ?We really need the reassurance that the hospital is there and open all the time, if it?s going to take this long for ambulances to reach us.? In a statement, a spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Trust said: ?Although the Trust is unable to comment on individual patient cases, an apology is extended to the family for any inconvenience and concern that was caused.? ?South Western Ambulance Service would like to make an assurance that its primary concerns are patient care and safety and that of its staff. ?The enforced Government targets for ambulance services nationally, as recommended by the Department of Health, state that 75% of all emergency life threatening calls must be reached within eight minutes and all non-life threatening within 19 minutes. The Trust regularly meets and exceeds these targets. ?The Trust takes in excess of 1000 emergency calls each day and staff do their best to reach patients as quickly as possible.? Any patients with queries or concerns about the ambulance service in Okehampton should contact South Western Ambulance Service staff on 01392 261500.