Latest news with #FrazerIrvine
BBC News
20 hours ago
- Health
- BBC News
Frazer Irvine inquest hears ‘basic care' may have saved his life
A man probably would have survived if ambulance workers had provided "basic clinical care", a medical expert has told an Irvine, 39, died after he called 999 and had a heart attack on 18 March Thursday, Prof Charles Deakin said it was likely Mr Irvine would have survived if the ambulance crew had taken efforts to manage his breathing instead of leaving him face down in his own John Sutherland and ambulance technician Tom Le Sauteur were previously found guilty of failing to take reasonable care of Mr Irvine the night he died. That verdict was upheld at an appeal hearing. Coroner Bridget Dolan KC read extracts from the post-mortem report of Mr Irvine that said he died of a heart attack, with a background of mixed alcohol and drug use, and aspiration - meaning food or vomit in his lungs.A toxicology report found Mr Irvine had a high blood alcohol level, two-and-a-half times the maximum limit to drive, and much lower levels of three different prescription drugs in his Deakin told the inquest in Jersey he did not believe the mix of drugs and alcohol would have caused a cardiac arrest if the ambulance workers had taken measures to manage Mr Irvine's airway. Airway blocked He said the ambulance staff left Mr Irvine lying at the top of the staircase outside his flat in a position that was not the recovery position but was "essentially face down" with his head in his vomit and his hand partly covering his added that it would have "inevitably" blocked Mr Irvine's airway, reducing the amount of oxygen he could take said Sutherland and Le Sauteur could have prevented this by a "number of means" such as repositioning Mr Irvine's airway to open it, suctioning vomit from his mouth and giving him extra said: 'It is basic clinical care to remove vomit from someone's airway, irrespective of what position they are in.' On Wednesday, Sutherland said he and his colleague may have been able to move Mr Irvine down the staircase and get him to hospital if there had not been "huge delays" in the time it took for police to respond to calls for added that the police who did attend were 'outstanding' when they Deakin said he did not believe any potential delay in the police responding to calls for assistance caused Mr Irvine's said when the police did arrive there was a 12-minute window where the ambulance staff could have provided appropriate care that would have given Mr Irvine "a good chance of survival". Shortcomings to be addressed Ms Dolan said it was still a "factual issue" regarding whether the ambulance crew made one or two calls for police she questioned a senior police officer, DCI Mark Hafey, on why the call the police did respond to was categorised as a Grade 2 response, requiring a 60-minute response time, as opposed to Grade 1, requiring blue lights and a 10-minute Hafey said, on the information emergency call handlers had, it would always have been a Grade 2 he did admit that the call handlers should have asked more questions of the ambulance staff regarding the urgency of the situation, which would have changed the call to Grade questioned about the lack of a relevant policy on how 999 call handlers collect information when paramedics call for police assistance, he said police management would review current procedures and address inquest, expected to conclude on Friday, continues.
BBC News
2 days ago
- Health
- BBC News
Frazer Irvine inquest hears ambulance calls to police 'not safe'
A coroner has criticised the lack of communication between Jersey's emergency services following the death of a the inquest of Frazer Irvine, 39, who died of a heart attack on 18 March 2022 while ambulance workers and police officers were at his home, Bridget Dolan KC said it was hard to see how lessons could be learnt from his death without a relevant policy on ambulance staff calling for police inquest also heard from paramedic John Sutherland who said he and his colleague may have treated Mr Irvine differently if there had not been a "huge delay" in the response to their calls for police inquest, expected to conclude on Friday, continues. Mr Sutherland and ambulance technician Tom Le Sauteur were previously found guilty of failing to take reasonable care of Mr Irvine the night he paramedic told the hearing there were "absolutely" things he could have done better on the night, such as putting on personal protective equipment (PPE) earlier and using equipment to monitor Mr Irvine more Sutherland said that Mr Irvine was aggressive when he and Mr Le Sauteur arrived at his home but the police did not respond to their first call for help, and had to be chased up with a second said concern for his and his colleague's safety and an inability to move Mr Irvine from the top of the staircase outside his flat meant they did not provide active medical care until the police arrived. The inquest heard that Mr Sutherland and Mr Le Sauteur told emergency call handlers they needed police back up because of Mr Irvine's aggression but did not pass on information about the urgency of the situation, including the risks to them or the Dolan identified that, at the time, there was no policy requiring them to do so nor a policy requiring the emergency call handlers to ask for this said if this information was not passed on to the police, the system was not evidence at the hearing, Senior Ambulance Officer James Inglis admitted there was still no appropriate policy on this Dolan challenged Mr Inglis on a draft policy on calls for police assistance, written by the ambulance service in May said it still did not require ambulance staff requesting police back up to pass on essential information or require emergency call handlers to ask for Inglis told the hearing he would review the policy and deal with some of the issues within it. 'Against clinical practice' Mr Sutherland was also questioned on why he and his colleagues stopped Mr Irvine's cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) after 20 minutes, despite guidelines stating it should be continued for longer in the case of a suspected Sutherland said he and his ambulance colleagues determined it was "futile" to continue the CPR beyond 20 minutes, as they would have had to stop compressions for several minutes to get Mr Irvine down the stairs to where the ambulance Inglis told the hearing the decision to stop CPR after 20 minutes was not in accordance with the clinical practice or guidelines at time, adding he would have expected the crew to make an effort to get Mr Irvine to inquest continues.
BBC News
3 days ago
- BBC News
Family tells Frazer Irvine inquest of devastation at loss of son
A family has been left "devastated" by the death of a man who died while two Jersey ambulance workers were at his home, the man's mother has told an inquest into the death of Frazer Irvine, 39, who died after he called 999 and had a heart attack on 18 March 2022, started on from a written description, his mother Linda Irvine told the hearing that her kind, generous son was a "beautiful soul" who always saw the best in people and never had a bad word to say about inquest, due to conclude on Friday, continues. 'Beautiful soul' Paramedic John Sutherland and ambulance technician Tom Le Sauteur were previously found guilty of failing to take reasonable care of Mr Irvine the night he died. That verdict was upheld at an appeal the inquest, coroner Bridget Dolan KC started proceedings by inviting the family to tell the hearing about the man and son Mr Irvine Irvine told the hearing her son was a popular child who could "charm the monkeys out the trees". She said he grew into a loving and dependable adult with a natural wit; he loved music and nature, which was why he chose to pursue a career as a tree surgeon, she said her son struggled with anxiety after a deceitful relationship in his early 20s ended badly, impacting him and the was a man with a confident exterior but he could be easily hurt, Mrs Irvine said that, while his passing had devastated the family, Mr Irvine was too big a personality to ever be said what had been hard was that, while her son was always the first to offer help, when he asked for it the "people charged to do so couldn't treat him like the kind human being he was until it was too late".She said she hoped that in her son's last moments, when he was "abandoned" on a stairwell, he knew how much he was loved.
BBC News
4 days ago
- BBC News
Frazer Irvine inquest to look Jersey emergency services policies
A coroner is to consider the policies of emergency services as part of an inquest into the death of a 39 year-old John Sutherland and technician Tom Le Sauteur were found guilty of failing to take reasonable care of Frazer Irvine, whose March 2022 death is the subject of an inquest due to start on at a pre-inquest hearing on Monday, Bridget Dolan KC said the inquiry would look at the broad context and systems in which the police officers and ambulance staff present at Mr Irvine's death were made it clear the inquest would be "a wholly separate process to the criminal trial". Ms Dolan said it was going to be an Article 2 inquest - a broader type of hearing where there is potential an official or state body is in part responsible for the said the hearing would not challenge the trial's findings but it would address relevant matters that weren't dealt with in the criminal process, or weren't dealt with in sufficient said the trial never focused on what caused Mr Irvine's death so that would be for the inquest to determine, adding it was unusual for an inquest to happen after criminal setting out the scope of the inquest, Ms Dolan said she would consider whether there were any shortcomings in ambulance and police policies, guidance and procedures that were relevant to Mr Irvine's service to have an external investigation Dolan reassured Mr Irvine's parents, who were present at the hearing, their interests were integral to the process, acknowledging it had been "a long road" for inquest will hear evidence from Mr Sutherland and Mr Le Sauteur, as well as from two police officers present at Mr Irvine's is expected to conclude on Friday.
