Paramedics 'wrong' to seek police support over suicide
Ambulance staff were "wrong" to wait for police assistance outside the home of a man who had threatened to commit suicide, an inquest has been told.
Paramedics who found Stephen Reilly's body in his home in Towcester reportedly told police at the scene he died "within minutes" of them getting into the property, and were frustrated officers had not arrived to help until more than an hour after the first emergency call was made.
But at an inquest yesterday, a statement given to the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) by John Duvall, head of corporate affairs of South Central Ambulance Service, suggested the paramedics crews should have broken into the house instead of waiting for police.
He said: "There was no evidence of any threat to paramedic staff and as a consequence I must conclude that the request for police to attend – in case such a risk might exist – was wrong."
The inquest was told training guidelines stated paramedics should not wait for police to arrive if someone's life might be at risk.
Chief Insp Gary Ashton, who was asked to review procedures on the night 38-year-old Mr Reilly died, told the inquest at Overstone Park, Northampton, that staff in the police control room usually worked very well with their counterparts in the ambulance service. But he added: "In some incidents, where the roles of the ambulance staff and police are not clearly defined, confusion can arise."
Chief Insp Ashton defended Northamptonshire Police's handling of the emergency, which took place during the early hours of June 27 this year, and said staff in the force control room believed paramedics were more concerned with their own welfare than that of Mr Reilly.
He said: "My understanding of the information is that there was no risk faced by the ambulance crew and they should have acted on that risk assessment, and they did not."
Pc Jason Brotherton, who was the first officer on the scene at about 1.45am, said he arrived moments after Mr Reilly was pronounced dead, and paramedics were "offish" towards him.
He also revealed he was one of only two officers covering the whole of South Northamptonshire during the evening, which stretched from Banbury to Daventry and up to the county's borders with Buckinghamshire and Bedfordshire.
Coroner Anne Pember was due to reach a verdict on Mr Reilly's death today.
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Saturday 04 February 2012
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