Basic care could have saved man's life - inquest

A man probably would have survived if ambulance workers had provided "basic clinical care", a medical expert has told an inquest.

Frazer Irvine, 39, died after he called 999 and had a heart attack on 18 March 2022.

On 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 vomit.

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 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 system.

Prof 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.

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 mouth.

He added that it would have "inevitably" blocked Mr Irvine's airway, reducing the amount of oxygen he could take in.

He 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 oxygen.

He 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 assistance.

He added that the police who did attend were “outstanding” when they arrived.

Prof Deakin said he did not believe any potential delay in the police responding to calls for assistance caused Mr Irvine's death.

He 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".

Ms Dolan said it was still a "factual issue" regarding whether the ambulance crew made one or two calls for police assistance.

However, 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 response.

DCI Hafey said, on the information emergency call handlers had, it would always have been a Grade 2 response.

But 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 1.

When 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 shortcomings.

The inquest, expected to conclude on Friday, continues.

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