Lucy Letby trial: Medics battled for 45 minutes to save baby

Doctors used five doses of adrenaline and tried two rounds of resuscitation during a 45-minute battle to save a baby allegedly murdered by nurse Lucy Letby, her trial has heard.

Ms Letby allegedly injected air into the bloodstream of Child E at Countess of Chester Hospital in June 2015.

She has been charged with murdering seven babies and attempting to murder 10 others at the hospital between 2015 and 2016.

The 32-year-old denies 22 charges.

The court heard how Ms Letby is accused of murdering Child E and attempting to murder his twin, Child F, the following day.

The twins had been born prematurely and Ms Letby was the designated nurse for both boys, the jury was told.

Notes from Doctor Christopher Wood, who was a junior doctor at the hospital in 2015, outlined how a crash call came in late one night in August 2015 for assistance with Child E.

His notes added that a team of six, including himself, paediatric registrar Doctor David Harkness, another doctor, and three senior nurses including Ms Letby attended.

Efforts to resuscitate Child E began at 00:37 BST and, over the next 45 minutes, five doses of adrenaline were administered.

According to his notes at 01:23 BST, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was stopped and Child E was cleaned before being given to his parents.

Dr Wood later confirmed to Ms Letby's defence lawyer Ben Myers, KC, that he was the only senior health officer covering paediatrics and the neonatal unit, with Dr Harkness the only registrar covering those units that night.

Dr Wood agreed that he was coming to the end of a four-month training placement and had "very little experience" with neonates.

A nurse, who was on shift the day prior to Child E's collapse and death, later told the jury the infant had been "stable".

Asked for an assessment of Child E, the nurse, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said: "He was doing well on that shift, apart from the high blood sugars."

But the nurse agreed with Mr Myers, KC, that Child E had been born premature and that there were "risks" associated with that.

A court order bans the reporting of the identities of the children allegedly attacked by Ms Letby, while identifying parents or witnesses connected with the children is also banned.

The trial continues.

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