Family slam ambulance response time at in quest
AN inquest into the death of Dualtagh Donnelly (25) who died after cutting his arm on glass, causing ‘catastrophic’ bleeding returned an open verdict at Dundalk Coroners Court yesterday (Monday).
The inquest heard a 999 call was made just after 3a.m on the morning of October 26th 2015 for an ambulance to attend the house at 124 Marian Park, Dundalk where a man was reported to have severe bleeding.
The coroner was told the call was ‘chaotic’ and that there had been ‘a lot of shouting, screaming and swearing.’
But a call taker at the National Ambulance Service, who gave evidence, confirmed an ambulance was being arranged as it was an emergency situation.
It also emerged that a ‘proceed with caution’ order had been given, which the inquest was told was an understanding by paramedics that they should wait for gardai to arrive at the scene.
However, the National Ambulance Service denied that this ‘decreased the urgency’ in which paramedics made their way to the call.
Evidence presented at the inquest revealed that an ambulance was dispatched from Drogheda, but that it had not switched on its blue lights or sirens at any stage.
It had travelled at speeds of between 55 kilometres per hour and 111 kilometres per hour, never exceeding the speed limit on the motorway which is 120kph.
The inquest heard that the ambulance started up at 3.12a.m in Drogheda. It reached the house in Marian Park just after 3.45a.m
An advanced paramedic had been on the scene a short while earlier, where he noted ‘a lot of blood’ had been lost. He had attempted to resuscitate Mr. Donnelly, but wasn’t able to do so.
The inquest heard that there was time lost in the ambulance turning off at the Xerox junction from the M1, instead of the Castleblayney exit, which was closer to the scene. The coroner was told that in 2015, the ambulance was not fitted with a GPS, but ambulance vehicles now are.
Coronor Ronan Maguire expressed his sympathy to the family of Dualtagh Donnelly. The cause of death was hemorrhagic shock due to profuse bleeding.
He acknowledged that GPS vehicles are now fitted to ambulances, saying that a ‘substantial’ amount of time was lost by the ambulance taking the wrong exit, and also by not using its blue light.
He added: ‘If the ambulance had’ve been there any earlier, there is no way of knowing if the outcome would have been different’ saying that an advanced paramedic was already at the scene.
Speaking after the inquest, Dualtagh’s grieving mother Oonagh told the Argus the family felt ‘nothing would bring him back’ but that there were still ‘unanswered questions.’
‘Not a day goes by we don’t remember him. He lives on through his three children.’