999 operator told a dying teacher to head to A&E
A TEACHER who called 999 saying she could barely walk died after an operator advised her to make her way to A&E, an inquest heard.
Amber Hickford, 26, had blurred vision after falling into a bedside cabinet, but her 999 call was “coded incorrectly” as a non-emergency.
Instead of sending an ambulance, the operator told her she should try to get to hospital but she was unable to manage it.
An inquest heard she was later found unresponsive and her boyfriend Jason Hanmer rang 999 again – with three ambulances arriving after the call. Despite paramedics giving her CPR, she was pronounced dead at her home in Rochdale last April.
Tests revealed she had inadvertently taken a toxic level of paracetamol tablets for severe stomach pains she had been experiencing following a urinary infection.
Heywood Coroner’s Court, in Rochdale, heard she had only been discharged from hospital two days earlier and had been given stronger codeine painkillers.
Error
The emergency call handler who fielded the first 999 call has since been given “feedback” over the error.
Angela Lee, of the North West Ambulance Service, said: “They have a couple of seconds to make that decision and it’s a very difficult task.”
Coroner Michael Salt adjourned the hearing for further inquiries, but said: “I accept the call was coded incorrectly. I need to know more about the potential effect of the delay in the arrival of the ambulance, at least an hour and 36 minutes.
“The question is whether something could have been achieved in the time that might have been available.
“The important thing is to try to find out whether the delay contributed to death.”
Amber’s father Neil said: “Amber was a science teacher and would be aware of the nature of the medication she was taking and the effects that may have.
“She would never have knowingly taken more than she should have.”