‘Distracted’ worker took an hour to pass on heart attack case

AN ambulance service coordinator took an hour to pass on a case involving a man who had suffered a heart attack in his office, an inquiry has heard.

Explaining her delay – during which on-site first aiders battled to keep the man alive – Claire Goodfellow said she must have been ‘distracted’ by a phone call.

Miss Goodfellow, 48, a qualified advanced paramedic, was giving evidence on Friday at a fatal accident inquiry into the death of Graham Anderson.

The 59-year-old, of Stirling, collapsed in his office in Grangemouth, on May 1, 2020. The inquiry heard that during the early part of the coronavirus pandemic the Scottish Ambulance Service had introduced a new system to deal with calls.

Those initially rated less urgent were colour-coded ‘teal’ and callers were told to expect a ring back from someone who would work out how to help them.

Mr Anderson, a stores co-ordinator, was found lying face down in his office at the CalaChem complex between 7.50am and 7.55am. Staff rang 999 at 7.57am and reported Mr Anderson had ‘passed out’. An emergency call handler took the details.

The inquiry heard the call then appeared on a spreadsheet in front of Miss Goodfellow, whose job it was to allocate it to a remote-working paramedic, who would phone and speak to those with Mr Anderson. Miss Goodfellow said the system was that she would ring a free paramedic.

She said she had only realised the call was outstanding when

‘Phone rang and I was distracted’

a manager queried why it was ‘still sitting’. She rang the paramedic at 9.10am.

Miss Goodfellow told the inquiry, at Stirling Sheriff Court: ‘The only thing I can think of is I was about to phone him and the phone rang and I was distracted.’

An ambulance arrived at 9.22am but there was a wait while the crew donned PPE before attending to Mr Anderson, by now in cardiac arrest.

The inquiry, before Sheriff Keith O’Mahony, will continue next month.