(TotalConservative.com) – A UK patient declared dead by paramedics regained consciousness hours later in a hospital. Few details were available due to privacy concerns, but what is known is that ambulance workers determined the person was dead when that was not the case.
North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) issued a formal apology and opened an investigation into the occurrence. No other details about the patient were available. Director of paramedicine for NEAS Andrew Hodge said they began an investigation immediately and were “deeply sorry” for the confusion they caused to the patient’s family.
No further comment was issued.
The error comes months following a report that indicted the NEAS for allegedly hiding medical mistakes or withholding evidence. The review pointed to 17-year-old Quinn Beadle who was found hanging from her neck near her residence in Shildon. Similarly, the paramedics determined she was dead without performing CPR or performing an adequate examination.
She’d previously been struggling with depression. Police were the first on the scene and engaged in CPR until paramedics arrived and told them to stop. During an inquest, it was shown that the paramedic in question did not take over CPR nor adequately examine Beadle to determine she was beyond aid. The paramedic’s claims that he checked her femoral artery (which is in the inside of the thigh) was contested by officer testimony that at no time did the paramedic lower her jeans to physically check for her pulse.
Retired medical professional Dame Marianne Griffiths said the report indicated “a number of failings” in NEAS’s ability to respond to negative criticism. She further suggested that they aren’t incorporating feedback or learning lessons from previous failures.
She called the problem a dysfunction of leadership and said it creates a major impact on how different groups function within the organization leading to poorer patient care. Instead of learning from mistakes, the organization became defensive and concealed problems.
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