Legal News
Young mother who died of a cardiac arrest in court did not receive treatment for 4 minutes after paramedic arrived (24 August 2017)
Date: 24/08/2017
A coroner has said that a woman’s death in a court building was “a potentially survivable situation”. Hayleigh Gascoigne, 32, collapsed in the public concourse area of Hull Combined Court Centre in January, and she was later pronounced dead. It has now since been found that Gascoigne was neither immediately nor accurately examined and was not given the intervention she should have been.
Gascoigne collapsed whilst listening to a ruling over a family legal battle and a Rapid Response Vehicle (RRV) paramedic arrived within 4 minutes of the 999 call being made. However, CCTV reveals that the RRV paramedic did not start resuscitating until about 4 minutes after arrival. Further, he decided not to defibrillate, and when the double crewed ambulance arrived shortly after, they did not challenge this decision.
A pre-inquest review into the death heard that a report had stated the first paramedic on the scene failed to “effectively manage the shock-able cardiac arrest.”
HM Senior Coroner Professor Paul Marks said that Gascoigne had died from hypersensitive heart disease , and he said: “I’m slightly concerned that this is a natural cause of death which, in a sense, was unnatural. There was a natural cause of death but it came unnaturally because of lack of action.” Marks also expressed his opinion that it was a “potentially survivable situation”, and said an expert view is needed to determine whether, had the shock-able rhythm been treated, Hayley would have survived.
A three day inquest is scheduled to take place at a later date.
Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence Solicitors
The Duncan Lewis Clinical Negligence team has significant experience acting in a vast array of claims including accident and emergency failures, GP negligence claims, misdiagnosed fractures and other medical conditions and wrongful death claims. They also act for children and adults who have suffered profound and permanent brain, spinal or neurological injuries and associated disabilities as a consequence of failings in medical care in both NHS and private hospitals.
If you believe that your doctor or medical professional has made a mistake, please do not hesitate to contact our team of expert solicitors on 0333 772 0409.