3 hours ago
9
A paramedic working for Sheffield Wednesday's private medical company has accused the local ambulance service of hindering their attempts to save the life of a West Bromwich Albion fan at Hillsborough by 'aggressively' barging in on them.
Sarah Linaker described how Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS) caused confusion and bewilderment among staff of Lambda Medical – who had beaten the service to the contract to handle crowd medical emergencies at Wednesday home matches - by entering the scene as they were trying to save the life of Albion fan Mark Townsend, 57, who had suffered a cardiac arrest during a game last September.
Ms Linaker delivered stinging criticism of Samuel Hewson, a YAS paramedic who assumed control of the emergency, accusing him of ignoring her suggestions that they try three additional drugs to help get Mr Townsend's heart started.
She claimed he three times dismissed her concerns about the position of pads attached to Mr Townsend's body when delivering CPR and that he inadvertently caused an electric shock to one of her own team.
Ms Linaker said that on the basis of his work that day she would have failed Mr Hewson if assessing him for a paramedic's qualification. Yet she insisted that the chaotic scenes, with two paramedic teams falling over each other, did not hasten the death of Mr Townsend, from Birmingham.
A picture was painted at South Yorkshire Coroner's Court of YAS commander Lesley Baker taking it upon herself to bump the private firm off their contracted work by telling Lambda staff: 'Stop what you're doing. Yorkshire Ambulance are coming to take over.' Lambda staff did not stand up to her because of the crown insignia on her epaulettes which looked 'authoritarian,' Ms Linaker told an inquest at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre.
West Bromwich Albion fan Mark Townsend tragically lost his life at Hillsborough last year
Mark Townsend suffered a cardiac arrest while watching his West Brom side in Sheffield
But Lambda's own competence in the chaotic minutes after Mr Townsend's collapse also came into question. The inquest heard that Miss Baker decided to send her own staff in after asking a member of Lambda staff whether they needed help and receiving a hesitant reply.
Witness statements seen in court suggest that the YAS ambulance commander was also concerned with several aspects of Wednesday's newly appointed private medical firm, including the 'reuse of syringes.'
Several medical staff described being given no specific sense of precisely where in the huge Leppings Lane end Mr Townsend was located, heading instead for where a gathering of stewards in fluorescent jackets suggested he would be.
The situation was complicated by the fact that another, younger fan was also suffering a less serious medical emergency at the same time. When Dr Gareth Pritchard, a senior Lambda employee, walked from the Hillsborough medical room to the Leppings Lane, he thought he would be dealing with the younger fan. He knew nothing of Mr Townsend's plight because his boss, who was in charge of that bigger emergency, was on 'a different radio network,' said Dr Pritchard. It was when Mr Townsend had been brought down to the Leppings Lane concourse for medical help that Dr Pritchard got involved.
Medic Jennifer Moody, who did attend to Mr Townsend in the stand, described difficulty reaching him because of fans standing in the stairwells. The inquest's examination will also turn to the question of whether there was adequate space within the Leppings Lane for medics to be able to treat Mr Townsend.
Wednesday have said they do not want their club's medical coordinator to be put through questions on the state of the stadium when he gives evidence to the inquest next week. But Senior Coroner Tanyka Rawden said: 'I think it is important for him to understand how much space the medical staff had to work within. I will only look at Sheffield Wednesday's standards being insufficient if someone tells me they are not.'
The inquest continues.
