A paramedic desperately banged on the windows of an ambulance to get help for a patient choking on his own vomit after the emergency vehicle was stuck waiting outside a hospital for almost two hours, an inquest heard.
Paramedic Stacey White became emotional as she described feeling “completely helpless” to help 89-year-old Bernard Anthony Skeffington as they awaited admission to the Royal Adelaide Hospital on September 25, 2021.
“We were clear that he needed urgent help. He vomited from both nostrils and from the mouth,” he said.
“The color suggested fecal vomiting, indicating a severe acute illness. There was a high risk of Mr Skeffington hoovering.
‘My main thought was to do everything I could to keep his airways open. “I felt completely helpless.”
Bernard Anthony Skeffington, 89, began choking on his own vomit while waiting in an ambulance to be admitted to hospital.
Skeffington, who died four days later from aspiration pneumonia secondary to a small bowel obstruction, had already waited three hours and 42 minutes for an ambulance to pick him up after dialing triple-0.
Ms Evans previously told the coroner’s court that three ambulances were sent before one reached Mr Skeffington.
Mrs. White said Mr Skeffington was vomiting for between 30 seconds and a minute, causing her to bang on the ambulance windows to get the attention of other paramedics because she could reach her radio to alert them.
“I did everything I could,” he said, according to the Adelaide Advertiser at the inquest into the deaths of Mr Skeffington, as well as Anna Vincenza Panella, 76, and Graham Henry Jessett, 64, who suffered ambulance delays.
Mr Skeffington’s son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter showed signs of distress as they listened to the evidence from the public gallery.
Ms. White testified that she felt the triage nurses “dismissed” her concerns about Mr. Skeffington, but she could not say specifically why.
“Sometimes it happens in the ranking system,” he said.
A South Australian inquest is investigating the deaths of three people who suffered long ambulance delays to be picked up and then waiting to be admitted to hospitals (file image)
Former triage nurse Jenese Heywood, who treated Ms Panella, said ramping, which means leaving ambulances queuing outside a hospital with patients, was one of the reasons she left healthcare.
“It’s an everyday stressful experience,” he said.
Deputy State Coroner Ian White invited Mr Skeffington’s son, who used to be a nurse, to make two statements to the court, one about his father’s life and the family impact of his death and the other asking for his professional opinion on the happened.
The investigation, which began last week, will determine whether the South African Ambulance Service or individual hospitals were responsible for the patients when they were in an ambulance waiting to be taken to an emergency department.
