Live crash victim pronounced deadExtra training? One would have thought that one of the prime skills every single ambulance crewman/woman should possess is to be able to ascertain if someone is dead or alive ...
Two ambulance crew members called to a road crash in Norfolk have been disciplined after pronouncing a man dead while he was still breathing.
An ambulance service manager said the crew had covered Artur Palchimowicz, 22, with a tarpaulin.
A policeman lifted it and realised the injured man was still breathing.
Mr Palchimowicz, from Diss, died in hospital after the crash near Norwich in December, the East of England Ambulance Service spokeswoman said.
She said both members of the ambulance crew were suspended and given extra training before returning to work.
... yet two of them couldn't spot the difference in this case.
Source: BBC Norfolk
3 comments:
Reminds me of the joke about the two men out hunting in the woods.
Suddenly, the older one clutches at his chest, groans, and slumps to the floor.
Panicked, the second man dials his mobile and tells the 999 operator "I need help! My friend just collapsed, I think he's dead!"
"OK, don't panic," soothes the operator "First, make sure he's really dead."
A shot rings out.
"OK", says the man, "Now what..?"
How about those two taking the pulses of the MPs at Westminster? That would give the tarpaulin trade a boost too.
From what I read the guy drove head on into the lorry and sustained injuries that were terminal regardless. The guy would only have just been alive and therefore might have had a very week pulse. I take your point though.
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