Pregnant woman died after 'delay by trainee medics’

A pregnant woman bled to death after trainee paramedics waited 40 minutes to take her to hospital, an inquest has heard.

Trudy Glenister, 38, told family she feared she was “losing the baby” after suffering vomiting and abdominal pains in April 2011.

An inquest at Chelmsford Coroner’s Court heard how trainee paramedics waited 40 minutes before leaving for Southend Hospital and refused to use emergency sirens.

Mrs Glenister, who was five weeks pregnant, went into cardiac arrest after suffering internal bleeding due to a suspected ectopic pregnancy. She was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital.

Mark Elms, an ambulance trainee, told the court he and a student colleague had arrived at the home in Great Wakering, Essex, at 7.29pm on April 11, 2011, and began making observations at 7.35pm.

Observations continued until 8.09pm, before they set off without emergency lights or sirens, as Mr Elms claimed that he feared using them might “increase the patient’s anxiety”. The court heard that, following the 15-minute journey, the crew queued up behind other ambulances, unaware of the emergency at hand. Mr Elms admitted that he had been training for only a year and his knowledge of ectopic pregnancies was restricted to two brief paragraphs in training manuals.

He claimed he had followed his training by carrying out two sets of observations before taking the patient to hospital.

A post mortem examination revealed Mrs Glenister had four to five litres of blood in her abdominal area in what pathologist Dr Ian Caulder described as an “acute medical surgical emergency”.

The foetus in her Fallopian tube had ruptured her ovarian artery, causing heavy internal bleeding.

Roger Wicks, a solicitor, who represented Mrs Glenister’s family, called on the coroner, Caroline Beasley-Murray, to record medical negligence as a factor in her death. He said the trainee’s actions amounted to “gross failings in the provision of basic care”. The inquest was adjourned ahead of summing up next week.

Dave Hill, representing the ambulance trust, said the incident had not been investigated and no procedures had been changed since Mrs Glenister’s death.

The hearing was adjourned until next week.

This article is courtesy from The Telegraph.