“With regard to the questions asked when an emergency call is made to South East Coast…”

The coroner’s concerns

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— (1) With regard to the questions asked when an emergency call is made to South East Coast Ambulance Service my view is that the additional questions should be asked: 1. Is there anyone else with you or are you alone? If there is anyone else with you may | please speak to them. 2. If the caller is alone: we will be asking you not to ring anybody because we need to consider the possibility that we will need to ring you back however, if you want to phone for somebody to come and bring you some support and company could you please do that within the next 15 minutes from now. At the end of the call when the Pathways aspect of the call is ended why do you not explain to the person ringing you, about the likely timing of the ambulance at that stage and therefore, the estimated time of arrival. If at that stage the estimated time of arrival is two hours or more, why do you not suggest to the patient that they may like to make arrangements to get themselves to hospital without an ambulance? 3. With regard to Pathways | understand that they have their particular questions but how can a person who is alone when they ring the ambulance service phone the ambulance back if they become unresponsive? This is a nonsense-and may well confuse the patient who is ringing. 4. Since we were dealing at this Inquest with a case of previously undiagnosed abdominal aortic aneurysm and since this is not an unusual scenario for Pathways or South East Coast Ambulance to come across, is it not possible to ask the patient whether they can feel anything at the site of the pain e.g., a pulsating mass. This if it is felt, could be a clear diagnostic sign. 6 ACTION SHOULD BE TAKEN In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and | believe you AND your organisation have the power to take such action. 7 YOUR RESPONSE ~ You are under a duty to respond to this report within 56 days of the date of this report, namely by 7 May 2019. |, the coroner may extend the period.

An extract. Read the full report, including the circumstances of the death, on the Courts and Tribunals Judiciary website.

Source

judiciary.uk, Prevention of Future Deaths reports, 2019-0051

Added to Minute Book

8 Oct 2026

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Courts and Tribunals Judiciary, judiciary.uk. Open Government Licence v3.0