Source : Perth Now news
A paramedic showed “no sense of urgency” while assessing an arrested man who would die just moments later, a coroner has found.
Adam Shepley, from Salisbury North, north of Adelaide, died a matter of moments after falling from a roof while trying to evade police.
On the night of his death he had been reported to be acting erratically and had scaled a roof while believed to be in the midst of a drug-induced psychotic episode.
As he attempted to avoid the police, the 30-year-old fell from the roof onto the ground, where police then attempted to restrain him.
But he later went into cardiac arrest, with resuscitation efforts carried out by paramedics proving futile.
Following an inquest into his death, state coroner Naomi Kereru criticised the response of a paramedic tasked with assessing Mr Shepley after he had fallen from the roof and been restrained by police.
Clarke Timmins arrived at the scene about 12.50am, about half an hour after Mr Shepley’s fall, as part of an ambulance crew of two.
However, he told the inquest: “I don’t even recall examining the patient or looking at the patient.”
In her report, Ms Kereru wrote: “It can be seen on the body-worn video, and was admitted by Mr Timmins, that he demonstrated no sense of urgency in his approach to Mr Shepley.
“It can also be seen, and was accepted by Mr Timmins, that he made no proper assessment of Mr Shepley’s consciousness or his breathing and circulation.”
Ms Kereru wrote that it was not until Mr Shepley was lifted onto an ambulance barouche that he went into cardiac arrest.
“I find that Mr Timmins failed in his provision of care to Mr Shepley,” she said.
“He failed in three related ways; he did not conduct a proper assessment of Mr Shepley’s condition on arrival.
“He then failed to monitor Mr Shepley during his attendance, and he failed to take appropriate action to Mr Shepley’s condition, as a result of his first two failings.”
However, Ms Kereru did not go so far as to say definitively that had Mr Timmins responded differently, Mr Shepley could have survived.
“While it is unlikely that Mr Timmins could have saved Mr Shepley, that is far from certain and what Mr Timmins’ lack of action did do was deny Mr Shepley any chance of survival,” she wrote.
Concluding the inquest, Ms Kereru urged South Australia’s health minister to publish a reminder to workers at South Australia Ambulance Service about sudden post-agitation restraint cardiac issues to ensure anybody under restraint is given swift and thorough examinations.
She found no fault with the approach taken by the police to restraining Mr Shepley, describing it as “appropriate care”.
Mr Shepley died on October 24, 2020, with the cause of his death unascertained.
