Pair showed 'bravery' after girl pulled from sea
SuppliedAn inquest into the death of a 13-year-old girl who got into difficulty in the North Sea heard how "everybody was doing their best to stay calm".
Edie Smart, from Monkseaton, North Tyneside, died four days after being pulled from the water in Whitley Bay on 24 July.
Her family claim there had been potential "missed opportunities" in the response, which they believe could have affected the schoolgirl's chances of survival.
Andrew Scott, representing the family, told the hearing at Newcastle Coroners' Court they "appreciate the bravery" of two ambulance support practitioners who were the first medical staff on the scene.
The hearing was told how Tracy Collins and Carl Patterson from the North East Ambulance Service (NEAS) had started life-saving treatment while waiting for paramedics to arrive.
"We had to be the ones to take control and act [until paramedics arrived]... it was asystole, there was no heartbeat," Collins said.
The inquest heard the roles undertaken by Collins and Patterson come with "basic life-saving skills" and they started to use a Zoll monitor, a piece of equipment which tracks vital signs and carries a defibrillator.
'Very distressing scene'
Collins said she had been "controlling the arrest" before a paramedic from the third-party ambulance company arrived on the scene, which the inquest heard was between six and eight minutes later.
Her colleague said it was a "very distressing scene, but everyone was doing the best to stay calm given the circumstances".
"We all worked together as a team, everybody stayed calm and we got on with what we needed to," Patterson said.
He said Edie's airway had been "full of seawater" and that a manual suction device was not doing an "effective" job.
When asked by the coroner if it impacted the ability to ventilate Edie, he agreed but said they were not authorised to use power suction tools, as it was "not within our scope of practice".
The inquest also heard how once on the scene, paramedic Zubair Mirza initially believed Collins and Patterson were paramedics and he started carrying out a cannulation on Edie's arm, before discovering they were not.
Mirza said after Patterson told him he and his colleague were not paramedics, he took over clearing Edie's airway as that takes "priority" and began using the powered suction tool.
Scott paid tribute to the efforts of Collins and Patterson and told the hearing "they appreciate the bravery" and "best efforts" to respond to a call more critical than what they normally deal with.
He then questioned Mirza on why about four minutes had passed before he realised there were no other paramedics or a "senior person".
Mirza said: "If there was something ado, I would have spoken up.
"CPR was being done exceptionally well by the RNLI and the ambulance crew, the lady on the ambulance crew was holding the monitor up, I could see the monitor."
Referring to one of his observations, he said he felt there was "no need to interrupt".
"My condolences to the family and the NEAS crew who were there- they were very, very good," he added.
The inquest, which is expected to last until Friday, continues.
