Woman died after two-hour wait in rain for fire crew due to HSE protocol

HSE protocol was the reason a 25-stone ill woman, dressed only in a nightgown, was forced to wait two hours in torrential rain while emergency crew waited for back-up to carry her to the ambulance.

The 73-year-old Dutch woman suffered cardiac failure and died of natural causes after she was placed in the ambulance, an inquest heard. However, Killarney coroner Terence Casey directed the jury to take into account the circumstances surrounding the death of Cobie Pols, aged 73, of Kaarel, Doormanstraat, The Netherlands, and how she was moved from the mobile home into the ambulance.

The court heard it would have been too dangerous for the two-man ambulance crew to move the 25-stone woman down a narrow slippery path and makeshift steps on one of the worst nights of the year. Protocol demanded they get approval from the HSE to call out the fire brigade.