Paramedics could not find dying man’s flat

A coroner plans to write to the National Ambulance Service (NAS) after an inquest exposed information gaps in the way a 999 call was handled.

Cork City Coroner Dr Myra Cullinane said she will stress the importance of information sharing between ambulance dispatchers and paramedics after hearing details about the death of Fergus Allingham, 29, in the city in 2013.

The inquest heard Mr Allingham lay unconscious and dying on the floor of his apartment in Bellview House, Military Road, on July 4, 2013, as emergency services, unsure of his exact address, searched the building for his apartment.

When the paramedics relayed the situation back to ambulance control in Dublin, they were told there was no further information about the address, despite ambulance control having the name and number of Mr Allingham’s stepbrother, Ron O’Regan, who had raised the alarm from Kinsale.

All the emergency services were subsequently stood down.

Mr Allingham was found dead on the floor of his kitchen less than an hour later when his landlord called unannounced.

Dr Cullinane said it may be the case that the NAS’s system cannot be improved, but she said she will stress to the agency the importance of information sharing.

The inquest heard Mr Allingham was in phone contact with his mother and Mr O’Regan on several occasions on July 4, 2013, and complained of feeling unwell. His family members encouraged him to call an ambulance.

During a phone call with Mr O’Regan at around 2.30pm, he apparently collapsed and the phone went dead. Mr O’Regan, who was in Kinsale, dialled 999 and said his brother was living in a top-floor apartment of Bellview House on Military Road, and may be unconscious. Because he was not at the location, he was classed as a ‘third party’ caller.

A call-taker at the NAS centre in Dublin told the inquest he passed this information to a dispatcher who sent an ambulance with two paramedics to the scene.

Although the call was classed as an emergency, it was third in its list of seriousness — two below a full cardiac arrest emergency.

The dispatcher also alerted gardaí and fire crews that they may be needed to help paramedics gain access to the building if the casualty was unconscious. But a resident opened the front door and the emergency services began searching, without success. The apartments were not numbered.

Gardaí and firefighters searched the area and called to a doctor’s surgery next door to see if they knew Mr Allingham, but no one could help them pinpoint his apartment.

The inquest was told when paramedics contacted ambulance control to brief them, the dispatcher stood down the emergency response at 3.15pm. The inquest was told it was not unusual for ambulance control not to contact ‘third party’ callers.

Mr O’Regan phoned ambulance control again at 4.10pm for an update but was told the emergency had been stood down. Mr Allingham was found dead bout 20-minutes later. A post mortem found he suffered sudden death associated with severe alcoholic fatty liver.

The coroner recorded a verdict of misadventure.