‘No leadership’ in care of collapsed football fan

An NHS paramedic who took over the care of a man who collapsed at a football match told an inquest there was “no leadership” from contracted private paramedics at the scene.

Mark Townsend, 57, from Birmingham, suffered a cardiac arrest at Hillsborough Stadium during West Brom’s away tie with Sheffield Wednesday on 28 September last year.

Samuel Hewson, a critical care paramedic at Yorkshire Ambulance Service (YAS), said he felt cardiac arrest procedures “weren’t drilled fully” by Lambda Medical, the ground’s crowd medical care provider.

He told the inquest at Sheffield Medico-Legal Centre that when he arrived at the scene, things “seemed chaotic, and everyone was fighting over different roles”.

When asked if the communication issues had impacted Mr Townsend’s care, he said: “Ultimately, no.”

Concerns about the West Brom supporter had been flagged to the control room just before 13:00 BST and Lambda staff had attended within five to 10 minutes, the inquest heard.

Paramedics, including the company’s director, moved Mr Townsend to the concourse on a “scoop” stretcher, despite having no straps to secure him.

Emily Gallivan, who worked for the company at the time, said she had performed CPR while he was being transported down the stairs for “public perception”.

“It would not have been the most effective [but it was] best to continue some form of treatment to give reassurance we were doing everything we can,” she said.

There would have been a “very high chance” of someone tripping and Mr Townsend falling, Mr Hewson told the hearing.

“Under no circumstances would we move Mark, or any other patient, without straps,” he added.

Mr Hewson said he arrived at the concourse at about 13:14, having been called by the ground’s YAS commander, and “took over the arrest”.

Standard procedure for a cardiac arrest sees a number of paramedics surround the patient, each with different roles and overseen by one team leader, the inquest heard.

Lewis Wright, director of Lambda and first paramedic on the scene, previously told the inquest he had been leading the arrest.

He pointed out how a YAS staff member had administered a defibrillator shock to Mr Townsend and shocked a Lambda worker in the process.

Mr Hewson said, after watching CCTV of the incident: “The instruction was heard. She took a visible step back.”

He said there had been “lessons learned” from the shock and the incident overall, but that YAS taking over had been “100%” the right decision.

“I have asked for an initial handover and not received one, I am looking for someone who had taken lead and can’t find anyone… there was no leadership in place,” he said.

As a specialist in critical care, Mr Hewson said he attended more than 130 cardiac arrests per year compared to a non-specialist, who would deal with about three on average, the inquest heard.

Gill Wild, a stand supervisor at the football ground, said she had never had training on how to support the evacuation of a patient from the stand.

Supervisors and stewards had not received the expected instructions on handling the incident so had “just got on with it”, she told the inquest.

Senior coroner Tanyka Rawden told her: “To be honest, I’m not getting the impression you know what to do.”

When Mr Wright asked Ms Wild who had been in charge of the medical response, she said: “It’s only now I’ve known you since, that I knew you were in charge.”

The inquest is due to continue on Friday.