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| ‘Inadequately trained’
medic team sent to dying preacher |
Family demand inquiry after
999 emergency hold up for heart attack victim
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Daugther Tara Willis and her aunt Tina Willis want answers
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AN “INADEQUATELY trained” ambulance crew was sent to
help a dying Holloway preacher, an inquest heard yesterday (Thursday).
St Pancras Coroner’s Court was further told how crews may have
taken over an hour to reach Elijah Benjah, 47.
The family of Mr Benjah, who died of a heart attack at his flat
in Bardolph Road, want an inquiry after it was also revealed that
police took almost 20 minutes to arrive and smash down his door.
Street preacher and homeless worker Mr Benjah was a familiar face
around Brixton, south London, where he helped various churches.
St Pancras Coroner’s Court was told a senior registrar at the
Whittington Hospital, Archway, considered an “inadequately
trained” ambulance team was sent to the 999 call.
Mr Benjah’s family want to know why paramedics – who would
have been able to administer an “advanced life support”
– were not sent to the ‘Category A’ emergency after
he had complained of difficulty breathing.
Under questioning from barrister Martin Haukeland, registrar Dr
Abbi Lulsegged, agreed. “An inadequately trained ambulance
crew was sent to the call,” he said.
He added: “They would have been able to give a breathing tube
in the trachea, an intravenous drip and advanced life support. This
is the standard protocol for cardiac arrests.”
Instead the crew that arrived gave Mr Benjah CPR and inserted a
breathing tube and transferred him to the Whittington where he later
died. The ambulance crews was dispatched at 8.25am but police were
not called until 10 minutes later and did not arrive until 8.44am.
Denis Wilson, the emergency medical technician who attended the
call, found Mr Benjah, a father-of-three, lying with his head on
a hi-fi speaker and was “sweaty but still warm”.
He said: “We didn’t want to be stuck on the scene carrying
out CPR when I knew the Whittington was only a few minutes away.”
Mr Benjah changed his name from Calvin George Barrat after a religious
vision 24 years ago. He renounced the occasional crime in which
he had been involved and devoted his life to helping others.
Coroner Dr Andrew Reid was forced to adjourn the inquest after it
was revealed that mobile phone records may indicate that Mr Benjah
called 999 an hour before crews arrived.
London Ambulance Service’s logs show the call was made by his
friend Angel at around 8.25. Mr Benjah’s daughter, Tara Willis,
claimed in court that his mobile phone shows he made a call at around
7am.
Ms Willis, a 27-year-old mother-of-two, said her father had called
Angel at around 8am after receiving no response to his alleged 999
call. She said: “He was just screaming down the phone that
he was dying and that he really needed to talk to someone. Angel
said he was screaming and shouting.”
The cause of Mr Benjah’s death remains unascertainable, the
coroner said. London Ambulance Service said they could not comment
because the inquest had not concluded. |
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