Jasmine Lapsley
15 Jan 2016 · Coroner Nicola Jones · North West Wales
The coroner's concerns
1. lack of air support during night hours
“There is no reliable WAST Air Support in North West Wales during the hours of 20.00 hours and 07.00 hours, those being the hours not covered by Wales Air Ambulance or the recently introduced Emergency Medical Retrieval Teams. WAST should review this gap in air support which an essential asset in accessing, treating and retrieving critically ill or injured patients, particularly in remote and/or rural areas.”
2. inconsistent Community First Responder coverage
“There is no effective rota system for Community First Responders to ensure consistent cover by these local volunteers who provide essential support for patients in remote and/or tural locations in North West Wales. The method of communicating Community First Re- sponders to ask them to attend an incident is by mobile telephone although this is fraught with difficulties in remote and/or rural areas where network coverage can be patchy at best and frequently non existent. WAST should review the”
3. insufficient Community First Responders for timely response
“Given the difficulties in ambulances arriving at many rural and/or remote areas in North West Wales it is essential that there are sufficient local Community First Responders to ar- rive promptly at the casualty and provide essential treatment preserving life until an ambu- lance arrives. WAST should review the planning for the recruitment and retention of Com- munity First Responders”
4. inadequate resource allocation during peak summer population
“The population of many rural and remote areas of North West Wale increases signifi- cantly during the months of July and August. WAST currently do not provide increased re- sources during these two months to cope with this increase in population. WAST should review their planning for effective allocation of resources to ensure the safety of this popula- tion during the months of July and August”