Father-to-be, 31, died in motorbike crash without meeting his unborn twins after ambulance took more than an hour to reach him because crew couldn’t read their sat nav
- Aaron Morris would have had a 95 per cent chance of surviving the collision
- He did not arrive at hospital until nearly three hours after crash near his home
A father-to-be died in a motorcycle crash before meeting his unborn twins after paramedics took more than two hours to reach him because they could not read their sat nav.
Aaron Morris, 31, would have had a 95 per cent chance of surviving the collision, but he did not arrive at hospital until nearly three hours after the first 999 call was made.
Paramedics initially took 50 minutes to reach Mr Morris after the collision took place near his home in Esh Winning, County Durham, on July 1 last year.
An air ambulance was available to attend to the scene, but was never sent out despite being requested, an inquiry has found.
And when paramedics finally arrived, they then struggled with directions back to hospital as they were unable to operate the vehicle’s sat nav system.
Aaron Morris (pictured with wife Samantha), 31, who was killed in a motorcycle crash while riding his bike near his home in Esh Winning, County Durham
The medics had to be directed to hospital by Mr Morris’ distraught widow Samantha, who was able to get into the ambulance due to the close proximity of the collision to their home.
By the time Mr Morris arrived at hospital, it was too late save him and he was pronounced dead a short time later.
A report into his death has revealed there were a series of ‘errors and system failures’ by North East Ambulance Service – who should have arrived at the scene within 18 minutes.
It meant his twin sons, Aaron-Junior and Ambrose-Ayren never got to meet the father, who had been excitedly awaiting their arrival.
Wife Samantha said her life is now ‘so different that he’s gone.
She said: ‘I’ve got these two babies that have never met their dad. My past, present and future was taken away when Aaron died.
‘To find his death was completely avoidable, and knowing that now I have to live with that for the rest of my life, is one of the most horrible things you can ever imagine.’
Following the crash, between Aaron’s motorcycle and a car, the ambulance arrived after 49 minutes and 49 seconds.
The first 999 call was made at 12.27pm by the driver of the car involved in the crash, but it took 98 seconds for the phone to be answered because there were 10 calls waiting in the queue. Calls should be answered within five seconds.
A further five calls were made requesting urgent support for Mr Morris, including attempts by a police officer and an off-duty nurse who advised his conditions was worsening.
The report states that at 12.55pm a police officer requested an ambulance ‘on the hurry up’, to which they were informed that due to 74 outstanding emergencies, the call was still awaiting allocation.
An Air Ambulance was also requested as Aaron’s condition deteriorated.
Samantha Morris pictured with her twin boys Aaron-Junior John Robson Morris (left) and Ambrose-Ayren Morris (right)
But the call handler referred earlier information that the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS) had already spoken to the off-duty nurse on scene ,who advised that they were currently not required.
The updated information specifically requesting the air ambulance was not documented in the call notes and was never passed to the air ambulance desk.
When an ambulance from a third party company staffed with a paramedic and an Emergency Care Assistant (ECA) arrived at the scene at 1.21pm, the crew found Mr Morris’ breathing was abnormal, he had a weak pulse, and was cold and pale to touch.
They set out to the closest major trauma centre, Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary, but Aaron went into cardiac arrest so they redirected to University Hospital of North Durham.
However, the ECA was ‘not familiar with the area’ and could not operate the sat-nav system, which meant Samantha then had to direct the crew to the hospital.
Recalling the incident, she said: ‘It was absolutely horrific. I’m stuck in the front of an ambulance trying to direct it to the nearest hospital when all I can hear is Aaron being given CPR and chest compressions.
‘All I could hear was Aaron’s chest being jumped on while I’m trying to direct this driver and all I wanted to do was get in the back of the ambulance to be with Aaron.
Samantha Morris has received the North East Ambulance Service report following an investigation into their response into the collision
‘The last thing he said before he went into cardiac arrest was “where’s my wife at?”
‘The paramedic said ‘she’s just in the front mate’ and then he started saying ‘Aaron, Aaron’ and then he shouted ‘trauma arrest, trauma arrest. Divert, divert’.
‘He must have known he was going and wanted to know where I was and I just couldn’t get to him until they slightly revived him at Durham.
‘I was trapped in the front of this ambulance and he was dying in the back. It kills me thinking about it. It traumatises me and to this day I still think about it every day.’
Mr Morris did not arrive at Durham Hospital until 2.14pm, almost three hours after the original 999 call, and he died from his injuries.
Learning that an air ambulance had been available the entire time, Samantha added: ‘That’s one of the biggest things that gets me. I understand there weren’t many ambulances available, an air ambulance was available and could have been on the scene if only they were aware that Aaron’s condition was deteriorating.
‘They could have saved his life if updates had been fed back to the air desk and that’s one of the toughest things to take from the report.’
At the time of his death, Aaron had only recently learnt he was to become a father. His boys were born in October, three months prematurely.
North East Ambulance Service chief operating officer Stephen Segasby, said: ‘Firstly, I would like to offer our sincere and heartfelt condolences to Aaron’s loved ones. This was a tragic event.
‘When concerns were raised with us about Aaron’s treatment we reported these as a serious incident and began an internal investigation into what had happened. We have now shared the outcome of the serious incident review with Aaron’s family.
‘There were a number of organisations involved in this case and we unreservedly apologise for not providing the response from our service that Aaron should have received. There are a number of actions arising from the review of this incident that we are committed to taking forward to improve the coordination of our response.
‘We will of course now cooperate fully with the coroner to provide all the information required to make their independent judgement and for that reason it would not be appropriate for us to comment further on the detail of this case until that process is concluded.’
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