Paramedic not sent to help teenage accident victim who lay dying three minutes away

A paramedic based three minutes from where a 14-year-old boy lay critically injured was not sent to help him because his shift was due to end, an inquest heard.

Lucas Pollard and a 15-year-old boy riding pillion crashed into a roundabout while riding an electric dirt bike in Leighton Buzzard, Beds, and had to wait a further 15 minutes for another ambulance to arrive at the scene.

Lucas was later pronounced dead in hospital after suffering multiple injuries when he struck a street sign in the collision.

The teenager’s family and friends discovered at an inquest on Thursday that an East of England Ambulance Service NHS Trust rapid response vehicle was based in the town after questions were raised at an inquest in Ampthill.

Dr Sean Cummings, the assistant coroner for Bedfordshire and Luton, said he found it “extraordinary” that the vehicle was just three minutes away.

Dr Cummings said he would be issuing a prevention of future deaths report in relation to the rigid application of the end-of-shift policy and communication gaps between the ambulance trust’s critical care desk and ambulance dispatchers.

He said he was surprised he was not given the information that the rapid response vehicle had been only three minutes away in a report the ambulance trust had prepared for the hearing, adding: “I am not immediately accepting there was not a deliberate attempt to mislead the court.”

Mother won bike in a raffle

The inquest heard that Lucas had been given the electric Sur-Ron dirt bike after his mother Marie had won it in a raffle.

He was riding the bike at 1am on June 1 with a 15-year-old friend. The bike went at speed down Old Road in Linslade before wobbling at a mini roundabout and crashing. Lucas struck a street sign and suffered multiple injuries.

A neighbour heard the crash and dialled 999 at 1.33am.

David Grover, of the East of England Ambulance Service, who compiled the report for the coroner, said the ambulance trust’s end-of-shift policy was introduced for staff well-being. They would be called out in the last 30 minutes of their shift only in particular circumstances, such as cardiac arrest or issues surrounding maternity, so an ambulance was instead despatched from Luton and arrived at the scene at 1.51am.

Dr David Kirby of Luton and Dunstable University Hospital said Lucas arrived at the hospital at 2.37am and was pronounced dead at 3.11am.

Catastrophic injuries

The doctor said he had suffered so many unsurvivable injuries that he would probably have died even if he had crashed outside the hospital. He had suffered massive damage to his chest, lung, liver, spleen and pelvic area as well as internal bleeding. His passenger survived.

“If he had been with us earlier, it might have made a difference, but I still don’t think it would have prevented his death,” he said.

The coroner said that Lucas’s injuries were so catastrophic he would not have survived and concluded that the teenager died following a road traffic collision.

After the hearing, Lucas’s father, Lee, said: “It was a total shock to hear today that the rapid response vehicle was in the town. The report by the ambulance did not mention where it was.

“They should have said it was three minutes away. The coroner was as shocked as we were. We are pleased the coroner has taken it on board. He is going to push for change and maybe their policy can be rewritten.”

Lucas’s sister, Chloe, 25, said: “I understand why they have the (end-of-shift) policy, but when they knew the seriousness of the case and that they potentially were going to need an air ambulance … if the rapid response had gone there the assessment of what was needed could have taken place earlier.”

‘Taken away from us so soon’

She added: “Lucas was so young and full of life and taken away from us so quickly and so soon.”

Describing him as “caring, kind and thoughtful as well as cheeky”, she said he always had time for his friends and family and had the most contagious laugh and smile.

Melissa Dowdeswell, the chief of clinical operations at the East of England Ambulance Service, said: “Our hearts go out to Lucas’s family and friends and we apologise for the length of time it took us to get to him.

“Following this tragic incident, we are reviewing our end-of-shift policy to ensure it achieves the right balance in meeting patients’ needs and the health and wellbeing of our staff.”