A coroner has raised concerns about the response time of an ambulance service following the death of a 29-year-old man in Sunderland. Jack Shields died on 28 April 2024 after suffering from heart failure, despite extensive efforts to resuscitate him. An inquest revealed that his death was caused by a worsening heart condition while ambulance allocation was significantly delayed.
The coroner’s report concluded that a higher-priority back-up request from the attending crew might have led to faster stabilisation and transportation to definitive care, potentially saving Mr Shields’ life.
The incident began at 23:15 BST on 27 April, when Mr Shields’ mother called 999 after he experienced shortness of breath. The call was categorised as Category 2, an emergency, but the first ambulance didn’t arrive until 00:36, over an hour later than the average response time for this category. An investigation later revealed another ambulance had been available at 23:24, though the Emergency Operations Centre ultimately allocated resources.
A technician-led ambulance, provided by Nerams, arrived first, but as Mr Shields’ condition deteriorated, a back-up request was made at 00:59. Unfortunately, the request was incorrectly categorised, and the rapid response paramedic arrived only at 01:07. By then, Mr Shields had gone into cardiac arrest. A third crew arrived at 01:36, but Mr Shields died at around 02:27 despite “extensive resuscitation attempts”.
In response to the coroner’s report, Dean Wrightson, Director of Operations at Nerams, expressed condolences to Mr Shields’ family and confirmed that the organisation had conducted a full investigation. He acknowledged that the request for back-up assistance had been “incorrectly categorised” and stated that assistance had arrived within 15 minutes.
Sunderland Coroner, David Place, expressed concern that future deaths could occur unless action was taken. He emphasised that the first crew should have recognised the severity of Mr Shields’ condition earlier, and a correct categorisation of the back-up request might have enabled more rapid stabilisation and treatment.
“Nerams has 56 days to respond to the coroner’s concerns and explain what measures will be taken to prevent similar incidents in the future,” the report said.
