Inquest hears 999 demand contributed to ambulance delay after crash which killed dad Aaron Morris

Aaron Morris died after a motorbike crash in Esh Winning in July 2022. Credit: Family

An inquest has heard a delay in getting an ambulance to the scene of a motorbike crash which left a father dead was partly down to sheer volume of demand.

Aaron Morris, 31, died following a crash in Esh Winning involving his motorbike and a car on the afternoon of 1 July 2022.

Mr Morris waited 54 minutes from the time the first 999 call was made, until an ambulance arrived.

On Wednesday (13 November), County Durham and Darlington Coroner Court heard from North East Ambulance Service paramedic and locality manager Ben Barber.

He told the inquest he was the author of a serious incident investigation report into the case.

Giving evidence, he explained that on the day of the crash, the ambulance service was receiving a high volume of 999 calls, with 65 calls outstanding.

This, he said, meant that ambulance crews who would have otherwise been available, were already responding to other callouts. This partly contributed to the delay in getting an ambulance to the scene to assist and treat Mr Morris.

Aaron Morris with his wife Samantha Morris. Credit: Durham Police

The paramedics who did respond to the incident were from the private company Ambulunz. They were dispatched to the scene by the North East Ambulance Service and arrived 14 minutes later.

On Tuesday, the coroner questioned Ambulunz paramedics who attended on whether air ambulance support was offered to them on the day.

They said they were unable to recall whether it had been, but admitted they should have requested back-up.

The North East Ambulance Service subsequently apologised for the failings which led to the long response time.

The inquest heard that following Mr Morris' death, the North East Ambulance Service introduced new measures to better respond to incidents of this kind in the future.

Earlier in the week the inquest heard how Mr Morris' widow Samantha - who was pregnant at the time with twins - had to give the ambulance driver directions to the nearest hospital - while a paramedic tried to save her husband's life in the back.

Mrs Morris said: “I don’t criticise the driver for asking me for help with directions, I criticised that he didn’t know where he was going - or asking what is the closest trauma centre.

"At that point, I’m 13 weeks pregnant, my husband is having suffering cardiac arrest, getting CPR in the back, why should be the person to make the decision of what hospital to go to?

"That is my criticism. If I had said RVI, I would have had to live with that decision for the rest of my life.”

The coroner is expected to give a judgement by the end of the week.


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