Paramedic describes frantic situation as patient deteriorates in ambulance outside RAH
Erin Pankoke, a paramedic involved in the care of Bernard Anthony Skeffington, described his rapid deterioration as a "frantic situation" during a coronial inquest.
Mr. Skeffington, 89, waited in an ambulance for nearly two hours outside the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) before being taken inside to the emergency department in peri-arrest. His condition worsened in the hospital, and he died four days later.
Ms. Pankoke and Stacey White were the paramedics who responded to Mr. Skeffington's wife's call for assistance in September 2021. Ms. Pankoke informed the triage nurse at the RAH of Mr. Skeffington's condition and was instructed to "come and get them" if the situation escalated further.
Upon returning to the ambulance after updating the triage nurse, Ms. Pankoke found another paramedic and an intensive care paramedic assisting Ms. White with Mr. Skeffington. She described his condition as having "drastically deteriorated."
"He just wasn't talking at all … I remember it being quite a frantic situation," Ms. Pankoke said.
Ms. Pankoke expressed her distress for both Ms. White and Mr. Skeffington. "Stacey and I were quite upset about the deterioration of the patient in our care," she said. "I was distressed for the both of them having to be on their own while I went inside to escalate his care and that I wasn't able to assist them both."
The inquest, which is also investigating the deaths of Anna Panella and Graham Jessett, continues.