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Don't bother resusitating 30 stone man.

Tyraboots

Tyraboots

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Paramedic who told colleague 'not to bother' resuscitating 30-stone man is jailed





A paramedic was jailed for 12 months today after being found guilty of telling a series of lies when he failed to resuscitate a 30-stone man.
Jurors heard that Karl Harris, 45, told his less experienced colleague there was 'no point' in attempting to resuscitate Barry Baker after the pair were sent to his home in Brighton, East Sussex, in the early hours of the morning.
The 59-year-old patient, who lived alone, phoned 999 after experiencing breathing difficulties at 4.14am on November 29 2008 and died after suffering a cardiopulmonary arrest.
Jurors at Lewes Crown Court took just over four hours to find Harris guilty of a charge of perverting the course of justice today.
Sentencing him immediately, Judge Guy Anthony said he had demonstrated a 'gross breach of trust'.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...bother-resuscitating-30-stone-man-jailed.html
 
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It's absolutely disgusting, and he deserves to rot in prison:mad::mad::mad:
 
How awful - not just the lack of resuscitation but the fact his house was such a mess and he was 'wedged in'. Where was social services involvement?
 
that is just plain WRONG!
 
Having been a social worker and a nurse I do think that the paramedics should have made every attempt to resus this man despite the difficulties due to the environment or the chaps size. It may well have been unsuccessful but they should have tried as it clearly states in their guidance.

With regard to his living environment it has to be a balance of personal choice (we shouldn't apply our own standards to the way he wanted to live). However I would say that in this instance it does look as though he could have been breaching his tenancy conditions if the property was rented. I haven't read the story so I don't know whether he had any visitors to the house (district nurse, carer etc.) if so then I think these people need to look at their own actions as they should have rung some alarms bells and got SS involved to try and encourage him to have the place cleared and cleaned, there must have been H & S and environmental control issues. Sorry, for this, I am off my soap box now............Fizzyx
 
I heard this story before and today with the verdict listened to some on the radio... I take exception at the fact that the mans weight is actually part of this story. The fact of the matter is that paramedics like other medically trained staff have a duty of care. The minute they take a 'call' on they should do all that they can to save a life whether it be a 30 stone smelly man to a 7 stone supermodel. The weight shouldnt be the story, the neglect is the story...

Fizzypeach as a social services/worker you have every right to be on your soap box...

Myself after having experience recently of social services i personally think that they think they are god and should be made to account for the actions that they do take as well as the ones they dont...

RIP poor man x
 
What a shame for that poor man. It doesn't matter if it was likely that they wouldn't have been able to resus him, they should have tried at the very least. I'm glad the paramedic is in prison because of this.
 
This wasn't just fatism. It was a judgement on the way he lived, as a vulnerable person unable to cope, who'd obviously become more and more reclusive over the years and ended up living in squalor. My flat has looked a little like that at times when my mental illness was at it's worst. I couldn't get any help at all from a social worker. They refused point blank to even assess me until I took an advocate from Mind along to my gp's and insisted they refer me again. As long as you're not causing trouble to other people you're not seen as a high enough priority. I can't blame them because they are very overworked. But this paramedic obviously decided that the gentleman wasn't worthy of receiving help. And then he lied about it. He deserves his prison sentence. It's a shame though that he is in prison for lieing rather than for the actual act of not helping Barry.
 
This man worked in the city's JobCentre for 42 years, had a double hip replacement in 2007 and resorted to using crutches to get around.

His weight had gone up from around 20 stone in September 2007 to 30 stone by the time of his death, which was caused by his inactivity and thrombosis of the legs.

As horrendous and despicable as the actions of the paramedic were, they were no worse than the catalogue of system failures that allowed this man, this formerly productive and purposeful man to retreat into his flat alone without any care services monitoring him.

This is not free choice this was a man left lonely and abandoned by public services that are supposed to protect the vulnerable.

Whats sad is that this is the tip of the iceberg!
 
12 months for playing god and letting that man die without a second thought is just stupid. he should have been charged with manslaughter (imho)
 
PurpleKylie22 said:
12 months for playing god and letting that man die without a second thought is just stupid. he should have been charged with manslaughter (imho)
Click to expand...

Sadly this paramedic is just a prime example of the discrimination that overweight people experience every day. Whilst this one has ended up in prison, many more continue to work in the very services set up to support the obese and assist them in their weight loss recovery.

It says something very bad about our health service if the services set up to provide assistance to the health vulnerable fail us from the outset.
 
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