Revealed: series of 999 crew blunders after primate expert fainted at work

-Patient wrongly diagnosed with sushi allergy after fainting - Injected twice with adrenaline in error - Paramedic swore and joked that previous patient died - Trainee almost administered jab of fresh air
Ms Thompson said the woman paramedic had to prevent her male trainee colleague from accidentally injecting air into her vein, with potentially fatal consequences
Ross Lydall @RossLydall2 October 2018

A scientist who fainted at work ended up in A&E when paramedics injected her with adrenaline after wrongly assuming she was suffering an allergic reaction to sushi.

Carolyn Thompson, 32, a University College London PhD student researching primates, was given two jabs and an injection of steroids after being too sick to explain that she had eaten vegetarian rather than fish sushi.

She had fainted in a university toilet but it later emerged this had been caused by low blood pressure and a severe migraine.

The London Ambulance Service crew who attended committed a catalogue of blunders.

At one point, Ms Thompson said the woman paramedic had to prevent her male trainee colleague from accidentally injecting air into her vein, with potentially fatal consequences.

She swore throughout the incident, complained about being tired and “joked” that a previous patient had died — showing Ms Thompson the man’s coat left behind in the ambulance.

Ms Thompson said the woman paramedic had to prevent her male trainee colleague from accidentally injecting air into her vein, with potentially fatal consequences

The trainee medic became flustered and broke a glass vial as he tried to administer a second dose of adrenaline because he was being spoken to in “a condescending way” by his colleague.

Ms Thompson, who is studying the causes of gibbon decline, was having health checks for a suspected heart problem at the time of the incident last October.

She said the adrenaline shots raised her heart rate and she became “extremely anxious”. She spent 11 hours in A&E at UCLH and felt the effect of the adrenaline for several days.

Ms Thompson recalled: “When I got to the ambulance the female paramedic made a joke about me being a live patient, when the previous one had been dead in the same bed.

"She then showed me the dead patient’s jacket. I found this disrespectful. She kept swearing repeatedly. Her conduct was unfortunate and reflected badly on London Ambulance Service.

“At UCLH, the doctor said I shouldn’t have been given adrenaline. He said: ‘We have made you worse.’” After Ms Thompson complained to LAS, both staff were placed under review and she was invited to tell her story to the LAS board.

She told them: “It’s my belief the adrenaline shot and the whole stressful experience definitely made me worse.” LAS chairwoman Heather Lawrence told her: “I’m really sorry on behalf of us all. When I hear your story I feel ashamed of the organisation.”

Ms Thompson said: “This was an awful incident and really badly handled but my complaint was quickly picked up. I was really impressed.

"The only thing I want is for the LAS to know there are potentially people in their team who are over-stressed and making rash decisions, and I hope it doesn’t affect future heart patients. [The paramedic] administered the right things to someone having an allergic reaction, but I was not having an allergic reaction.”

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