Lilly-May tribunal: Paramedic 'did not meet standards'

Lilly-May Page-Bowden died after collapsing from an undiagnosed heart condition in Woodley in 2014

A paramedic failed to "meet standards" when she did not use a defibrillator on a girl who collapsed at school and later died, a tribunal heard.

Lilly-May Page-Bowden, aged five, suffered a cardiac arrest at Willow Bank School in Woodley, Berkshire, in May 2014.

Paramedic Channon Jacobs did not use a defibrillator, the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) panel heard.

The equipment was "key in saving someone's life", an expert said.

In May 2014 Lilly-May collapsed in the school playground when two mothers, who were nurses, started performing CPR.

The tribunal in London heard when Ms Jacobs arrived she broke guidelines by not taking lifesaving equipment to the playground.

Instead Ms Jacobs, a senior crew member who was on the first ambulance on the scene, carried Lilly-May to an ambulance.

Records from equipment showed a five minute delay between the ambulance's arrival and the crew monitoring the schoolgirl's heart.

Michael Jackson, an expert witness and paramedic, said taking equipment to the patient minimised the delay in providing treatment and it was a case of "the earlier the better".

Ms Jacobs had then decided not to use a defibrillator which Mr Jackson described as "key in saving someone's life".

"My opinion is that the registrant [Ms Jacobs] failed to provide an appropriate standard of care to Lilly May, when she attended to her," he said.

Lilly-May was later found to have CPVT, a genetic condition leading to an irregular heartbeat

Ms Jacobs is not legally represented. Instead the tribunal received a note from her doctors saying her health might be affected if she did turn up in person.

The hearing is expected to continue for much of the week.

Lilly-May's family waived her anonymity at the hearing. Mother, Claire Page, told the BBC: "She shouldn't be another anonymous.

"She was our little girl and we want people to know what happened to her."

A coroner previously ruled a defibrillator could have saved Lilly-May's life.