When garage owner Henry Kaminski died after suffering a severe heart attack at his firm in Lavant just before Christmas, his daughter Michelle Peters believed the paramedic and two technicians were hampered by a failure in a piece of equipment.

But six months on, the mother-of-three has learned in an official report the three staff were simply not properly trained in using the defibrillators they were carrying.

"I find it disgusting," said Mrs Peters (40). "You put your faith in them as trained paramedics to go and help people and save lives. But if they are not trained on the equipment, then they are just bystanders.

"What is the point of them going out in the first place?

"If you can't trust them to help save lives, who can you trust?"

When mechanic Mr Kaminski collapsed on December 17 at A&H Auto Repairs, a rapid-response vehicle and an ambulance, from South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Trust, were sent to the scene.

The ambulance workers tried CPR to attempt to revive the grandfather-of-six. They also had to use a second defibrillator, after they couldn't get the first into 'manual mode'.

But their attempts were in vain and he was declared dead at the scene.

The family was later told the equipment had failed, but it would not have helped because he had suffered a heart attack and died instantly.

Following his death, an official investigation was instigated into the equipment failure. Tests in America have now revealed all the buttons on the defibrillator to be functioning correctly.

The firm which tested the equipment concluded the paramedic may not have tried to use the correct buttons to switch the machine into the right mode to use it.

An official report seen by the Observer concluded 'this incident was the result of the staff having a lack of familiarity with the equipment'.

Since Mr Kaminski's death, his widow Gloria (63) has been under sedation and cannot even bring herself to return to the garage her husband had built up over 42 years.

"She will never get over this," Mrs Peters said.

The family has had no contact with the ambulance service since Mr Kaminski's death.

"I am not calling for an apology because that won't help bring dad back," she said.

"I just find it upsetting and distressing."


What do you think? Click here to send a letter or leave a comment below.

Click here to go back to Chichester news
Click here to go back to Bognor Regis news
Click here to go back to Midhurst and Petworth news

To tell us where in the world you are reading this story click on the link below to add yourself to our readers' map.

MAP