Two paramedics have been disciplined after they pronounced a young Norfolk road crash victim dead and covered him with a tarpaulin – only for a police officer to discover he was still alive.

An inquest into the death of Artur Palchimowicz heard the 22-year-old had little chance of recovering from the injuries he sustained in the crash, but the coroner at his inquest said the blunder by ambulance staff was “deeply concerning”.

The inquest heard how paramedics had covered Mr Palchimowicz’s body with a tarpaulin after the crash on the A140 between Long Stratton and Norwich just days before Christmas last December.

It was only when a policeman lifted the covering that he realised Mr Palchimowicz was still breathing.

The inquest heard paramedics had failed to do an electro-cardiogram (ECG) check on the victim, which is standard procedure before pronouncing somebody dead.

It was only when a senior paramedic arrived on the scene that the test was carried out, and then the victim was treated and taken to hospital, where he died nearly three hours later.

via Evening News 24.