Hayes v South East Coast Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
[2015] EWHC 18 (QB)·2015·Liability and damages decided at trial
An ambulance crew attending a man in a life-threatening asthma attack gave salbutamol and oxygen but recorded no observations, did not give the further drugs the guidelines call for, and he collapsed and died as they prepared to move him. The judge found these failures negligent and that with proper treatment he would probably have survived, so the ambulance trust was liable to his family.
Ambulance staff must follow the national guidelines for life-threatening asthma, including objective observations and escalating drug treatment. Causation can be proved where proper treatment would have given a better-than-even chance of survival.