Mum trapped ‘head first’ in sea wall died as 999 operator mentioned ‘do not attempt to rescue her’
An inquest at Suffolk Coroner’s Court has heard how Saffron Cole-Nottage, a 32-year-old mum-of-three, died after becoming trapped head first between sea wall boulders during a dog walk
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Bystanders who discovered a mum trapped head first between enormous boulders in a sea wall were instructed not to rescue her by 999 operators before she drowned, an inquest has heard.
Saffron Cole-Nottage was walking her dog when she slipped and fell, becoming wedged between the rocks in a tragic accident as the tide kept rising.
The 32-year-old mother-of-three perished despite the attempts of several people who did everything they could to try and save her, an inquest at Suffolk Coroner’s Court has heard. One witness, Ian Jones, was “shocked to see two legs sticking out the water” the hearing was told today.
Mr Jones and another man tried to pull Saffron free but “just couldn’t pull her with enough force to free her”. Meanwhile the court was told there had been a “muddled response” when the first 999 call was made – with the operator recording that she was not near the water, reports the Mirror.
This meant emergency crews were delayed in reaching the scene and the emergency operator, who was not aware that the tide was rising, also urged passers-by to stop trying to rescue Saffron.
The inquest heard that an initial 999 call was made at 7.52pm but the fire service was not mobilised until 8.22pm, 30 minutes later. Meanwhile desperate members of the public attempted to help Ms Cole-Nottage but, by the time rescue crews were able to free her, she was unresponsive, the inquest was told.
The hold-up was triggered by the computer system used by the 999 operator, which demanded they ask particular questions and prevented them from gaining a proper understanding of the situation.
A record of the call revealed that the caller had requested an ambulance after a woman “had fallen off the pier and was trapped in between rocks and was unable to get out”.
The operator classified the call as an “entrapment” which triggered an “entrapment protocol” to be activated. He did not initially log she required a specialist rescue and mistakenly chose a different option, although it was still recorded as a most serious Category One call, the court heard.
At 7.57pm a dispatcher from East of England Ambulance Service allocated a crew from Beccles, roughly a 10-mile journey away, to be deployed and the HM Coastguard were notified at 7.58pm.
Mr Joy asked if the woman’s head was in the water, and the caller replied that she was wedged in the rocks “further at the side” before adding: “This is really serious”.
The caller repeated: “She is not near the side. She is further away. We are trying to pull her up… She is like really screaming and everything… Her whole body is trapped.”
At this point, Mr Joy urged the caller to tell people at the scene not to “attempt to rescue her”, and “not to move her”, saying: “Stay on the line, I’ll tell you what to do.
“Wait for the ambulance crew to arrive and tell her not to move”.
