7/7 inquest told of 'wasted time'

A PARAMEDIC admitted yesterday that "precious time" could have been "wasted" as medical teams waited above ground for an update on casualties in a Tube train bombed in the 7/7 attacks.

The first two paramedics who went down to the wrecked carriage at Aldgate station in London carried no medical equipment because they did not want to be distracted from their assessment work, the inquest for the 52 victims heard.

Because their radios did not work underground, they both had to return to the surface to request life-saving supplies, the hearing was told.

In the bombed carriage, paramedics David Parnell and Steve Jones found six dead bodies and seven or eight seriously wounded survivors they classed as "priority one", meaning they needed immediate medical help.

Mr Parnell returned to the surface to tell waiting medics what was needed to treat the injured on the train. He was still talking to his colleagues when Mr Jones came up from the tunnel to ask what had happened to the medical team and extra equipment they had asked for, the inquest heard.

Mr Parnell, who in 2005 was part of a doctor and paramedic emergency team based at the Royal London Hospital in Whitechapel, east London, was designated "bronze medic" on arriving at Aldgate with responsibility for working with the other emergency services to save as many lives as possible.

He said he did not take medical supplies down to the train at first because his task was to assess the situation.

"As a bronze medic, if you take medical kit with you, you start treating people," he said.

Coroner Lady Justice Hallett questioned him about the apparent delay in treating the wounded on board the train and he conceded that precious time could have been wasted.