Better coordination needed over forced entry says IPCC

Clarification is needed over the way Kent emergency services work with each other to enter properties in emergency situations.

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) conducted an investigation into Craig Davis’ death in August 2015 after a misunderstanding in a police control room saw paramedics wait half an hour for officers to attend an incident that resulted in his death.

Mr Davis, 31, from Ashford in Kent, made an emergency call to South East Coast Ambulance Service (SECAMB) complaining of severe breathing difficulties.

During his call, the line went silent, with the ambulance service (correctly) suspecting he had collapsed. While paramedics were en route SECAMB called Kent Police to request assistance in case it was necessary to gain entry to Mr Davis’ home.

The IPCC found the level of understanding and expectations between Kent police and SECAMB to be unclear. It believes guidance from each side would provide clarity concerning how they will respond to future incidents.

The ambulance arrived at around 6:23pm. However, there was a delay in entering the property of more than 30 minutes until officers arrived at 7:04. Officers entered the property at 7:06 and found Mr Davis. He was pronounced dead shortly afterwards.

It is believed pre-existing health conditions played a significant part in Mr Davis’ death and that, should the delay have been reduced, it would have had little or no impact on his death.

The Kent Police call handler graded the incident as one requiring an immediate response. However, a dispatcher subsequently downgraded the event stating that “he saw nothing to suggest SECAMB were unable to enter the property themselves without police assistance” and that “it would be best to wait for confirmation before dispatching officers to the scene”.

There is no evidence to suggest the dispatcher contacted SECAMB further to clarify their entry status.

The IPCC determined that the decision to downgrade the incident was due to a misinterpretation of the information on the incident log and did not find any case to answer for disciplinary action.

As a result of this error, the team leader in the control room was not in possession of all the information when the decision to downgrade the incident was reviewed.

The investigation was critical of a lack of robust policy determining whether downgrades should be done verbally or through an electronic transfer of the incident log and asked that both services clarify their policies on forced entry to private property in emergency situations and consider a joint agreement to ensure their roles and powers are clearly understood.

Kent Police has agreed with the recommendations and is working towards their implementation.

IPCC Commissioner Mary Cunneen said: “It is vital that emergency services work well together and following our investigation we have recommended that Kent Police work with SECAMB to avoid any confusion in the future.”