Source · IOPC Learning Case

Recommendations - Metropolitan Police Service, November 2018

Metropolitan Police Service Ref: 2018/102929 Recommended 2 Nov 2018 Response due 28 Dec 2018

Welfare and vulnerable people

On 28 April 2018, a 28 year old woman was discovered in the bath in her hotel room, underneath the water, by a member of hotel staff. Police were called and units were dispatched on an immediate response. The call handler told the hotel to secure the hotel room and await police arrival, but did not request an ambulance or instruct staff to remove the woman from the water. A second call to police was made from the hotel to …

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Recommendations

2 total

Recommendation 1

The IOPC recommends that the MPS may want to consider reviewing and updating the sudden death Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to include under the 'first contact' heading 'request if anyone present is medically trained to initiate first aid / CPR.’ No first aid or CPR was given to the injured party at the scene by the members of the public or requested to be by the police call handler, or questions to whether it had been given, or for signs of life and is this was verified, just the assumption that the injured person was already deceased.

Addressed to: Metropolitan Police Service

Linked bodies: Metropolitan Police Service

Not accepted

Force response

Do you accept the recommendation? No The MPS has considered your recommendation to review and update the sudden death SOP to include under the ‘first contact’ heading ‘request if anyone present is medically trained to initiate first aid/CPR. The MPS does not accept this recommendation as First Contact recruits are already instructed not to use the opening code ‘Sudden Death’ for this type of incident. If a first call handler accidentally uses the opening code ‘sudden death, it becomes apparent by the content that this SOP is not the appropriate code to use for these circumstances. The SOP can later be used after police arrive on scene and verification is obtained; the call handler is then required to request the attendance of LAS at the scene if they are not already in attendance. The relevant opening code ‘Collapse, illness, injury, trapped’ directs the call handler to the SOP which already states: “After giving this simple advice, if there are further questions, operators will simply revert to our standard position that we are not trained to give medical advice and an ambulance has been called and to ask if anyone else present has medical / first aid training.

Recommendation 2

The IOPC recommends that the MPS may want to consider reviewing and updating the concern for safety Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to include under the 'first contact' heading 'request London Ambulance Service’ and also 'request if anyone present is medically trained to initiate first aid / CPR’. No first aid or CPR was given to the injured party at the scene by the members of the public or requested to be by the police call handler, or questions to whether it had been given, or for signs of life and is this was verified, just the assumption that the injured person was already deceased.

Addressed to: Metropolitan Police Service

Linked bodies: Metropolitan Police Service

Not accepted

Force response

Do you accept the recommendation? No The MPS has considered and partially accepts your recommendation. The MPS accepts your recommendation to update the concern for safety SOP to include under the ‘first contact’ heading ‘request LAS’ and an amendment has been made on 17th May 2019 by XXXXXX (MetCC Operations Support Supervisor) under the ‘First Contact’ heading to, ’Consider: call LAS if required’. The MPS does not however accept your recommendation to include under the ‘first contact’ heading ‘request if anyone present is medically trained’ to initiate first aid/CPR. This SOP refers to Persons in the River Thames, Persons trapped in lifts, Persons locked out of premises or vehicles, Negotiators, Sarah’s Law for child sex offender disclosure and also Child exploitation. There is no mention in the SOP of finding a believed dead person or someone unconscious. This SOP is primarily for use when a person has not been seen and there are concerns about their wellbeing e.g. missing person. If a first call handler accidentally uses the opening code ‘concern for safety’, it becomes apparent by the content that this SOP is not the appropriate code to use for these circumstances. Therefore, there is no requirement to ‘request if anyone present is medically trained’ to initiate first aid/CPR.