London Bridge police left to act without paramedics

The inquest into the eight people killed during the London Bridge terror attacks has heard that communication issues resulted in police and members of the public being left to treat victims.

Paul Woodrow, London Ambulance Service operations director, told the inquest that the victims and people helping give aid were not sure why paramedics were not coming to their aid, and that there were communication issues in terms of understanding where resources were.

Responding to Jonathan Hough QC, counsel to the inquest, Woodrow did highlight that the above admission needed to be seen in the context of the ‘chaotic conditions’ prevailing on the night. Paramedics were told by armed police to leave the area above the Borough Market courtyard, where five people died, with many of the medical personnel on the scene wary of the scene being a ‘hot zone’, where the armed attackers could still have been at large.

Woodrow said his staff did ‘a fantastic job in very difficult circumstances’ but accepted there were improvements that could be made. These included better technology to locate victims and to communicate the location of ambulances to other members of the emergency services.