By Adam Aspinall
Sunday Mercury
BIRMINGHAM, England — Three Birmingham airport passengers have died since its dedicated 24-hour paramedic service was controversially axed to save cash. The Sunday Mercury revealed that a male passenger died before boarding a plane last Saturday.
The man, in his 20s, collapsed at the gate in Terminal 2. He was given first aid by trained airport staff, but died later in hospital.
Sources say he is the third air passenger to have died since the airport scrapped its contract with West Midlands Ambulance Service in November to supply round the clock paramedics.
None of the three victims have been named.
The first passenger to die had collapsed on an in-bound flight.
Paramedics met him at the terminal and transferred him to hospital, but he was declared dead.
Another man died after a suspected heart attack at the airport. It is unclear if he received any first aid by staff.
The controversial move to axe the paramedic service was said to have saved the airport pounds 200,000 a year. But the move has sparked safety fears from concerned employees.
A spokesman for Birmingham Airport denied that the decision had caused an increase in deaths. He stated that only two of the three dead passengers were treated by trained first aiders at the airport - and all three died in hospital.
But one concerned member of staff, who was at the scene of last week’s death, said: “The moment they cut the paramedic service, alarm bells began to ring.
“Nobody cares about the management’s justification for the move. What matters here is people’s safety.
“Having the paramedics on site cost approximately pounds 200,000 a year, while having the Chief Executive on site costs a whole lot more. Now this is not a personal attack on him, but it just puts into perspective the feeling of unease and resentment many staff members had when this service was cut.
Worried “And there is a nasty, lingering feeling among many of us that perhaps one or two of those dead people may have lived if they had been attended to by paramedics, rather than members of staff.
“Flying is a risky business with the chances of deep vein thrombosis, stress-related illnesses and other such factors on people in a sensitive condition.
“So not having paramedics on hand should people fall ill, seems like short-term thinking and staff are genuinely worried.”
Bosses at Birmingham Airport caused massive controversy when they decided to scrap their contract with West Midlands Ambulance Service, and instead trained their own staff in first aid.
Currently trained airport staff with first aid bags treat passengers who become ill at the terminals, or on an in-bound flight. In the past there was an ambulance station at the airport which operated 365 days a year, with paramedics just a few minutes away.
The airport spokesman added: “It is categorically untrue to suggest the number of deaths at the airport has increased since the ceasing of the paramedic contract in November 2010.
“In fact, there have been no fatalities on the airport site since this time, despite several occasions where first aid has been administered.
“The network of fully-trained first-aiders now in place is a system utilised at other UK airports. “This approach is similar, if not more robust, than arrangements implemented at other large public places, including those with a far bigger footfall than the Airport.”
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