Published: March 6, 2023
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Myers is asking the doctor when he saw the blood in Child N's throat. He said 'I believe blood was there at insertion attempt number one' Myers puts it to him that 'if you can't see, you wouldn't attempt it?' He replies:'You can do, if quite certain of position'

Mr Myers has just quoted the doctor's police statement from 2018. In this he says he was 'not sure' if the bleeding was his 'fault' due to his attempts to move the tongue with a medical implement to intubate

We're back after a short break. Retired consultant paediatrician Dr John Gibbs is now in the witness box. He was called to attend Child N at around 16:00 on June 15

Citing his notes, Dr Gibbs recalls that a specialist team had been called to help doctors with Child N's breathing (due to various problems with trying to intubate)

The team from Alder Hey Children's Hospital arrived in Chester at 19:20. They were made up of experienced intensive care consultants and an ear, nose and throat surgeon. Plan was to take Child N try to intubate, if that failed an emergency tracheostomy would take place

Dr Gibbs tells the court that Child N suffered a 'sudden deterioration' before the team could carry out the procedure however. Heart rate dropped to 60bpm, oxygen dropped to 40% - 'clear he was not being ventilated properly', Dr Gibbs said

At this point, Dr Gibbs said chest compressions were started and six doses of adrenaline were given over 30mins. A specialist doctor from Alder Hey also finally managed to intubate the baby, which allowed him to be placed on a ventilator

Asked for his conclusions about the events of June 15, Dr Gibbs says the blood could have been a result of a bleed on the lung - but adds 'why (Child N) had that swelling documented by colleagues, I really don’t know'

Dr Gibbs says that 'in the end I don’t think infection was the cause' of Child N's collapse

Dr Stephen Brearey is now in the witness box. He was on duty on the afternoon of June 15. He was called to help with Child N by a colleague as doctors were having difficulty intubating the infant

Dr Brearey made an unsuccessful attempt to intubate the baby boy. He tells the court from reviewing his notes it wasn't successful due to blood and swelling at the back of Child N's throat, which blocked vision of his airway

Mr Myers is now questioning Dr Brearey, he's asking him about Child N's blood disorder, which increases the risk of bleeding

Mr Myers is taking the court back over notes of that day, they show that there was seven attempts to intubate Child N (before Alder Hey team succeeded). Mr Myers asks if this is something that should have been possible to do, he replies 'in normal circumstances yes'

The medic tells the court that he 'can think of no natural, normal cause for why (Child N) deteriorated multiple times' and then improved afterwards at Alder Hey

Dr Francis Potter is now in the witness box. He was part of the Alder Hey team that assisted on June 15 - he said he remembers the case as it was 'quite unusual' for his team to get a call to go out and assist

He says when he arrived Child N was 'mottled and grey' in appearance - he recalls starting use of a bag and mask to ventilate the baby boy. When this didn't work, chest compressions were commenced

Dr Potter says after Child N stabilised and was transported to Alder Hey he recovered 'fairly rapidly' - within 48hrs he had left intensive care

Mr Myers is now questioning the medic. He asks whether repeated attempts to intubate could cause stress to the baby, he says it would cause stress to the person trying to intubate

He said 'failure makes the second attempt more difficult and third more difficult'...he adds that rather than making repeated attempts, they should be limited and someone with more experience should be called to help quickly

Report on today’s evidence👇🏻https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-...

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