Responders “winged it” in a “disjointed” operation, according to a paramedic who assisted in the rescue of mother Saffron Cole-Nottage.
At Suffolk Coroner’s Court on Thursday, paramedic Billy Seaman of the East of England Ambulance Service testified as the inquest proceeded to look into the reaction to the February 2 event last year.
Concerns about the emergency response’s delays have already been raised in the hearing after the 32-year-old mother of six was stuck between rocks close to the shore as the tide rose.
Earlier, when walking her dog with her daughter, Ms. Cole-Nottage had fallen in a space between the rocks.
“I was trying to access it (guidance on how to respond to a drowning incident), I really struggled getting the information going to the job, we couldn’t find it,” Mr. Seaman told the court when Bridget Dolan KC, the Inquest’s counsel, questioned him.
“I couldn’t access the submerged persons tool,” he continued later in his testimony.
The court heard that Mr. Seaman and his coworker Devina Purnell arrived at the location at approximately 8:12 p.m. that evening. Colleen Gibson, another medical expert, was already on the scene.
“It was dark,” Mr. Seaman recalled, adding, “I had no idea if I could drive straight down and reverse.”
On February 2, 2025, 32-year-old Saffron Cole-Nottage drowned after sliding between rocks.
A paramedic stated during last week’s inquest into her death that he and other emergency personnel essentially “winged it” when they raced to the scene on Lowestoft’s coast in Suffolk.
“I stood on the railings,” he said in court. All I saw was Saffron’s leg.
Additionally, Mr. Seaman said that he “hadn’t really been prepared for how severely stuck she was.”
The communication between responders and the uncertainty over the duration of Saffron’s submersion were the main topics of discussion throughout Thursday’s sessions.
The court heard that Ms. Gibson had knowledge of the rising tide and the approximate duration of Saffron’s submersion. Seaman acknowledged, though, that he never had a direct conversation with her.
“There was no update on that.” “I didn’t speak with Colleen, and I didn’t receive that information directly,” he remarked.
Mr. Seaman said, “Yeah, it would have been helpful, absolutely,” in response to Ms. Dolan KC’s question about whether the information would have been helpful.
Throughout the session, issues about communication breakdowns kept coming up.
“I didn’t communicate this to anyone else,” he acknowledged.
“I didn’t really have communication with other services on the scene, other than the police,” he added in court.
Mr. Seaman once described the people there at the scene as “trying to work out who they were.”
When Saba Naqshbandi KC, the family’s attorney, questioned Mr. Seaman later, he thought back on the rescue effort and said, “Looking back, I wish there was way more communication and discussion.”
When asked if he had participated in interagency talks, he said, “I was not involved in any interagency discussions.”
Concerns regarding the apparent absence of a command structure at the scene were also raised during the inquiry. “JESIP principles (Joint Emergency Services Interoperability Principles) not put into place, no overall coordinator,” the court heard.
Later, Mr. Seaman added, “We severely missed (communicating),” describing how the reaction had become “disjointed” between agencies.
He said that responders were essentially “winging it.”
A “loving mother who was completely devoted to her children” was how Ms. Cole-Nottage was characterised.
Concerns regarding the ambulance service’s own training and readiness were also discussed by the court.
“Saffron was the first patient I had seen who had drowned since my training in 2014,” Mr. Seaman stated.
“We are supposed to have annual training, but it is not always delivered,” he said stated.
Mr. Seaman also referred to training modules as “not monitored” when questioned by Ms. Naqshbandi KC.
“Online training is available if you search for it, but it’s not monitored until you get around to it,” he stated.
The paramedic went on to say that he had “no experience managing those scenes.”
While Ms. Purnell had previously thought Saffron was probably beyond recovery given the length of time she had been unresponsive, the court heard that Mr. Seaman thought rescue efforts should continue despite uncertainty about survival odds.
Mr. Seaman said, “Absolutely,” when asked if he afterward wished he had questioned the judgements made that evening.
“It was cold, it was wet, the lighting was poor, we had no life-vests,” he continued, describing the circumstances that emergency personnel had to deal with.
Police Constable Alex Allport, who is currently an acting sergeant, testified before the inquest that he was only informed that “somebody on the rocks” was present when he got at the scene.
“Body recovery” was the only thing a coast guard told him, Mr. Allport continued.
He said, “No,” when asked if paramedics had talked to him before he arrived in Saffron.
“Clearly deceased” was the first thing Mr. Allport heard a paramedic say when he arrived.
He described Saffron’s state to the court, stating that her leg was in a “rigid unnatural position” and that there was “no movement, no sound.”
Mr. Allport later stated that “rigour mortis” seems to have set in when questioned by Saba Naqshbandi KC, Counsel for the Family. “That was just my opinion from bodies I had seen in the past,” he added, describing “greying of the skin in an upright position.”
He emphasised, nevertheless, that in the absence of medical experts, he would not have conducted such an evaluation.
The officer frequently emphasised the risks that rescuers faced, including “slippery conditions and lack of equipment,” as well as a lack of training. He stated, “We’re not trained in any incident of that nature.”
Additionally, Mr. Allport told the court that firefighters ought to have been contacted “at least at the same time” or considerably earlier.
The inquest is still ongoing.
