Senior Fire Brigade officer admits gated developments pose challenge for emergency services

Seán McCárthaigh

An increase in the number of gated developments around Dublin has posed a challenge for emergency services gaining access to residences in such complexes, according to a senior official with Dublin Fire Brigade.

DFB assistant chief officer, John Guilfoyle, told an inquest that difficulties in gaining access to gated developments had the potential to cause delays in providing treatment to casualties.

His comments were made at Dublin District Coroner’s Court on Tuesday at the resumed inquest into the death of the nephew of the late Aslan singer, Christy Dignam.

Chris Dignam-Healy (27), a father of two from Ashbourne, Co Meath, died in the emergency department at the Mater Misericordiae University Hospital in Dublin on January 23rd, 2023.

The young man had been brought to the hospital by ambulance after he became unwell with a suspected heart attack while visiting an apartment in Gracepark Manor, Whitehall, Dublin.

Coroner Cróna Gallagher had adjourned the previous hearing of the inquest in May at the request of Mr Dignam-Healy’s relatives who expressed concern about the response of emergency services to a 999 call seeking assistance for him.

The deceased’s mother, Therese Dignam, also claimed there were witness statements which indicated there was a delay in getting access to the apartment which was “full of people taking drugs.”

The previous hearing also heard evidence that gardaí had been unable to speak to the occupant of the apartment who had made the original 999 call, Rachel Mc Gowan, despite repeated attempts to contact her.

Garda Aidan McHale told Dr Gallagher that he believed Ms McGowan was now of no fixed abode.

The coroner granted the request from the deceased’s family to adjourn the hearing in order to seek further details from Dublin Fire Brigade as she had no records available at the time to show her what time the emergency services had been contacted.

The resumed inquest heard the original 999 call seeking assistance for Mr Dignam-Healy was made at 11:51 am on January 23rd, 2023 but an ambulance was not dispatched to the apartment until 12:10pm.

Mr Guilfoyle confirmed that the call had been categorised as “Priority 1” with a “Delta” code which he explained was the second-highest level of alert and signalled that it was a “serious, life-threatening” emergency.

He said the classification would have indicated that the call taker understood that Mr Dignam-Healy was still breathing but was “not alert.”

Mr Guilfoyle said he had checked DFB records, which showed that all 14 units operating at the time were actively responding to various other incidents.

However, he said the first available unit was dispatched to Gracepark Manor some 19 minutes after the 999 call was received.

The inquest heard an ambulance arrived outside the apartment complex at 12:20pm but could not gain access through the gate.

However, it left the scene to attend another incident at 12:39pm without gaining entry after four calls made between 12:22pm and 12:38pm to the number which raised the 999 alert went unanswered.

Mr Guilfoyle said another emergency call to attend the apartment at Gracepark Manor was received at 12.42pm with an ambulance arriving at the location at 12:51pm.

Records showed that the patient was being attended at 12:53pm.

In reply to questions from the coroner, Mr Guilfoyle said he would have expected someone in the apartment complex would have seen the first ambulance waiting outside the gate for 19 minutes to facilitate access, particularly given the time of day.

The fire officer said he also would have expected that the person who made the original 999 call would have responded to calls.

Asked about hoax calls, Mr Guilfoyle said Dublin Fire Brigade had received alerts to 80,000 incidents in 2023, of which there was no contact with anyone on the scene in 3,300 cases.

He said emergency service crews operated a protocol that every effort was made to verify if an ambulance was needed before leaving a scene.

Asked why there did not appear to be any difficulty for the second ambulance crew in accessing the address, Mr Guilfoyle said he understood they had entered the complex via the Bonnington Hotel on the Swords Road.

However, he said he did not know why one crew was unable to gain access while the other one could.

Questioned what circumstances an ambulance crew would consider breaking down a gate, Mr Guilfoyle said it would be in cases of large fire incidents where there was an obvious and imminent threat to life.

After hearing the evidence, Dr Gallagher told the deceased’s relatives that she could not answer their “burning question” as to whether Mr Dignam-Healy’s could have been saved if the first ambulance crew had gained access to the apartment.

“Nobody can answer that,” she added.

The coroner said she could not determine when he went from being critically unwell into cardiac arrest but his chances of resuscitation were “still quite low.”

She also remarked that he was probably beyond the point of resuscitation by the time he arrived in the Mater’s emergency department at 1:40pm.

The coroner recorded multiple drug toxicity as the cause of death based on the results of a post mortem which showed elevated levels of cocaine in his body as well as other drugs, including benzodiazepines, methadone and sleeping tablets.

Dr Gallagher returned a verdict of death by misadventure based on the evidence.

Offering her sympathy to the deceased’s family members, the coroner said his death was “a complete shock to all of us”.

However, she assured his relatives that “everyone did everything to assist him.”

Mr Dignam-Healy’s death occurred just a few weeks after the family of his uncle had confirmed the Aslan frontman was receiving palliative care at home after a lengthy stay in Beaumont Hospital.

The singer was first diagnosed with amyloidosis (an incurable skin condition caused by a build-up of protein in the body) as well as myeloma (a form of blood cancer) in 2013.

The much-loved musician, who had publicly spoken about his own battles with drug addiction, including in his autobiography, This is Christy Dignam, died at home on June 13th, 2023 at the age of 63.