Thame Drowning Inquest – Day Three

THE Jury Inquest into the death of Nathan Matthews, who was dragged apparently unconcious from Thame swimming pool, continued today with the jury hearing evidence from the two lifeguards and an ambulance crew member who were all involved in trying to save the boy.
After recalling how he helped perform CPR with his Duty Manager, Greg Boult, Rob McGill, of Mitchell Close, Thame, who was 17 years-old at the time of the incident was questioned about his Lifeguard qualifications by the Matthews family solicitor. Although admitting that he did have to re-take the section of his training that dealt with resuscitation, and that he did not know where the documentary evidence that he had passed the second stage of his lifeguard exams was, Rob McGill said: “As far as I am concerned, I passed it.”

He was also asked whether part of his duties was to be aware of early signs of dangerous situations developing, and whether, in his scanning of the pool, he remembered being aware of Nathan moving his head rapidly from side to side as he swam and causing splashing.
“No one particularly stood out for that reason,” replied Rob McGill.

“Did you think that anyone of them (the pupils taking part in the race) could have slipped under the water?” asked Mr Samuels.

“Everyone was diving or going under the water – I was continually looking at each one,” replied Rob McGill.

After continuing to quote training manuals and the operating procedures of Thame Pool, Mr Samuels was firmly told by the Coroner, Mr Nicholas Gardiner: “We are here to find out what happened, not what should have happened.”

Rob McGill also denied that his attention might have been focused on one particularly weak swimmer and the pupil who suffered from epilepsy.

There was some cross examining of both men over the availability and use of special rescue masks, designed to give a better seal around the mouth of a patient during CPR, as well as some hygience benefit.
Both Greg Boult and Rob McGill said that in the urgent situation they found themselves in, the use of the masks had not occurred to them.

Another point of discussion was the ratio of chest compressions to breaths into the patient during CPR – whether the accepted rate, at the time, for a child i.e. 5-1, or that for an adult, 15-2, was appropriate. (The two men had carried out two cycles of the child ratio, but had proceeded to that for an adult when it had become obvious to them that the smaller ratio was not having any effect).

Later, in his evidence, Ambulance Technician, Robert Gilley, said that nowadays, 15-2 is the accepted rate for a child or an adult, and that it would not have made any difference to Nathan at the time which ratio had been used.

Rob McGill described how on July 12, 2004, he had first become aware that there was a problem when he heard a whistle and saw Sara Allen, the swimming teacher, moving quickly around the edge of the pool. He said that he then ran back a couple of paces and pressed the alarm before running to where he could see someone was under the water.

Both Rob McGill and Greg Boult described how Nathan’s condition suddenly deteriorated and he stopped breathing and how he had began chest compressions while Greg did the mouth-to-mouth. The Jury then heard how an abulance crew arrived and attempted to re-start, what the Ambulance Technician described as Nathan’s fibrilating (fluttering but not pumping) heart, with a Defibrilator and intravenous drugs, but to no avail.

Mr and Mrs Mathews, Nathan’s parents, through their solicitor, expressed their thanks for all the ambulance crew had done to try and save their son.

Nathan was then taken to the John Radcliffe hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Tomorrow, Friday, the Jury will be shown the video statements of eight of Nathan’s class mates, taken after the incident and on Monday morning, will visit the Jubille pool, Thame, to see for themselves the scene of the tragedy.