Science teacher, 26, who took a toxic level of paracetamol by mistake dies

‘I went out to move my car and went straight back to the bedroom and Amber was in there making snoring noises.

‘I moved her onto her side and was only gone again 10 minutes before I went back to check on her. I shouted out but didn’t get a response and rushed over to her and she was cold. I listened to see but she wasn’t breathing.

‘I pulled her onto the floor and called 999, and they talked me through CPR. The paramedics arrived and then came into the room but said Amber wasn’t breathing and her heart had stopped and machines were doing it for her. They called another ambulance for help getting her downstairs. Amber passed away later in hospital – we had been together for two years.’

Miss Hickford’s father Neil said: ‘She had mentioned that she did have some stomach pains but she had just started a new job and felt some of that might be down to nerves.

‘At around 9pm that evening, Jay rang saying they had called the emergency services and asked us to help him convince Amber to go to hospital as she wasn’t listening to him.

‘When we got there Amber was standing and dressed but still didn’t want to go to hospital. We stayed there until around 10pm and we were almost home and Jay phoned again around 10.20pm saying he had rung the ambulance and wanted us to go back. There were three ambulances outside and the paramedics were working on Amber on the floor in the bedroom. It was devastating to be told she could not be resuscitated.

‘Amber was a science teacher and would be aware of the nature of the medication she was taking and the effects that that may have. She would never have knowingly taken more than she should have.’

Angela Lee, deputy sector manager for the North West Ambulance Service said: ‘On April 21, an emergency call was received and although Amber’s abdominal pain seemed to have subsided she was now struggling to walk and experiencing dizziness, drowsiness and blurred vision when stood.

‘At 10.24pm – around two hours later – a further call was received from Amber and three emergency response vehicles were allocated.

‘The initial emergency call was coded a category four but should have been coded as a category two response. When I listened to the emergency call I didn’t hear anything that gave me cause for concern that it was coded correctly but if the call had been categorised as a category two, there may have been an emergency ambulance to attend to Amber.

‘The call handler who handled the call has received feedback which revolved around a one to one session.’

When questioned by Amber’s family about why the caller handler had not despatched an ambulance following the first 999 call, Ms Lee said: ‘They have a couple of seconds to make that decision and it’s a very difficult task. The call was passed to a clinician who spoke to Jay and then to Amber and the clinician gave the advice to attend the emergency department.’

Coroner Michael Salt adjourned the hearing for further inquiries but said: ‘I accept that the call was coded incorrectly. I need to know more about the potential effect of the delay in the arrival of the ambulance and what could have been achieved in the time – that seems to me at least an hour and 36 minutes.

‘I have heard about the way in which the categorisation error came about in a very difficult situation. A judgement needs to be made very quickly and I don’t in any way criticise the call taker.

‘The question is whether something could have been achieved in the time that might have been available. The important thing is to try to find out whether the delay contributed to death and whether it was a missed opportunity..’