The first paramedic at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing has told a public inquiry he was unprepared for what a “large-scale and terrible incident” it was.
Patrick Ennis was the first person in the Northwest Ambulance Service to arrive at the scene after Salman Abedi detonated a bomb that killed 22 people and injured hundreds more at the end of an Ariana Grande concert. on May 22, 2017.
“The information they had given me had not prepared me for the scale of the incident, so until I saw it for myself, I saw the City Hall, I had not realized it “he told the public investigation into the attack. “Nothing anyone would have told me before that would have really prepared me for what such a big and terrible incident it was.”
He was one of three health workers who entered the city hall at night and has been reported to be returning to give more detailed evidence of what happened there later.
On Wednesday the investigation learned that Ennis arrived at the scene at 22.42pm, 11 minutes after the detonation, as it unfolded in the sand upon seeing a rapid burst of 999 calls that reported an explosion.
Upon arrival, Ennis saw several wounded on foot and people with injuries “compatible with being shot,” he said. At 10.46pm, Ennis called for a “waiting incident for a major incident” (one step less than officially declaring a major incident) and called for “a minimum of four ambulances” to be sent to the sand. He entered the city hall at 10:52 p.m.
Ennis said he had been “quite self-critical” immediately after not being aware before it was a major incident and that “potentially this could have delayed” the emergency response.
“Since then, I’ve realized he didn’t delay any treatment, but it was certainly one of the things that worried me at the time,” he said.