Novichok victim from Salisbury “treated with opioid overdose”

The first paramedic to treat a former Russian spy and his daughter after they were poisoned with a nerve agent tried to administer a drug to treat an opioid overdose, an investigation has found.

Ian Parsons provided first aid treatment to Yulia and Sergei Skripal in the Maltings area of ​​Salisbury on March 4, 2018, after they were attacked with Novichok.

Mr Parsons said he heard on the FM radio that a woman was having “a seizure”.

He told the inquest into Dawn Sturgess' death that the area was “well-known” in the community for its homeless population.

Ms Sturgess, 44, died four months after the attack on the Skripals after being accidentally exposed to Novichok eight miles away in Amesbury, Wiltshire.

It was hidden in a perfume bottle that her partner found and gave to her.

Mr Parsons, from the South Western Ambulance Service, said when he examined Ms Skripal she had a “slow heartbeat” and was “foaming at the mouth”.

Her father was sitting right next to her.

“The area of ​​Maltings, below Sainsbury's, is known in the local community as a home for homeless people, where some illegal drugs may be traded,” he said.

“Prior to the incident in Salisbury, we were informed that a highly toxic batch of fentanyl was circulating across the UK.”

Mr Parsons asked fellow paramedic Louise Woods to give Mr Skripal naloxone, a drug used to reverse an opioid overdose, but the drug “did nothing”.

Ms Woods said Mr Skripal was conscious and sitting “upright” on a bench.

“He didn’t recognize my presence at all,” she said.

Ms. Woods said Mr. Skripal vomited and she checked the area for drug paraphernalia, but never considered that he may have been intentionally poisoned.

“Never in a million years would I have thought of chemical poisoning in Salisbury,” she said.

As he was being taken into the ambulance, “his jaw suddenly started to clench,” she said.

“He started making moaning noises. It was like he was in pain, but he couldn’t tell us he was in pain.”

Ms Woods added that Mr Skripal's portrayal was “very strange”, although he “remained fundamentally very stable internally”.

Dr. James Haslam, consultant in anesthesia and intensive care at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, looked after the Skripals from March 5.

He said Ms Skripal's condition was “worse than her father's”.

Upon arrival, she could no longer breathe on her own and was subsequently intubated and given artificial ventilation.

When Mr. Skripal arrived, he was breathing on his own, but over time he also became unable to breathe on his own.

“We couldn't measure their temperature because it was so low, despite active warming,” he said.

The investigation continues.