A paramedic has denied allegations made against him in the Adelaide Coroners Court, which claimed he said a patient was overreacting with the “man flu” in the lead up to his death.
Indian national and father-of-two Hemant Chadha died in April 2020 after seeking help at Adelaide emergency departments several times before his death.
Paramedic Paul Vinar attended two separate call-outs involving Mr Chadha in the two days before his death from pneumonia.
The second job saw Mr Vinar and his partner called to Mr Chadha’s home in Parafield Gardens, after which officers transported him to an Adelaide emergency department.
Evidence from Mr Chadha’s neighbour, Irma Crews, claimed Mr Vinar downplayed his patient’s condition during this visit, telling the court Mr Vinar repeatedly “stressed” that Mr Chadha was overreacting with the “man flu” and “was being a naughty boy” that “needed to behave”.
In Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Vinar denied using the word “naughty” or insinuating that Mr Chadha was “causing drama”, stressing that the patient had a condition that needed to be taken seriously.
“He had a really elevated breathing rate, and that was a red flag straight away,” Mr Vinar said.
“He did have a medical condition that needed to be looked at.”
The officer claimed Ms Crews was the first to mention the term “man flu”, and he only used the term to clarify the patient’s condition to his wife.
“I don’t want to say dumbing it down, but I had to try to make things as basic as I could for them to understand, especially for Mrs Chadha,” Mr Vinar said.
“It was just that he had an infection, and that’s how he was dealing with the issue.”
Mr Vinar also said he did not use the term “man flu” to infer an exaggeration of symptoms or “faking it”, but rather as an attempt to overcome an alleged language barrier.
“It was probably inappropriate in hindsight now, but it didn’t really get the message across,” Mr Vinar said.
“They didn’t respond in a negative way, it was more inquisitive, ‘Like what do you mean by man flu?'”
Mr Vinar also rejected claims that it was a “battle” to get the paramedics to take Mr Chadha to hospital, alleging Ms Crews insisted she would be able to care for him at his home.
“We spent quite a bit of time trying to convince him to go and we nearly had him going at one point, and then the neighbour convinced him to stay, so we had to spend another 15, 20 minutes.”
Paramedics attended two cases with patient before his death
The day before the home visit, Mr Vinar and his partner were called to transfer Mr Chadha from a doctors’ surgery to Lyell McEwin Hospital in the city’s north.
Before the court, counsel assisting Emma Roper said the paramedics allegedly asked his wife, “How did he get here? Did he crawl?” when she asked them to assist him with a wheelchair.
Mr Vinar says he didn’t recall asking the second half of that question.
“I may have asked how he got there from the car park to the surgery,” Mr Vinar said.
“It’s not uncommon to ask mobility questions like that.
“I don’t recall saying anything about crawling.”
Mr Vinar said he does not recall Ms Chadha’s presence at the doctors’ surgery, despite Ms Roper alleging he remarked “you again” upon his arrival at Mr Chadha’s residence the following day.
“I had no reason to be rude,” Mr Vinar told the court.
“I don’t know where I was engaging, I can’t remember speaking to (Mrs Chadha) at all.”
The court heard the alleged comments on April 20 and 21 caused distress for the couple and ultimately Mr Chadha prevented his wife from calling an ambulance hours before he died due to their previous experience.
The coronial inquest is also looking into the death of 23-year-old Sachintha Battagodage, who was allegedly told by paramedics to visit a GP after coughing up blood.
The inquest before Deputy State Coroner Ian White continues.
