The first paramedic at the scene of the Manchester Arena bombing told a public inquiry he was not prepared for what a “large-scale and horrific incident” it was.
Patrick Ennis was the first person from the North West Ambulance Service to arrive at the venue after Salman Abedi detonated a bomb that killed 22 people and injured hundreds more at the end of an Ariana Grande concert on 22 May 2017.
“The information I received did not prepare me for the extent of the incident, and until I saw it myself and saw the City Room, I did not realize it,” he told the public inquiry into the attack. said. “Nothing that anyone has told me before really prepared me for a big and terrible incident.”
He was one of the three paramedics who entered the city hall that night, and the investigation was told he would return to provide more detailed evidence of what happened there later.
The investigation heard on Wednesday that Ennis arrived on the scene at 22.42 hours, 11 minutes after the explosion, after he himself was deployed to the arena when he saw a rapid wave of 999 calls reporting an explosion.
Upon arrival, Ennis sees a number of wounded and people with injuries that match the fact that they were shot, he said. At 22.46 Ennis calls a “standby for major incidents” – one step away from the official declaration of a major incident – and asks that a minimum of four ambulances be sent to the arena. He entered the city room at 22.52.
Ennis said he was “quite self-critical” in the immediate aftermath because he was not previously aware that it was a major incident, and that it could possibly delay the emergency response.
“I have since been made aware that it did not delay any treatment, but it was definitely one of the things I was worried about at the time,” he said.