Flooded: The village of Moorland A

Flooded: The village of Moorland
A woman died at home from a heart attack after an ambulance crew became stranded in flood water.

Paramedics trying to reach pensioner Edwina Barnes were forced to abandon their ambulance and scramble up an embankment on the Somerset Levels to complete the journey on foot.

It took them 42 minutes to reach the dying woman.

Armed police on looting patrols arrived at Edwina's home before the ambulance crew and used a defibrillator in a failed attempt to keep her alive.

A top level inquiry was launched after Edwina - who would have celebrated her 66th birthday tomorrow (Tuesday) - died a week ago.

But her husband Ross said today nothing could have been done to save mum-of-four.

Edwina, a keen bird-watcher who had ten grand-children.

Ross, 69, who works in the car industry, came home from work to find Edwina extremely unwell from a previously undiagnosed illness.

He said police arrived at the couple's home in the hamlet of Stathe, Somerset, ten minutes after his 999 call for help.

Ross said: "You couldn't have got there a lot quicker than that.

"Nothing at all could have been done. They went above and beyond."

A complaint was made to the ambulance service regarding the delay - but Edwina's family said it was not made by them.

Ross said: "A complaint would have been an insult to her. I don't agree with whoever made the complaint. We totally disagree - it was an insult to the service provided.

"The outcome is tragic but that's nothing to do with the ambulance service."

The 999 call was made at 7.43pm last Tuesday and an ambulance crew was dispatched from Taunton two minutes later.

The ambulance was sent to Burrowbridge, via Othery, on the northern side of the River Parrett - and was unable to cross to the southern side of the river because of the extensive flooding on Curry Moor.

Police officers rushed to Edwina's home from North Curry - on the other side of the flood.

Neil Le Chevalier, director of delivery for the South Western Ambulance Service, and a Gold Commander, said: "I can understand the sensitivities of some of the people living in the local area. They want things to get back to normal as soon as possible.

"We acknowledge that unfortunately we were unable to reach the patient within the guideline 40 minutes in this case. However, there has been no criticism from the family of this lady. In fact they were grateful for the response we made and the dignity shown to the victim.

"A relative was advised over the phone how to administer CPR which they carried out until the police arrived.

In this instance the firearms officers, who carry defibrillators and are trained to the same level as a paramedic in their use, were able to take over and continue until we attended.

"We have since carried out an internal review which concluded we do not believe there was anything else which could have been done medically for this patient. We are satisfied our response was adequate and appropriate."

The coroner has decided not to hold an inquest because Edwina died from natural causes.