Body position hindered Woolmer resuscitation efforts

Efforts to resuscitate Bob Woolmer, after he was found unconscious in his hotel room, were hindered by the position of his body, said the first doctor to attend to him, at a coroner's inquest heard on Friday.

Woolmer, the former Pakistan coach, was found unconscious in his room at the Pegasus Hotel a day after Pakistan's shock defeat to Ireland in the World Cup. Dr Asher Cooper arrived a few minutes after Novelette Robinson, the team's registered nurse, but could carry out resuscitation measures only after Woolmer was moved out of the bathroom.

"When I went to the room, Woolmer's head was under the toilet bowl and I could not do resuscitating exercises," Cooper told Patrick Murphy, the inquest's coroner and an 11-member jury. "I was only able to take pictures with my cellular phone camera, which I gave to the police." Woolmer was moved to the hall with the help of the police after which he was administered CPR and chest compression.

The measures were continued until the arrival of the ambulance, even though Woolmer was without a pulse and had stopped breathing. Cooper said there were no signs of life before Woolmer was taken to the University of West Indies hospital, where he was declared dead.

Dr Simone French, who attended to Woolmer on his arrival at the hospital, said that further efforts were made to revive him before he was declared dead. "After the body was taken to the hospital we put him on the cardio machine and there was no response."

Dennis Forbes, a detective constable, also testified by displaying pictures he had taken, which showed Woolmer lying on a stretcher at the hospital. Woolmer's face was blood-stained, with a purplish discolouration to his left side. The pictures also showed a red mark on his left hip.

The inquest, which started on Tuesday, is being held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston.