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Boy died after satnav fault delays ambulance

Could they not have used a map, asks mum

A child died after a faulty satnav caused an ambulance to arrive late, a coroner heard last week.

Nine-year-old Corey Seymour suffered heart failure last September following an asthma attack at home. An ambulance took 24 minutes to arrive, despite an eight-minute target response time.

West Midlands Ambulance Service has since admitted problems with a satnav, prompting the lad's mother, who was pregnant with her ninth child at the time, to demand an inquiry.

“How can highly trained medical professionals be so reliant on satnav? Could they not have used a map?" mum Melanie Carver, 40, asked.

A coroner adjourned the inquest into Corey’s death last Wednesday to await further information.

Meanwhile, the West Midlands Ambulance Service says it did everything it could despite the technology glitch and insisted it didn't rely solely on satnavs for navigation.

“A paramedic in a rapid response vehicle and an ambulance were automatically dispatched. By the time the paramedic and GP assessed and treated the patient, the ambulance had arrived. We offer our condolences to the family,” said a spokesman.

Faulty satnavs have been blamed for over £200m worth of damages over the last year. While dependence on our roadmap advisers appears to be on the rise, competition from smartphones means the ageing technology could run out of breath and seek new direction, perhaps in the form of satnav-based insurance assessments. ®

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