Former CIA man died after volume on hospital heart monitor was turned down



Died from a heart attack: Alan Bel



A former CIA man died after the volume of an alarm on his hospital heart monitor was turned down, an inquest has heard.

American Alan Bel, 60, suffered a heart attack – but medics failed to notice because they were not alerted because they could not hear the alarm.

Consultant cardiologist Dr Bernard Clarke told the inquest that ‘on the balance of probabilities’ staff could have saved the 60-year-old if the machine had been working.

And Manchester coroner Nigel Meadows said a ‘serious failure’ of the heart monitor had contributed to the death of Mr Bel who retired from the CIA spy agency 30 years ago.

A Manchester Royal Infirmary (MRI) investigation was not able to establish who turned the alarm’s volume control off and when.

Mr Meadows has used new powers to write to the hospital and Spacelabs Medical, the company which make the machine, calling for a more thorough investigation of the case.

He has also asked for a review of all monitoring machines at the MRI and for machine maintenance to be properly recorded.

The MRI and company now have 56 days to respond.

Following Mr Bel’s death, hospital bosses have employed four extra nurses to monitor and observe patients - at a cost of £120,000 a year.

Grandfather to nine Mr Bel, who had lived in Salford for 30 years, was originally from Texas, where he worked for the CIA and had a history of heart problems.

He had a pacemaker fitted in 2000, but when the battery was changed in June last year he caught an infection and had to go back into the MRI to have the device removed.

Because his heart was no longer being regulated by the pacemaker he was hooked up to the sophisticated heart monitor.



Staff did not realise its alarm volume had been turned down and Mr Bel died of a heart attack on November 9 last year - half an hour after he was seen alive by nurses.

Investigations revealed the volume on the alarm - which would have alerted staff to a problem - had been turned down.

Mr Bel’s daughter Carolyn Birtwistle has begun legal action against the hospital to try to make sure this doesn’t happen to anyone else.

The nurse from Swinton, Manchester, said: ‘My dad was a lovely, caring and giving man and his whole family have been devastated by his death just months before he was to become a great-grandfather.

‘Family was everything to him and we want him back - we can’t have that so we feel we are owed the truth about his death.

‘We want to know exactly what happened so that we have the comfort of knowing it will never happen again to another family, we don’t want anyone to go through what we have done.

‘There are so many questions surrounding my dad’s death and we feel the hospital have blocked us in our attempt to get answers so we are very pleased the coroner is taking this case so seriously - we fear other lives could already have been lost in the same way.’

Mr Nigel Meadows recorded a narrative verdict at an inquest on October 13.

Mr Bel, worked in the CIA until he married before moving to the UK and setting up his own security business.

He was well known across Salford and Manchester for his work at several local churches.

He and his wife Diane had five children.

It also emerged during the inquest that an extra safety mechanism on the monitoring machine had been switched off possibly at some time around when the equipment was installed on the ward 16 months before.

The family’s solicitor, Emma Holt, said: ‘This is a tragic case where a life has been lost through carelessness. I can confirm that we are pursuing action against the trust concerned.’

In his letter to the MRI’s medical director John Pearson and the managing director of Hertforshire-based Spacelabs, Mr Meadows wrote: ‘In view of the fact that he had no electrical activity in his heart, the cardiac arrest must have occurred at least five minutes before he was found.



‘Immediate action is necessary in the event of a cardiac arrest and any delay is prejudicial to a successful resuscitation occurring.’

He added: ‘The equipment was subject to a periodic maintenance review but this did not detect the operation difficulties with the equipment.

‘It seems apparent that a member of nursing staff could have manually turned the volume down.’



Speaking about the interim use of extra nurses to check up on monitors he said: ‘It seems to the court this cannot be a sensible use of public money.’

A spokeswoman for the MRI said: ‘We are unable to release further details into the public domain before we have responded directly to the coroner.

‘The family are aware that we have been asked to look at this further by the coroner and if they have any questions or concerns in the meantime we would be happy to discuss these with them.’

A spokesman for Hertfordshire-based Spacelabs said: ‘It is difficult for the company to comment in detail at present, as we have just received the coroners report.

‘We are preparing some clarifications and a response regarding his comments. We do not maintain this particular equipment.’