Paramedics loose childs finger tip

A paramedic who threw away a three-year-old girl’s finger tips by mistake after they were severed in an accident has been suspended by the Austrian red cross in Zirl, Austria.

Mother Iris Lengauer-Stockner, 29, had carefully wrapped the two finger tips in loo roll and handed them to the ambulance staff when they arrived at the family home.

But by the time tot Emily who had jammed her hand in a door had arrived at hospital in Innsbruck the tips had disappeared and only a frantic search found them in a rubbish bin.

Mum Iris said: “There was blood everywhere. Emily was screaming. We wrapped the finger tips up in loo roll and waited for the ambulance. We gave the finger tips to the paramedic and were then taken to hospital.

“As Emily was waiting for the operation to reattach the fingers we were told that the finger tips had gone missing. It was horrific.”

Hospital staff say the finger tips were reattached after being disinfected by surgeons and had been mistakenly thrown away with rubbish from the ambulance.

A Red Cross spokesman said: “The paramedic has been suspended. This should not have happened. We will be carrying out more training with our staff.”