The paramedic who tried but failed to resuscitate taxi driver Baharuddin Ahmad during last year’s Bersih 2.0 rally found it weird that he was ordered to transport the deceased to Kuala Lumpur Hospital after informing his supervisors that all signs of life had ceased.

“It is rather strange,” admitted assistant medical officer Mohd Bakhtiar Che Muda, the eleventh witness testifying on the fourth day of the inquest into Baharuddin’s death during the July 9 pro-electoral reform rally.

He told Coroner Zulkpli Abdullah that according to normal procedure, cases of deaths on the scene will be reported to the police forensics unit, with the emergency medical response team handing over the body to police after confirming the time of death.

In this case, he agreed with family lawyer Mohd Jufliz Faiza that it is strange and that it was the first time a death on the scene was handled this way that he knew of.

He related how after radioing the hospital’s emergency response control centre to inform the personnel that the taxi driver had passed away, he was ordered by the doctor in charge to still transport the deceased to the hospital’s emergency and trauma unit.

The inquest then broke for lunch and Friday prayers.

When the inquiry resumed later, Mohd Baktiar’s fellow paramedic and team member was called to testify.

Male nurse Shahrezan Nordin confirmed his team leader’s assessment that it was strange for the deceased to be transported to the hospital after flatlining.

“That is what I am not sure what was the reason. But we followed orders from base,” he related.

While admitting that the move broke from normal protocols, he reasoned that perhaps the control centre was worried about leaving a body unattended during a demonstration.

Responding to uestions from lawyers representing the taxi driver’s family, he also said that their focus was on restarting Baharuddin’s heart and they did not focus on examining his body for injuries in detail as they were no obvious signs of external trauma.

‘CPR may have caused rib fractures’

However, he agreed with his colleague who had said earlier that CPR applied to Baharuddin may have caused fractures to the deceased’s ribs, adding that those above 40 are more likely to experience post-CPR rib fractures because their bones have weakened with age.

But also agreed that he cannot be sure if Baharuddin’s ribs were in fact injured by their ministrations and did not check beforehand to see if they were already broken.

Asked about the possible effects that may be observed on protesters during rallies like Bersih, he said that as far as he knows they may experience teary eyes because of chemical laced water.

He related how he himself was familiar with the effects as when he was on medical stand-by standing next to a police water cannon vehicle, he became teary-eyed because of the fumes from the riot-control vehicle, without any water being sprayed.

When re-examined by the DPP assisting the coroner, he admitted that he did not check Baharuddin’s eyes, and they were closed when he first saw the deceased.

He informed the court that it was Mohd Bakhtiar who checked the taxi driver’s eyes.

Baharuddin was found collapsed and unconscious at the Avenue K mall next to KLCC in Kuala Lumpur amongst fleeing protesters during the rally last year.

Passers-by tried to help and paramedics were dispatched to resuscitate him, to no avail.

Police claimed that his death was due to a heart attack, though family members and fellow Bersih 2.0 compatriots are not so sure.