“We did not administer ketamine to Georgina. When we started resuscitation, the child was dead, she was not reacting…we did not bring her back” said in his testimony at the trial of Roulas Pispirigou, the supervising pediatric intensivist at the Children’s ICU of the “Aglaia Kyriakou” hospital Konstantinos Giouvas.

Mr. Tziouvas, who was called to face the objection that cut the thread of Georgina’s life on January 29, 2022, emphasized in his testimony that the child was given only Rucuronium for the intubation and adrenaline. He also said that initially the first four doses of adrenaline that are ready in similar cases were administered and then a fifth dose was administered from a vial that the nurse took from the special bag of the ICU team.

In questions received by the doctor, he said that there was no reason to administer ketamine, while ruling out the possibility of a mistake in the vials, as, as he emphasized, “there was no vial of ketamine missing from the resuscitation kit” when their desperate attempt ended. to bring the little girl back to life.

The witness described the scene when he informed the accused that the child did not make it.

President: Do you remember what kind of information you gave the accused?

Witness: He was outside the room. I went out and told her that the child had passed away. He told me to try because in Patras it took 55 minutes. He asked me if the pacemaker was working. I think he was talking to Mr. Papagiannis (Onassios) at that time. It impressed me. This was a technical question. Usually people in these situations either cry or break down or become aggressive. The defendant simply told me if the pacemaker was working.

President: Where do you get that extra dose of adrenaline?

Witness: It’s in the suitcase.

President: Are there any other vials in the suitcase?

Witness: He has a lot. Different.

President: When the fourth installment was finished who prepared the next one?

Witness: The nurse.

President: Were you in front?

Witness: Yes.

Chair: When you informed the mother, was the patient’s metabolism functioning?

Witness: No. Organs need oxygen to function. The instruments don’t work. Nothing is metabolized.

President: What was the image of the child?

Witness: It was lying on the bed. Motionless, relaxed, unresponsive. He had no reaction.

Chairman: What is ketamine?

Witness: It is a drug for sedation and analgesia. It is common in ICUs. When hospitalized in intensive care, usually children, they will take to not feel pain. There are protocols where you use it for intubation. We, at Aglaia Kyriakou, do not usually use it.

Chairman: Did you administer ketamine?

Witness: We had no reason to. Never. We gave rocuronium twice.

Chairman: Do the vial of adrenaline and ketamine look alike?

Witness: Sometimes they look alike, sometimes they don’t. It depends on which company it is.

Chairman: Those vials you had that day, do they look the same?

Witness: Yes, but they make big differences for us who use it. They write adrenaline. It has a red line on it…

President: You say somewhere that the accused was stressed. What does this term mean to you? Describe what he was like, what he did?

Witness: He gave me this perception. He was very kind. What struck me was that he didn’t show the emotion I expected to see.

Chairman: When you informed her that the last child ended up, what did she do?

Witness: He was stressed, it seemed.

President: How? What did he do; were they sweating?

Witness: She was calm about it. It seemed that something was boiling inside her…in the movements. He thanked us for the effort. I say to her, why are you thanking me? The child is gone. He also asked us another question, whether the child will go to Athens or Patras for an autopsy. It impressed me. I told her that I am not arranging this.

President: Didn’t he ask you “but why did the child leave”?

Witness: No, he didn’t ask me.

Chairman: Do you know if we overdose on ketamine what can happen?

Witness: During the resuscitation nothing. In resuscitation it will do nothing because there is no life.

Juror: If adrenaline is given with another drug, for example with ketamine, what effects does it have?

Witness: If we gave ketamine and adrenaline together the ketamine would have no effect because the patient was dead. Adrenaline would try to restore heart.

To questions from the defense, the doctor said he did not know the cause of Georgina’s seizure. He also told the defendant’s attorney that the amount of ketamine administered, when required, is proportional to the patient’s weight. In Georgina’s case, as she said, if they administered ketamine it would be 25 ml.

Al. Kougias: Do you know how the accused has been accused of being responsible for the death by administering ketamine?

Witness: Yes.

Al. Kougias: How could he grant it?

Witness: Shall I make a case?

The trial continues.