<\/p>\n
The declaration, 52 minutes after Cauchi was shot dead, required paramedics inside to withdraw from the centre and barred other crews from entering.<\/p>\n
At that time, police knew they were dealing with a single assailant but had not informed NSW Ambulance, an inquest into the attack has been told.<\/p>\n
Armitage was quizzed today on a statement from a senior police officer at the scene who said he had been asked by a "senior commission paramedic" if the scene was still a "hot zone".<\/p>\n
The police officer responded it was "still an active crime scene" and was asked to explain why paramedics were still inside.<\/p>\n
"If any of my paramedics get hurt or stabbed, it's on your head," the senior paramedic allegedly said.<\/p>\n
Armitage "categorically" denied making the comment but stood by his decision to withdraw the paramedics from the centre.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: \ufeff<\/strong>The election promises Labor and the Coalition have made to win your vote<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n The scene was never downgraded from a "hot zone", which Armitage admitted should have occurred at 5pm when he knew there was not a second attacker.<\/p>\n Critical care paramedic Christopher Wilkinson said "confusion" on the ground meant paramedics were prevented from entering the shopping centre before the "hot zone" declaration.<\/p>\n "I stood there with my boots on the ground quite frustrated that people may well be dying upstairs and no one is doing anything medically for them," the four-decade veteran paramedic said.<\/p>\n "It's not good enough."<\/p>\n All injured people had been treated and removed from the building by 4.30pm and the declaration had no impact on the clinical outcomes of victims, the inquest was told.<\/p>\n The first of Cauchi's victims, Dawn Singleton, asked bystanders to call an ambulance after she was stabbed.<\/p>\n Police arrived within six minutes and commenced CPR, with paramedics arriving another 12 minutes later noting she had died.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n