Austin Woman Dies After Mix-Up at Accident Site

After an automobile accident early Sunday morning in San Antonio, paramedics placed a yellow tarp over the body of Texas State student and Austinite Erica N. Smith, thinking her dead. When the medical examiner came to investigate the scene of the accident over an hour later, she discovered that Smith was still alive. Smith was immediately sent to a hospital, where she died from her wounds Monday afternoon.

Smith's family is extremely upset over the time she was left without care. "It is unfathomable to me that my little cousin sat, bleeding, under a tarp and in the cold while receiving no medical attention," Kimberly McGuire, Smith's cousin said. "I can't help but wonder if her injuries would be less severe had she received the prompt medical treatment she deserved."

The San Antonio fire department is reviewing the events of the day, but it is doubtful that the emergency workers will be disciplined. It seems that Smith had no pulse they first came upon her. While she was under the yellow tarp, two other people involved in the accident (who didn't have life-threatening injuries) were dealt with and transported to the hospital.

The driver of the vehicle that hit Smith's car has been charged with intoxication manslaughter.

MySA.com: Controversy over woman left for dead
Statesman: Family of woman wrongly presumed dead is concerned

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By Elizabeth S. in News on December 19, 2007 11:30 AM 0 Comments

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jstseo

medical accidents
Great site..... and well written .......thanks for information. I think, To prove that a healthcare professional has acted negligently in his or her treatment of a patient is a rather complex task and it should be noted that the law offers only the opportunity for a victim to recover compensation if it can be demonstrated ‘on the balance of probabilites’ that the treatment recieved was carried out in a negligent fashion by the healthcare professionals involved and that this directly caused or contributed to the injury.

bingsy

When you read the San Antonio article, the Fire Chief Charles Hood maintains that she might have been brain dead - claiming that organs can carry on without brain activity.

This would be no reason to ignore her, and it horrifies me that he thinks it is okay.

Not only will the question of whether or not the woman might have been saved go unsolved, we can all think perhaps even if she was brain dead that a prime candidate for organ donation was allowed to just sit. If the paramedics are not responsible for her death due to her being brain dead (of which I am not certain at all but just taking Hood's speculation to its end,) they would be then responsible for the potential loss of several lives - several people that may have been able to use her organs and may now die waiting.

Do the paramedics not understand the specific circumstances for major organ donation that they would just throw a tarp over her? Take for instance the heart. The donor must die in a hospital, die a brain death, and be on a ventilator. This doesn't happen too often, but it might have been the case here.

Even if she was brain dead, many times families - especially of the young, take much comfort in the idea that some good, some life has come from their tragedy.

Even if she was brain dead, they have been denied this.

His excuse wasn't very well thought out.

Waterlewd

The intoxication "manslaughterist" was a woman. Jenny Ann Ybarra.

Benj

As a successful graduate of a pretty intensive EMT-B program, I can vouch that the importance of triage is not taken lightly. This is horrible, and although mistakes happen, this kind of obvious "mix-up" is extremely rare. Not only is it conceivable that this first-responder fuck-up may have significantly contributed to this woman's death, now the attorneys for the drunk driving asshole will have no trouble making sure he doesn't get nailed for her death, of which he's now only fractionally responsible.