LAFD extricates one from car, second victim found next day

[mfkap 0]

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bo...=la-home-center

Summary: Guy crashed into a building, extricated by LAFD, transported to hospital. Family wonders what happened to grandma, found still in car at impound lot the next day.

Scene size-up is an important EARLY part of responding to a call. Check the rest of the car, the trunk, and the other side of the guardrail when you get to a bad MVA. If (when) there are 12 people standing around watching the extrication, if you are in the "outer ring" give a look around instead of gawking. Even if she was already deceased when they arrived the first time, it is a lot better for the family to not have to deal with grandma's body being left in a car for a day.

[x635 4,066]

Wow. Interesting story. Could have happened anywhere, I'll try to find out more of the specifics and let you know. Right now, I know it's a lot more complicated then the LA Times described, the vehicle was (possibly large) and significantly damaged and the elderly female was, let's say injured and involved a lot more then described. I do not know if there was extrication involved.

However, this is a wake up call to check EVERYWHERE in a vehicle after an MVA. I know a lot, including myself, have gotten complacent when we're busy and have limited resources at an MVA scene, and this could have happened anywhere.

[LTNRFD 266]

You never know what your find at an accident. About 12 years ago I responded to a 1 car P.I.A.A. on I-95 at 2 AM. There was 1 adult male driver with 3 male youths, ages 8-14. 2 of the boys and the driver were placed in my bus and the 3rd boy was placed in a 2nd bus. I was doing my secondary survey on the male adult and asked him how many people were in the car, I wanted to account for all of the occupants. This was because there was no female and it looked like it was a family traveling together. I was thinking that the female might have gone for help. The kids could not account for their mother. The adult male then advised me that he KILLED his wife. The next question was where is she. I asked the driver to repeat what he said, and he again said that he KILLED his wife. That he stabbed her at their house.

At this point I got the Troopers in the bus and a further investigation found the wife dead in New Jersey. The driver was arrested and convicted and the 3 boys are without parents.

You never know what you will find or not find at the accident scene.

[NJMedic 96]

Another Opps

Medical examiner arrives to find accident victim isn't dead

SAN ANTONIO

An investigator for the medical examiner's office arrived at a traffic accident to examine the victim's body and made a startling discovery: the woman wasn't dead.

Trapped in a crumbled car early Sunday, the woman was draped in a yellow sheet, the typical procedure when someone is killed.

But "on arrival, the medical examiner's investigator noted the victim appeared to be breathing and was trapped in the vehicle," said a statement issued by the Bexar County medical examiner's office. "EMS was called to the scene and took charge of the victim."

Erica Nicole Smith, 23, was taken to the hospital in critical condition Sunday.

She was the front passenger in a Honda Accord with two other people, when the Accord was struck by a vehicle that crossed the Loop 410 median and slammed into the Accord head-on.

The driver of that vehicle, Jenny Ann Ybarra, 28, was charged with intoxication assault, said police spokesman Joe Rios.

The driver of the Accord and the other passenger were treated and released from the hospital.

Rios would not comment on the apparent mistake involving Smith.

Randy Jenkins, the spokesman for Emergency Medical Services, said Sunday the incident is "under review." He did not immediately return a message left Monday morning.

________________________________________________________________________

[xfirefighter484x 234]

:o

Can't say this is the first time I have heard of an instance like this.

[20y2 43]

You never know what your find at an accident. About 12 years ago I responded to a 1 car P.I.A.A. on I-95 at 2 AM. There was 1 adult male driver with 3 male youths, ages 8-14. 2 of the boys and the driver were placed in my bus and the 3rd boy was placed in a 2nd bus. I was doing my secondary survey on the male adult and asked him how many people were in the car, I wanted to account for all of the occupants. This was because there was no female and it looked like it was a family traveling together. I was thinking that the female might have gone for help. The kids could not account for their mother. The adult male then advised me that he KILLED his wife. The next question was where is she. I asked the driver to repeat what he said, and he again said that he KILLED his wife. That he stabbed her at their house.

At this point I got the Troopers in the bus and a further investigation found the wife dead in New Jersey. The driver was arrested and convicted and the 3 boys are without parents.

You never know what you will find or not find at the accident scene.

WOW!

I'm assuming you had to testify at the trial?

[LTNRFD 266]

WOW!

I'm assuming you had to testify at the trial?

4 Hours with the D.A.'s office. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced without a jury trial.

[RescueKujo 130]

Scene size-up is an important EARLY part of responding to a call. Check the rest of the car, the trunk, and the other side of the guardrail when you get to a bad MVA.

Depends on what you find. I was on the ambulance when we went on a collision where a lifted Ford 250 went over the top of a sedan. Tore the top off the sedan, and when we got there fire told us we had 2 DOAs. We took the 2 from the truck to a landing zone to meet a helo, then went back to the scene. The passenger in the sedan had been partily decapitated, and as we walked up a firefighter pointed something out in the back seat. Turns out it was a third person. And as they were cutting out the 3 known, a 4th was found between the front and back seats. Sometimes you can only see what you can see.