The Paramedics forgot Grandma!

[CaptainChewbacca]

Click it and Weep

Authorities want to know how the woman was overlooked when the driver, her son, was removed at crash scene.
By Kenneth R. Weiss, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
December 17, 2007
The body of an elderly woman was discovered Sunday in the front passenger side of a crumpled car in a San Fernando Valley towing company's yard -- a day after paramedics had removed her son from the same vehicle after a crash, authorities said.

The woman, whose identity was not released, had apparently been left in the car at the accident scene in Tarzana even as her son was taken to a hospital, police said.

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Investigators began looking for her after family members reported that two relatives -- not one -- were missing, Officer Mike Lopez of the Los Angeles Police Department said.

"We conducted a follow-up to the tow yard, and we discovered the woman inside the vehicle," Lopez said. "She was dead."

LAPD detectives and officials on Sunday afternoon and evening swarmed the vehicle lot at Howard Sommers Towing Inc., an official police impound and tow yard in Canoga Park, trying to determine how city paramedics and traffic officers had failed to spot the woman in the damaged vehicle.

The slightly built woman had been concealed beneath an air bag that had deployed during the accident, police said. The vehicle was badly banged-up after crashing into a building.

The Los Angeles County coroner's office dispatched investigators late Sunday to examine and remove the body.

"There are a lot of questions and we don't have all of the answers," Lopez said, adding that authorities are "conducting an investigation surrounding this unfortunate incident."

The incident began about 10 a.m. Saturday when the vehicle driven by the woman's son hit a parked car in a bank parking lot and then crashed into the building at 19255 W. Ventura Blvd.

Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics removed the driver from the vehicle and took him to Northridge Hospital Medical Center, said spokesman Brian Humphrey. He did not release the driver's name, age or medical condition.

The car was then towed about seven miles to the impound yard, where it sat overnight. The city's Department of Building and Safety, meanwhile, was called in to check for structural damage at the bank after the car was pulled from the building.

On Sunday afternoon, authorities called the impound yard and asked an employee to look in the vehicle for anything unusual, a source said.

About 3:15 p.m., the Fire Department's emergency medical technicians were summoned by the towing yard, Humphrey said. "We had one person declared deceased at the scene. . . .

"Obviously, there is interest in our department in what happened. We are awaiting the results of the LAPD investigation. It's purely a law enforcement investigation at this time."

The coroner's office dispatched investigators late Sunday to examine and remove the woman's body.

They did not reach an immediate conclusion as to the precise time or cause of death, said coroner's spokesman Lt. John Kades. Such details will come after a more thorough examination of the body.

"The doctors may have a conclusion after the autopsy if this person died instantly or not," Kades said.

"That's a possibility, but there's no way to tell or predict."

There's really no way to describe the shitstorm that's gonna hit someone's life if it turns out she died after the fact.

[Havok]

Wow. I hope she died in the accident. That would be a shitty way to go if she ever regained consciousness.

If she was a tiny lady, I could see how they would miss her if the airbag had deployed and was covering her. Still, you would think SOMEONE would look behind the airbag.

Perhaps it was just a communication mix up... like a second ambulance was supposed to transport the lady, but the tow truck driver got there first, and thinking the second ambulance had already arrived and left, took the car into the impound yard?

[Schuyler Colfax]

If it turns out she could of lived whoever's fault this is, is gonna get it.

[Havok]

If it turns out she could of lived whoever's fault this is, is gonna get it.

Well that's the thing. I doubt it is just one persons fault. More like, quite a few people if not all, at the scene assuming that someone else had it "covered".

[Aaron]

Wow. I hope she died in the accident. That would be a shitty way to go if she ever regained consciousness.

If she was a tiny lady, I could see how they would miss her if the airbag had deployed and was covering her. Still, you would think SOMEONE would look behind the airbag.

Perhaps it was just a communication mix up... like a second ambulance was supposed to transport the lady, but the tow truck driver got there first, and thinking the second ambulance had already arrived and left, took the car into the impound yard?

I doubt the cops would allow that to happen provided they were on the ball.

[Havok]

Wow. I hope she died in the accident. That would be a shitty way to go if she ever regained consciousness.

If she was a tiny lady, I could see how they would miss her if the airbag had deployed and was covering her. Still, you would think SOMEONE would look behind the airbag.

Perhaps it was just a communication mix up... like a second ambulance was supposed to transport the lady, but the tow truck driver got there first, and thinking the second ambulance had already arrived and left, took the car into the impound yard?

I doubt the cops would allow that to happen provided they were on the ball.

The ambulance/tow truck scenario, wouldn't be the cops, but the dispatcher. There seems to be stories of them dropping the ball all the time.

[Kamakazie Sith]

Wow. I hope she died in the accident. That would be a shitty way to go if she ever regained consciousness.

If she was a tiny lady, I could see how they would miss her if the airbag had deployed and was covering her. Still, you would think SOMEONE would look behind the airbag.

Perhaps it was just a communication mix up... like a second ambulance was supposed to transport the lady, but the tow truck driver got there first, and thinking the second ambulance had already arrived and left, took the car into the impound yard?

I doubt the cops would allow that to happen provided they were on the ball.

The ambulance/tow truck scenario, wouldn't be the cops, but the dispatcher. There seems to be stories of them dropping the ball all the time.

No, it would be the personnel at the scene. Now whether it was medicals responsibility, or the police is another story. It's even possible that it might not be anyones fault if the damage is severe enough.

[Aaron]

The ambulance/tow truck scenario, wouldn't be the cops, but the dispatcher. There seems to be stories of them dropping the ball all the time.

I think we have a miscommunication. What I'm trying to say is that the police, who are in charge of the accident scene would not allow that to happen provided they actually knew about her.

[tim31]

Nothing in the article on weather or not she was wearing a belt...

To me the whole thing sounds initially shocking, but easier to cut down to unfortunate circumstances as you read on. I'll be as interested as everyone else to see how what the coroners find though.