Devastated parents of mum, 29, found dead by her toddler call for paramedics to be sacked after missing ‘clear sign’
THE devastated parents of a young mum who died just hours after getting the medical all-clear have called for ambulance staff to be sacked.
Lauren Page Smith, 29, was tragically found dead by her toddler who clung to her chest until her own mother arrived.
Mum Emma Carrington, 49, was forced to perform CPR on Lauren after her two-year-old granddaughter told her from the bathroom floor: “Nanny, Mummy won’t wake up.”
Just hours earlier the 29-year-old had complained of chest pains and vomiting, phoned 111 and an ambulance arrived to check her over.
Paramedics carried out an electrocardiogram (ECG) – and said it was normal.
But that same afternoon Lauren, from Wolverhampton, collapsed and died in front of her toddler.
Now Emma and her husband Geoffrey have called for the medics who gave their daughter the all-clear to to lose their jobs.
The parents believe their daughter would still be alive today had the West Midlands Ambulance Service staff been more thorough.
Emma told MailOnline: “I blame them two. I want their jobs. I blame them.
“Nothing’s going to bring Lauren back but I don’t want this happening to anybody ever again.”
Geoffrey added: “It just rubber-stamped what we already thought, that they basically let her die.”
A post-mortem examination found that Lauren died on January 6 from a sudden heart attack following a blood clot in her lung.
According to the pathologist, this can cause an abnormal cardiac rhythm, which can be fatal.
An investigation by the service found that clinicians felt “falsely reassured” because of her age and the fact she appeared well.
Lauren’s calm demeanor meant they did not believe the pain score she provided and her discharge was not safe or appropriate, it added.
Earlier this month Coroner Joanne Lees said there had been a “gross failure” by paramedics at the scene to provide her basic medical care.
The inquest at Black Country Coroner’s Court in Oldbury heard the team of paramedics who had assessed Lauren carried out an electrocardiogram (ECG), which they said was normal.
‘GROSS FAILURES’
An ECG checks the heart’s rhythm and electrical activity.
An extra read-out from the machine stated, “abnormal finding for a female aged 18 to 39”, which suggests she was having a heart attack.
Ms Lees said there was a “clear sign” of a cardiac event in progress despite paramedics reporting no concerns regarding Lauren’s readings.
She told the inquest it was likely this had affected the mum’s decision not to attend hospital, and there had been “gross failures” in her care.
However, the coroner was unable to determine whether the mum would have survived had the ECG results been read correctly.
The inquest heard both paramedics’ training records were up to date.
‘FULL INVESTIGATION’
West Midlands Ambulance Service today told The Sun: “We would like to apologise to the family of Lauren Smith after what must have been an extremely difficult period.
“The Trust carried out a full investigation into what happened to see what learning could be taken from such a tragic case. We are determined to do everything possible to try and stop something like this ever happening again.
“The review made a number of recommendations which have been implemented, including providing additional learning to our clinicians about recognising acute coronary syndrome (ACS), particularly in women.
“Understanding ECGs is part of paramedic training. In recent years, staff have had additional education on recognising Acute Coronary Syndrome as part of their mandatory updates; there is also e-learning available to all staff and the matter has been covered in clinical publications sent to all clinicians on a number of occasions.
“We note the Preventing Future Deaths order that the Coroner has issued and will respond to it fully within the time frame once it is received.”