Car Crash Victim Dies From Inadequate Treatment

Case Overview

This case takes place in Illinois and involves a previously healthy female patient who was involved in a severe car accident. The patient was transported to the ER where she received blood products, however the facility ran out of blood while transfusing the patient. The facility also failed to provide a physician with adequate qualifications to treat the victim, who’s injuries would likely have been survivable with proper treatment. There was also a delay in getting a helicopter to transport the patient to a properly equipped trauma hospital, with the patient dying well before the helicopter arrived.

Questions to the Critical Care Medicine expert and their responses

Do you treat motor vehicle accident patients?

I treat motor vehicle accidents almost every day that I attend the trauma and emergency surgery service at my hospital.

If so, how often?

I treat motor vehicle accidents almost every day that I attend the trauma and emergency surgery service at my hospital.

Is it reasonable to assume that the delays/lack of facilities increased the risk death?

If the patient died from hemorrhage then yes, delay and lack of facilities contributed directly to the patient's risk of death. If the treating facility lacks sufficient resources and/or personnel to render effective care, then it is imperative that the patient is relocated as soon as possible.

About the expert

This highly qualified expert is double board certified in Surgery and Surgical Critical Care. He is Fellowship trained in Surgical Critical Care from one of the nation's top medical schools and holds membership in multiple prestigious medical organizations such as the Society of Critical Care Medicine. He is a Fellow of the highly regarded American College of Surgeons. He has been widely published in journals such as the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery and Surgical Clinics of North America. He is frequently invited to lecture as a guest speaker at engagements both nationally and internationally. He is an innovator in his field and holds a patent for a novel treatment for sepsis. This American Association for the Surgery of Trauma Research and Education Scholarship Award Winner is currently an Assistant Professor of Surgery in the Division of Trauma and Critical Care at a major medical university.