A 15-year-old girl is in a coma following a skateboarding accident that took place in early April near her home. For reasons that remain unexplained at this stage, it is reported to have taken more than two hours for a SMUR medical team to attend to the victim and transport her to Agen Hospital (47).
The ARS announces the launch of an investigation
In a press release reported by our colleagues at The Dispatch, the Occitanie Regional Health Agency (ARS) has stated that it has very recently "heard that a young girl was in a coma following a skateboarding accident".
The agency clarifies this point: "In light of allegations that the emergency services may have failed to provide adequate care for this person, the Occitanie Regional Health Agency immediately launched an investigation into this serious incident to ascertain the circumstances. This ARS investigation will focus on the circumstances surrounding the care provided to this person by all emergency care providers, from the receipt of the initial telephone call through to admission to the relevant A&E departments.".
Failure to communicate
In the same press release, the ARS notes that an anomaly has occurred, at least in the administrative procedure. It states, "The ARS points out that this serious incident should have been reported without delay by the hospital departments concerned to its regional health alert monitoring and management platform".