Latest news with #FatalAccident
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
PSP investigating deadly ATV crash in Lackawanna County
JEFFERSON TOWNSHIP, LACKAWANNA COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) say they are investigating a fatal Friday night ATV crash in Jefferson Township. In a release, troopers say crews were called on Friday shortly before 6:00 p.m. to the 100 block of Stevens Road after a reported ATV crash. Man swept away in Lycoming County creek, search, rescue mission launched State police on Saturday said they are investigating the fatal ATV crash. Details are limited at this time, and 28/22 News will provide updates as they are made available. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
18-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Newborn baby ‘stable' the day before dying following an infection, probe hears
A newborn baby who died in a Glasgow hospital after developing an infection was 'stable' the day before she passed away, an inquiry has heard. Sophia Smith was just 11 days old when she died at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow on April 11 2017. The newborn became ill with an infection similar to MRSA, which developed into sepsis. In 2020, Sophia's case was handed over to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) which, earlier this year, announced a Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into her death. Sophia was born at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on March 31 2017. The inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court heard that following her birth Sophia had difficulty breathing and a possible heart issue, so she was transferred to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the RHC. There she was placed in an incubator with one-on-one nursing care and a 'raft of machinery' next to her cot. She was also given antibiotics via lines into her body, initially in her abdomen and then in her left foot. The child 'rallied' over the following days, with parents Theresa and Matthew Smith being led to believe she would be home in 'a matter of weeks'. However on April 10 Sophia's health suddenly deteriorated and despite efforts to save her Sophia she died at 5.48pm on April 11. Samples taken from her body on April 10 and 11 subsequently tested positive for a bacteria called staphylococcus aureus (SA), which the inquiry heard can 'cause harm' if it gets into the body. On Tuesday the inquiry heard evidence from Lorna McSeveney, a senior charge nurse who had been on duty at NICU on April 10 and 11. The inquiry heard she carried out a routine 'package of measures' at the start of her shift at 7.30am on April 10 to check on Sophia's condition, and that these did not give her 'cause for concern'. 'She was a sick baby, but she was stable,' she told the inquiry. She took the inquiry through Sophia's medical charts for April 10 and into April 11. These showed, she said, that the initial signs Sophia was 'not quite right' came at about 3pm. This included changes in a number of vital signs, including her temperature, heart rate and oxygen levels, which were being constantly monitored. Small amounts of blood were also found in her airway. These signs continued to worsen over the ensuing hours, and she was found to be suffering from a pulmonary haemorrhage (bleeding on the lung). When asked whether these could have been signs Sophia had sepsis, Ms McSeveney said not necessarily, since they could have been caused by other things. She added that it was 'very difficult' even for experienced staff to detect sepsis in newborn children, and that the signs of the condition could be 'very subtle'. She was also asked if there was anything she would have done anything differently in the knowledge Sophia had an infection. She replied: 'I have gone over it in my head I don't know how many times. 'I don't think there was.' She said Sophia was being constantly monitored, and that from a nursing perspective she had done everything she could. She was also asked how handwashing protocols were 'policed' in NICU, with Sophia's parents saying on Monday it was 'frustrating' to see they were not always being followed by visitors and staff. She replied that staff had a 'duty' to ensure infection control measures were being followed, and that she would always challenge people if there were not complying with them. In the afternoon, the inquiry heard evidence from Pamela Joannidis, interim associate director of infection prevention and control at the NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde health board from 2019 to 2022. She told the inquiry that any break in Sophia's skin – such as from a tube – could have been a 'doorway' for the SA bacteria to enter her body. However, she said establishing the exact source of the infection was 'particularly difficult'. On Monday, the inquiry heard that no other cases of the same PVL-MSSA bacteria were found in the NICU in the six months before or after Sophia was nursed there. Ms Joannidis was pressed by Iain Mitchell KC, representing Sophia's parents, on whether the infection could be due to a 'failure' in the ward's hygiene protocols around the insertion of 'lines', or tubes, into patients. 'How likely is it that there can have been the infection being introduced otherwise than by a failure in the protocol of asepsis, or a failure in the protocol of prevention of a line becoming infected?' he asked. Ms Joannidis replied that it was not possible to say for sure the infection was linked to a 'device', but said 'you could not rule it out as a hypothesis'. On Monday, Sophia's mother Theresa Smith told the inquiry she just wanted to know what happened to her baby. 'I want to know why she is not here, playing with her brothers and sisters,' she said. She added: 'She's dead. I live every day of my life knowing she's dead, knowing that absolutely putrid hospital caused an infection in my child and killed her,' she said. 'And when it killed her it killed me too. I want to know what happened.' The inquiry continues.
The Independent
17-02-2025
- Health
- The Independent
Death of newborn at Glasgow hospital a ‘bolt from the blue', inquiry hears
The father of a newborn baby who died at a Glasgow hospital told an inquiry her death was 'a bolt from the blue'. Sophia Smith was just 11 days old when she died at the Royal Hospital for Children (RHC) at Queen Elizabeth University Hospital (QEUH) campus in Glasgow on April 11 2017. The newborn became ill with an infection similar to MRSA, which developed into sepsis. In 2020, Sophia's case was handed over to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS), which earlier this year announced an Fatal Accident Inquiry (FAI) into her death. The deterioration was in front of our eyes Matthew Smith, Sophia Smith's father A statement released via lawyers, on behalf of Sophia's bereaved parents, as the inquiry began on Monday read: 'It has been a long road to get to milestone that we have reached today. 'We are pleased that a Fatal Accident Inquiry has been finally set up and hope that by the end of this process we will know the truth about our daughter and why her life was so tragically and heartbreakingly short.' Sheriff Joanna MacDonald opened the inquiry at Glasgow Sheriff Court with a statement expressing her 'deepest sympathies and condolences' to Sophia's parents 'on the tragic death of their daughter'. Sophie was born at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Paisley, Renfrewshire, on March 31 2017. The inquiry heard that following her birth she had difficulty breathing, as well as a possible heart issue, so she was transferred the following day to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the RHC. There she was placed in an incubator with one-on-one nursing care and a 'raft of machinery' next to her cot. She was also given antibiotics via lines into her body, initially in her abdomen and then in her left foot. Giving evidence, Sophia's father, Matthew Smith, said his daughter was 'very unwell' but that after a couple of days her condition gradually began to improve. 'Not only were we physically seeing the signs in terms of the lack of machinery and the reduction in support being given, but we were also being communicated that sign,' he said. He said medical staff had told them she was 'fighting well' and that she was 'walking her way out of the woods'. He recalled another clinician saying she was 'out of the death danger zone' and that they were given the impression Sophia would be home with then in 'a matter of weeks'. He said this made it 'all the more shocking and distressing' when on April 10 her condition suddenly deteriorated. 'It was a bolt from the blue,' he said. The inquiry heard that Sophia's mother, Theresa Smith, alerted a member of staff on April 11 after the baby turned 'ashen'. Mr Smith said a consultant, Dr Coutts, came and asked them to leave the room while he checked Sophia's windpipe. He said they were then told 'there was blood on Sophia's oesophagus', and that a scan of her chest showed that one of her lungs had collapsed. Mr Smith said around this time skin on her lower body had also turned black. 'The deterioration was in front of our eyes,' he told the inquiry. He said Dr Coutts, who carried out the examination, 'couldn't explain what was going on' in terms of the root cause of Sophia's sudden downward turn. Sophia was put back on antibiotics but her condition continued to deteriorate. In the early hours April 11 she was put on a treatment involving blood being oxygenated outside the body before being returned to it. However, by 4.45pm that day, it had become clear Sophia was 'likely to die shortly', and it was agreed that all medical lines be removed from her body to allow her family to have time with her. She died at 5.48pm on April 11. Her cause of death was recorded as pulmonary haemorrhage, cardiomyopathy, Trisomy 21 (Down Syndrome) and persistent pulmonary hypertension of the newborn. The inquiry heard blood samples taken before Sophia was admitted to NICU showed no signs of infection. However, samples taken on April 10 and 11 both tested positive for staphylococcus aureus (SA). The inquiry heard this common bacterium can cause serious infection if it gets into the body such as through medical lines and catheters. Mr Smith said that on April 10 or 11 the issue of infection had only been raised in relation to her skin turning black, and that it was not otherwise raised by medical staff. The inquiry also heard about hygiene standards at the hospital at the time. Mr Smith said it had been 'frustrating' to see handwashing procedures not being followed consistently by visitors and staff. An inspection in September 2016 said no issues were found, but that NICU was not inspected, and a further inspection was in January 2019 did look at NICU but did not focus on the use of insertable lines. It found 'some non-compliance with standard infection control precautions' at the hospital, but these not were recorded as relating specifically to NICU. In 2021, the case was transferred to the Health and Safety Investigations Unit to be considered alongside and as part of an ongoing investigation into four deaths at QEUH as a result of infections linked to the built environment of the hospital. However, an investigation found 'no evidence' Sophia's infection was linked to those other infections. The inquiry continues.
