Dec 18, 2007 10:23 am US/Pacific
'Overlooked Victim' Investigations Are Underway
Woman Found Dead In Wrecked Car A Day After The Accident That Killed Her
LOS ANGELES (CBS) ―
Authorities began two investigations into the bizarre incident where a woman's body was discovered hidden under the airbag of a crashed car at a Canoga Park tow yard the day after the accident that wrecked the car, and killed the woman.
The investigations by the Los Angeles Police Department and the state Emergency Medical Services Authority look to determine whether rescue personnel properly evaluated the accident scene.
The victim was 72-year-old Shirley Lee Williams of Paso Robles, a passenger in the car when her 48-year-old son Steven Williams crashed into a parked car and then into an office building in Tarzana.
The crash occurred Saturday morning and after police investigated the scene, the car was towed to a police impound yard in Canoga Park. The body of the slight woman was discovered Sunday, concealed by an inflated airbag.
According to a Los Angeles County coroner's office preliminary report, Williams died within minutes of the crash. The report did not address whether the woman could have been saved had paramedics treated her immediately at the scene.
"I'm confident that no one saw a body in there, but the question is why they didn't see it," Deputy Chief Michel Moore, who is overseeing the LAPD's investigation of the incident, told the Los Angeles Times.
The state Emergency Medical Services Authority has launched their own probe to determine whether Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics properly evaluated the accident and provided appropriate care the Steven Williams, according to the Times.
"When questioned if anyone else was in the vehicle, the driver indicated there was no one else," Moore told the Times. "He was conscious, he was breathing, and he was able to respond to questions."
Whether Williams understood what rescuers were asking him is a key questions. Under Fire Department medical protocols, paramedics have to determine a patient's level of awareness and assess whether he may be impaired.
State investigators will focus, in part, on how the paramedics assessed Williams and whether they "failed to fully evaluate the scene," Dr. Cesar Aristeiguieta, director of the EMS authority, told the Times.
His agency regulates paramedics and can suspend or revoke their licenses for violating medical care standards.
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