Caleb Pearson, 17, died after spending a week complaining of a sore throat. Source: Supplied
A TEENAGE boy has died hours after paramedics reportedly gave him the all clear and sent him back to bed.
Caleb Pearson, 17, died last week at his mother’s Croydon home after being ill for a week complaining of a sore throat.
His GP had prescribed antibiotics. When Caleb’s condition became worse by mid-week his mother called an ambulance.
She said visiting paramedics said that Caleb was fine and put him back to bed.
Early the next morning Caleb’s condition worsened and paramedics returned, but he could not be revived.
Caleb’s mother sent a letter detailing her horror, which can be read below, to radio station 3AW.
His father Karl Pearson told host Neil Mitchell the system needed changing.
“The way I can see it, they thought (Caleb’s mother) was overacting a bit — a panicking mother,” he said.
“They admitted mistakes were made and that Caleb should have been taken to hospital, if they had of taken him and he had of passed away then every possible thing could have been done to try and prevent it.”
Ambulance Victoria Acting CEO Tony Walker said it was a devastating case and a comprehensive clinical review was underway to determine what had happened.
Mr Walker expressed sympathy to the family and said any findings from the coroner would also be taken on board by Ambulance Victoria.
“We, every day, go out to try to do the best we can for the community (and) we need to understand what has occurred in this case.
“Our thoughts are with the family and we are supporting the paramedic crew who are obviously devastated by this as well.
Ambulance Victoria has met once with Caleb’s parents, but would speak with them when appropriate to gain a clearer idea of all the issues.
“They have gone and made a professional assessment and we need to understand exactly what occurred in this case and if there are learning from it we will apply them to the organisation.”
“The crew have made an assessment based on the information in front of them, they have assessed of Caleb and made a decision that he did not require transport to hospital at this time. They are highly qualified and trained paramedics, they have applied their clinical judgement, we need to understand everything that occurred in the case and will be talking to them more about it.”
Full letter to Neil Mitchell from Caleb’s mother
“Last week Caleb was complaining that he couldn’t taste anything.
On the evening of Friday 22nd May he started suffering from a sore throat and was vomiting as a result of his gagging reflux (there was no stomach pain associated with this).
His throat continued to be sore through the weekend and Sunday evening his tongue was white with a fuzz on top.
Monday 25th I took him to our GP who said his throat was very red and prescribed him some antibiotics (Cephalexin). I remained at home Monday and Tuesday to care for him.
The dead skin was starting to peel from his tongue and it was beginning to look pinker and healthier, although his throat remained sore and he was still vomiting — he wasn’t able to keep even water down.
On Wednesday morning 27th May he said he was feeling OK and I should go to work. On my way home I received a message from Bryce saying I should get home as Caleb couldn’t move.
When I arrived home I found him on my bed looking ashen, he said he couldn’t move his legs and they appeared splotchy and off colour. I decided to take him straight down to Emergency at Maroondah Hospital.
It took a great deal of effort to get him up off the bed and he was only able to stumble a few steps before he collapsed onto the carpet at the foot of my bed. He didn’t appeared to have injured himself but he couldn’t get up. I turned him on his side and called 000.
Once they arrived they did a check of his vitals (temperature, blood pressure, listened to lungs, placed a thing on his finger) and said all seemed fine.
He was hyperventilating so they aided him to calm his breathing down. He could hardly move and could not get up. The paramedic kept trying to talk him through getting up, saying what a big boy he was and that Caleb needed to help get himself up as otherwise they could injure their backs lifting him.
Finally the three of us lifted him and placed him back on my bed. They started to pack up their stuff and I told them I had been on my way to Emergency. They looked at me as if I was overreacting.
‘Why,’ they asked. I said he was extremely pale and hadn’t kept anything down since Friday and I was very concerned that he was severely dehydrated. They told me that as he was suffering from a virus there wasn’t much the hospital could do to help him.
I felt belittled and, once I mentioned that Caleb suffered from anxiety, that they were treating it as if he was just having some sort of ‘episode’.
They then left.
Caleb could still hardly move and I couldn’t get him in a sitting position. I propped up his head with pillows so he could try to eat a bit of chicken noodle soup and drink some water which I had to hold it to his lips. I left him to sleep.
After midnight when I checked on him, his breathing didn’t sound right; it was very fast and shallow. His skin was cold to the touch. I gently shook him and he opened his eyes which looked glassy and vacant. His lips were very dry and he mumbled for some water but it was difficult to understand him.
I called the National Home Doctor Service at 12.25am, explained Caleb’s state and booked a doctor to visit — I thought at least this way if an ambulance had to be called again they might treat it seriously if it came from a doctor.
As I waited for a call for when the doctor would be arriving, I kept checking on Caleb at 5 minute intervals. His breathing continued to be the same.
After approx. half an hour of these checks I found that he had stopped breathing. I dialled 000 and as instructed, began CPR. With in a few minutes the fire brigade arrived. They moved him onto the kitchen floor and took over CPR.
The paramedics arrived shortly after but they were unable to revive him.”
Originally published as Teen dies after ‘ambos give OK’