Maine Ski Accident Victim`s Widow Faults EMS Care
Jan. 20--CARRABASSETT VALLEY, Maine -- A skier from Nova Scotia who hit a tree while skiing at Sugarloaf died of chest trauma, a diagnosis that doesn't come as unexpected in the case.
Mark Belserene, administrator of the medical examiner's office, said chest trauma is generally defined as injuries to an individual's ribs or the organs behind them, unlike the lower torso, which is an individual's abdomen.
David Morse, 41, hit a tree on the Lower Timberline Trail on Sugarloaf Mountain last Thursday afternoon, suffering severe injuries, although he was conscious and alert when Ski Patrol reached him. Morse's widow, nurse practitioner Dana Morse, since has said emergency medical responders were slow to treat for internal bleeding -- not initially listening to his chest or starting an IV -- and the NorthStar ambulance driver left her on the side of the road on the way to the hospital after she asked to hold her dying husband's hand.
He died in an ambulance on his way to Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington.
The hospital is expected to release a statement in the investigation on Friday.
Copyright 2012 - Bangor Daily News, Maine
