Toddler dies after Horry County, Conway EMS failed to ventilate him, suit says
A toddler with a history of respiratory problems died after the Conway Fire Department and Horry County Fire Rescue allegedly failed to correctly ventilate him.
Dasjah Sladdin is suing Horry County Fire and Rescue, the Conway Fire Department, the city of Conway and Horry County for wrongful death and negligence. She filed the suit on May 2 on behalf of her 16-month-old son Daedyn McCray, who died on July 6, 2023.
June Wood with Conway and Tony Casey with Horry County Fire Rescue both declined to comment, stating the municipalities do not comment on pending litigation.
On June 28, 2023, Sladdin called EMS when she noticed McCray had trouble breathing. He depended on his tracheostomy and ventilator to breathe, the lawsuit said. Conway Fire arrived first and began ventilation with a bag valve mask.
When Horry County Fire and Rescue arrived, personnel noted air was leaking “severely” from McCray’s trach despite troubleshooting efforts from Sladdin and EMS, the suit stated. Horry County Fire and Rescue placed a nasopharyngeal airway and continued bag valve ventilation while en route to Conway Medical Center.
During the ride, McCray’s blood oxygen levels went from the 80s to 48, which caused an anoxic brain injury. McCray also went into cardiac arrest and his heart stopped beating, the lawsuit said. A blood oxygen level below 90 is considered low, according to Mayo Clinic.
“HCFR failed to administer epinephrine during transport, failed to monitor/record any end tidal CO2, and failed to perform breath sound assessments,” the lawsuit said.
Once at Conway Medical Center, staff administered three doses of epinephrine, which caused McCray’s heart to begin beating again. McCray was later sent to the pediatric intensive care unit at the Medical University of South Carolina where he died on July 6.
“Horry County Fire and Rescue and Conway Fire personnel were grossly negligent in their failure to properly ventilate Daedyn McCray. This failure was the result of gross deviations in the acceptable standard of care and caused Daedyn to quickly decompensate, suffer anoxic brain injury and, ultimately, die,” said Maureen Madsen in a court document. Madsen is a respiratory therapist and member of the Pediatric Ground and Air Transportation Board.
Madsen said if McCray had been correctly ventilated, he would not have been injured or died.
Sladdin requests an unspecified amount of actual and consequential damages, the cost of the actions and any other relief that is fit.
