Ambulance Tasmania paramedics left a woman with a history of mental illness alone in her home without electricity, hot water or lighting before she was found dead months later, in a move a coroner has labelled “difficult to understand”.
Key points:
- Neighbours called police for a welfare check after not seeing 59yo Kim Szemes for weeks in May 2018
- Police attended, followed by paramedics, who despite noting her as being “incoherent”, left after Ms Szemes refused treatment
- The coroner said there was no indication paramedics considered Ms Szemes may have lacked the capacity to make an informed decision to refuse treatment
Coroner Sim