Inquest continues in baby’s death
At 23 months old, Lyric Allshouse had come far from her premature birth. For hours at a time, the toddler was able to be off the machine that helped her breathe, and doctors hoped to remove the tracheostomy tube that facilitated her breathing machine in a few months.
But the youngster did not make it to her 2nd birthday on Aug. 14, 2004.
Her in-home caretaker, Mary Daily, testified Thursday that she left the youngster for no more than five minutes, and believed that the baby fell asleep. When she checked on the toddler, Daily said she found the baby’s trach tube and breathing tube had moved off to the side.
Lyric Allshouse died on July 17, 2004, at Highlands Hospital in Connellsville.
On Thursday, Fayette County Coroner Dr. Phillip E. Reilly convened a panel of jurors to hear about the circumstances surrounding the child’s death. He said at the outset he hoped the panel would be able to make recommendations that could prevent similar tragedies. Jurors also will determine the manner of death and can assign blame if they believe doing so is warranted.
Lyric’s mother, Rose Allshouse, testified she had her daughter at 24 weeks, and the baby spent about five months in the hospital. When Lyric came home, her mother said that medical equipment came with her.
A CPAP machine (Continuous Positive Airway Pressure) fed into Lyric’s trach tube to assist with breathing. The baby also had a pulse oximeter (pulse ox), a device that measures the percentage of oxygen saturation in a person.
The pulse ox is a small device that rests over a finger or toe, according to testimony. Lyric also had a band that went around her chest and made certain she was breathing, Rose Allshouse testified.
Nurses from a company called Interim assisted in Lyric’s care, her mother testified.
Allshouse testified she was concerned about one of the Interim nurses, and documented her concerns with a company supervisor, but she was not concerned with the performance of Mary Daily, who was with Lyric when she died.
Daily testified she had experience with young children on ventilators, but was nervous about working with Lyric because the toddler was so fragile. When she realized that Rose Allshouse was very involved in her daughter’s care, Daily testified she felt reassured. She said she was Lyric Allshouse’s nurse for 11/2 years.
During that time, Rose Allshouse testified her daughter made medical strides, despite warnings from doctors that doing so would be difficult.
By July 2004, her mother said she had been taking her off of the CPAP machine several times a day for a few hours at a time. The day before her daughter died, doctors told Rose Allshouse that they hoped to remove Lyric’s trach tube in September.
She described a precocious child who loved to play, and was curious about her surroundings.
“Just that day, she was eating corn on the cob,” Rose Allshouse said, crying. “She was totally mobile.”
Both Allshouse and Daily testified the baby’s trach tube had come out before, but they were able to reinsert it. When the tube came out, Rose Allshouse testified that she heard a gurgling noise.
The night Lyric died, Daily testified, Rose Allshouse was taking her mother out to dinner for her birthday. While some of Lyric’s equipment was soaked, Daily testified she performed her usual duties.
When it was time for bed, Daily testified, she put the CPAP on Lyric and put the toddler into the crib. Daily testified she did not attach the pulse-ox because the baby routinely took it off.
The pulse-ox alarm would have gone off as Lyric’s oxygen levels dropped.
Daily testified she went to rinse the equipment, and watched the baby in her crib. At some point during the estimated five minutes Daily was rinsing the dishes, she testified the child laid down. Daily testified she thought Lyric went to sleep, so she went into the bedroom to attach the pulse-ox since the baby would not bother it once she was asleep.
When she moved Lyric’s toe to do so, Daily said she immediately knew something was wrong because the child’s leg was limp. The baby was unresponsive, Daily testified, so she removed the ties that held Lyric’s trach tube in place and removed the padding.
The trach and CPAP tube shifted to the side, Daily said.
She got the tube back in, but still was unable to rouse the child, so she called 911 and performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation.
“I worked 1 1/2 years with the child. I couldn’t believe it. It didn’t feel real,” Daily testified.
On the way to the hospital, Daily testified, she rode with Lyric in the ambulance.
“I could see that they couldn’t revive her. It was sad, very sad,” Daily testified.
Daily said she had no idea how the trach tube could been dislodged to the side. She also testified she did not believe that it could have been dislodged a long time.
Rose Allshouse testified that she did not believe the CPAP machine had a low-pressure alarm that would have indicated if Lyric was not getting enough breathing help. Daily testified, however, that she believed the machine did have an alarm system.
Allshouse also testified her daughter did not resist being attached to the CPAP, which limited the toddler’s mobility, so long as there were people around her. Like most children, Allshouse testified that her daughter liked to be close to people.
There were caretakers at Allshouse’s home for 16 hours of the day, including the night, and she was solely responsible for her daughter for eight hours.
Reilly blocked out two days for the inquest, which will pick up this morning at the federal building in downtown Uniontown.