she had lost everything after the death of her 25-year-old son, the Council of State gives her hope

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The Council of State ruled in favor of a former dentist from Montrouge (Hauts-de-Seine) by canceling the judgment of the administrative court of appeal of Paris having refused to allocate the 1.1 million euros she is demanding from the SAMU and the Paris Fire Brigade (BSSP) after the death of his 25 year old son in “particularly traumatic circumstances” for her.

The SAMU called late despite the seriousness of the situation

The young man had suffered from illness and lost consciousness at his grandparents' house on November 14, 2013 around 10:20 a.m., recalled the Paris administrative court of appeal in a judgment rendered in May 2023. His grandfather and his mother then called the Emergency Medical Aid Service (SAMU) in Paris. The latter had only sent them a team from the Paris fire brigade, instead of a medical vehicle with diagnostic and resuscitation means.

The firefighters, who arrived at 10:42 a.m., finally requested the intervention of a SAMU medical unit at 11:21 a.m., which arrived on site at 11:32 a.m. “After having had to deal with three successive circulatory arrests” of the young man, the teams transferred him to the Georges-Pompidou hospital at 12:45 p.m. where he was pronounced dead at 2 p.m.

“Mrs. responsibility” of the SAMU regulating doctor. “The clinical signs described (…) were suggestive of a potentially serious situation which should have led, if in doubt, to the dispatch of a SAMU medical vehicle. »

The “mistakes” committed by the SAMU regulating doctor and then by the BSSP had thus “delayed the treatment of the young man by at least 45 minutes”. “If (…) the cause of death cannot be determined with certainty in the absence of an autopsy (…), the most probable hypothesis (…) is a rupture of the abdominal aorta”, detailed the judges in this judgment then described as “significant in scope” by public law specialists.

“If (…) the succession of these faults did not directly cause the death (…) since the seriousness of his pathology – even when treated under optimal conditions – exposed him to a vital risk, (…) Prompt treatment would have improved the person's overall prognosis. »

“Pathological traumatic mourning”

This tragic death of the young man had led his mother into an “acute post-traumatic stress state” and “pathological traumatic mourning” causing “chronic depressive disorders of severe intensity due to the traumatic circumstances” of the death. , further explained the Paris administrative court of appeal. The state of health of the mother – who lives in the 14th arrondissement of Paris – had even “forced her to sell her dental practice at a particularly low price” added her lawyer.

However, Public Assistance – Paris Hospitals (AP-HP) was only ordered to pay him 51,000 euros in compensation for the responsibility of the SAMU regulating doctor, and the city of Paris and the State 6,400 euros each. for the responsibility of the firefighters… a sum quite far from the 1.1 million euros that this 65-year-old woman claimed.

“The court (…) ruled that the damage resulting for her from the death of her son had to be compensated solely for her loss of affection by the payment of a lump sum increased to include, in addition to moral pain (…) , the proven pathological impact (…) given the particularly traumatic circumstances of the death of his son in his presence,” explains the Council of State in a judgment of November 7, 2024 which has just been made public.

“But she judged that, on the other hand, the financial damage (…) resulting from her depressive pathology was not capable of giving rise to compensation,” he adds. However, “by excluding (…) in principle that the damage resulting from the attack on psychological integrity following the death of a loved one could be directly linked to the facts at the origin of the death, the court (…) has committed an error of law. Ms. »

The Paris Administrative Court of Appeal will therefore review its copy in the light of this judgment: in addition to the loss of value of her dental practice, Mrs. X may perhaps be compensated for her loss of retirement pension. Immediately, the AP-HP, the city of Paris and the State will have to pay him 1,000 euros each in legal costs.

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