Couldn’t they do a field trach? Cut open her throat and insert a straw?
I did a field trach on a kid with croup in Africa. It isn’t as easy as it sounds. And in some people, intubation is hard too...often elderly folks have arthritis and you can’t extend the neck enough to be sure the tube is in the right place.
and emts probably can intubate better than the average doc. Plus they have all the equipment right there.
The real question is who was keeping an eye on her breathing? Nowadays, most places have a small device that checks oxygen levels for you.