MRSA?
MRSA - my thoughts also.
Nah - that would usually be confined to one extremity. I'm thinking some sort of coagulopathy. I forget what it is that can bring it on, but I've heard of similar cases.
I'm guessing the ER is swamped with people with everything from someone sniffles who's scared he has SARS to gunshot wounds. Something got missed and a lot more info to judge whether or not the ER folk blew it or if it was just a sad case of missed clues. Did the woman know her own medical history and was she able to tell the ER folk intelligibly? Did she have any sort of record that was accessible by the ER?