During a major snowstorm, after nearly 30 hours of trying to get help, Curtis Mitchell died. This was after 10 calls to 911, four 911 calls to his home and at least a dozen calls between 911 and paramedics.
Pittsburgh officials have ordered an investigation and reforms of the city's emergency services system as Mitchell's case highlighted key shortcomings:None of this, of course, will bring him back, but perhaps other lives may be saved as a result. Paramedics have been ordered to always get to the person's door, no matter how. Despite the heavy snow, if they had walked to the house, he might be alive today.
— Details of Mitchell's calls weren't passed on from one 911 operator to another as shifts changed, so each call was treated as a new incident.
— Twice, ambulances were as close as a quarter-mile from Mitchell's home but drivers said deep snow prevented the vehicles from crossing a small bridge over railroad tracks to reach him. Mitchell was told each time he'd have to walk through the snow to the ambulances; in neither case did paramedics walk to get him.
— Once, an ambulance made it across the bridge and was at the opposite end of the block on the narrow street where the couple lived — a little more than a football field's length. Again, paramedics didn't try to walk.
"We failed this person," said Michael Huss, the city's public safety director.
1 comment:
The 3 different ambulances did not make it to the end of the street.
The 3 different ambulances did get stuck in the snow.
Each time, the medics called dispatch for help getting to the residence, because they were stuck in the snow.
On the first dispatch, the ambulance became stuck in the snow. The paramedics were canceled. They dug themselves out and went to the next patient. Is this lazy?
Another ambulance was dispatched later. Again the paramedics were canceled. They dug themselves out and went to the next patient. Is this lazy?
Later, a third ambulance was dispatched. Again the paramedics were canceled. They dug themselves out and went to the next patient. Is this lazy?
The paramedics treated and transported almost three times the normal number of patients that day. These paramedics were out working in this storm.
The review by the medical director, who had the facts, not an inaccurate news story, did not blame the paramedics.
Post a Comment