Medics make big mistake!! Or did they?

[katbemeEMT-B]

Meds apologize for not transporting injured Mound child

A Waconia medical center is apologizing tonight after two of it's paramedics didn't bring a seriously injured child to the hospital. Instead they told the child's mother she could do it herself.

Michelle Wickstrom called 911 last month after a television set fell on top of her 5-year-old daughter Breck.

"She was on the floor, face down. I just grabbed her immediately. The back of her head was bleeding," said Wickstrom.

When two paramedics from Ridgeview Ambulance arrived at her Mound home they told her it was not an emergency situation and suggested Wickstrom take the child in the be seen herself. She said the paramedics never once asked or offered to take her daughter by ambulance.

"I was beside myself because I thought, you know, emergency people are supposed to be there to help us. and we got no help from them whatsoever," said Wickstrom.

Breck eventually got eight stitches, had a fractured skull as well as bleeding in the brain. Doctors said her injuries could have been fatal without medical treatment.

"We're embarrassed by this," said Robert Stevens, President and CEO of Ridgeview Medical Center. "I was livid. That is not the standard of care that we have here. That's not how we educate our paramedics."

Stevens said the two paramedics have a combined 55 years of experience and just made an error in judgement. Both have been put on probation. They, along with all 55 paramedics on staff, will be retrained. The hospital is now reviewing all of its nearly 9,000 ambulance runs this year.

After two weeks of bed rest and home care, Breck returned to kindergarten on Monday.

This is why sometimes we should think twice about signing a patient. I know there is more to this story than what has been reported, but it was still a bad decision made by two very experienced medics. Additional information I heard was that the child was taken to a local medical clinic by her mother. They put the two in a taxi and sent them to a trauma center over 30 miles away in heavy traffic. My question is if the child had such extensive injuries, why did the medical clinic not call an ambulance. It would have been a different service that specializes in trauma? Things just don't add up.

[spenac]

I am probably the most vocal advocate on this site of the right to deny transport to those that do not need transport. That being said head trauma to especially a child is something never to be taken lightly. Based on the limited amount of info in the article it sounds as if they should have transported. Now did it really occur the way the mother who was probably in a paniced state described? No one will ever know.

[medic_texas]

They screwed up big time. They should lose their job and be put on probation by the STATE at the very least.

You call we haul.

[AnthonyM83]

Guess there's such a variety in level of education and level of common sense or desire to do the job (whatever you call the cause of why they didn't transport) that that's why a most services don't want to count on their field paramedics to make the right decision every single time? The liability and horrible press...but then again I guess you could have criteria where you'd have to transport..

[p3medic]

Nonsense....Without all the facts, I would not pass judgement. It is entirely possible that the Mom decided to transport on her own, and signed a refusal AMA. It wouldn't be the first time a parent panicked, called 911 to only change their mind. I find it hard to believe that the crew refused to transport. Hopefully they documented well.

[Britt207]

Well, if she wanted to transport her daughter herself why would she have called 911? hmmm

[medic_texas]

So why is the CEO of the Hospital "livid"? Why were the medics put on probation?

You don't piss off the CEO of the hospital and get probation for doing nothing wrong.

Obviously the facts are in and the story is just now hitting emtcity. I have also been on calls where they decided not to be transported but I have a line for this "we are already here, you called us, we might as well take you just in case". I've had people refuse, I've been upset at going to a house and transporting a toothache at 4am, and if they wanted to go I took them. You can't talk someone out of going POV when they have called 911. Do you realize what kind of liability that puts you in? It's your word against theirs, even if a refusal was signed. A good enough lawyer can argue temporary insanity due to the stress of a injured/sick loved one. You think the jury is going to side with a couple of "heartless" ambulance drivers?

Better to be safe than sorry..

[p3medic]

So do you suggest taking a child in your ambulance against the wishes of the parent? I'd rather documemt well, get the refusal signed than to worry about a civil rights violation. We have people call 911 all the time that end up not wanting to go by ambulance, they have the right to decide. I will offer them a ride, explain why I think it may be necessary, but I don't kidnap.

[katbemeEMT-B]

What still confuses me is that the mother took the child to a clinic and the doctor made the decision to put the child and her mother in a taxi for a trip to a trauma center. Wouldn't common sense tell you (especially if you are a doctor), that if this child needed to be seen by a trauma team she should have been transported via ambulance? I would also like to know why it took the mother a month to bring this to the ambulance supervisor. If my child had been injured and the doctor from the trauma center told me she should have been transported via ambulance I would have started raising hell immediately.

As I have previously stated, things just don't add up. I am grateful that the little girl is doing better, but what if something had gone wrong? Who would have been responsible, the medics or the clinic doctor? I will be curious to see how this turns out. I will also share information as I receive it, but it appears that they are trying to keep things pretty hush hush.

[medic_texas]

You have to be a patient advocate and do what's best for the patient, call the police to assist and as witnesses. Yes, sometimes you have to take someone against their will or the will of their caretaker/parent. This is all situational and I don't think it applies to this situation at all, obviously. Medics don't get reprimanded for doing what they are supposed to do.

You are the medical professional not the parent (in most cases).