Woman dies in ER lobby as 911 refuses to help

[Lone Star]

Woman dies in ER lobby as 911 refuses to help

Tapes show operators ignored pleas to send ambulance to L.A. hospital

Updated: 10:43 a.m. ET June 13, 2007

LOS ANGELES - A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9 at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los Angeles County coroner’s office.

Relatives said Rodriguez was bleeding from the mouth and writhing in pain for 45 minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could have survived had she been treated early enough.

County and state authorities are now investigating Rodriguez’s death. Relatives reported she died as police were wheeling her out of the hospital after the officers they had asked to help Rodriguez arrested her instead on a parole violation. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Duane Allen said Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.

In the recordings of two 911 calls that day, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times under a California Public Records Act request, callers pleaded for help for Rodriguez but were referred to hospital staff instead.

“I’m in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don’t want to help her out,” Rodriguez’s boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

“What’s wrong with her?” a female dispatcher asked.

“She’s vomiting blood,” Prado said.

“OK, and why aren’t they helping her?” the dispatcher asked.

"They're just watching her"

“They’re watching her there and they’re not doing anything. They’re just watching her,” Prado said.

The dispatcher told Prado to contact a doctor and then said paramedics wouldn’t pick her up because she was already in a hospital. She later told him to contact county police officers at a security desk.

A second 911 call was placed eight minutes later by a bystander who requested that an ambulance be sent to take Rodriguez to another hospital for care.

“She’s definitely sick and there’s a guy that’s ignoring her,” the woman told a male dispatcher.

During the call, the dispatcher argued with the woman over whether there really was an emergency.

“I cannot do anything for you for the quality of the hospital. ... It is not an emergency. It is not an emergency ma’am,” he said.

“You’re not here to see how they’re treating her,” the woman replied.

The dispatcher refused to call paramedics and told the woman that she should contact hospital supervisors “and let them know” if she is unhappy.

‘May God strike you too’

“May God strike you too for acting the way you just acted,” the woman said finally.

“No, negative ma’am, you’re the one,” he said.

The incident was the latest high-profile lapse at King-Harbor, formerly known as King/Drew. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is investigating claims of recent patient care breakdowns, including Rodriguez’s case.

Federal inspectors last week said emergency room patients were in “immediate jeopardy” of harm or death, and King-Harbor was given 23 days to shape up or risk losing federal funding.

‘Fundamentally a failure of caring’

Dr. Bruce Chernof, director of the county Department of Health Services, which oversees the facility, has called Rodriguez’s death “inexcusable” and said it was “important to understand that this was fundamentally a failure of caring.” He has said conditions are improving, though.

A call Wednesday seeking comment about the 911 tapes from the department’s communications office, which handles information about the hospital, was not immediately returned.

Dr. Roger Peeks, the chief medical officer at the hospital, was placed on “ordered absence” Monday, the Times reported. Health officials declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel matter. Dr. Robert Splawn, chief medical officer for the health department, was named interim chief medical officer, the newspaper said.

[JPINFV]

As far as the poll, I voted no due to EMTALA. Besides, repost... http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...asc&start=0

[medic001918]

I'm going to say no as well due to the fact that the patient was at a hospital with a legally designated emergency department. The problem in this case falls on the hospital staff for not recognizing and treating the problem as it should have been. EMTALA certainly plays a role in this kind of scenario. It's unfortunate, but we have no control over the hospitals treatment of a patient.

Shane

NREMT-P

[Lone Star]

As far as the poll, I voted no due to EMTALA. Besides, repost... http://www.emtcity.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.ph...asc&start=0

I later found it as a 'repost', so if I'm gonna get a -5 from Dust, well, I guess I'll just have to wear it.

[WendyT]

A woman who fell just outside the Emergency doors, in fact broke her leg, I was there for other reasons, the staff at this said hospital wouldnt even come and get her, they told me I was to phone an ambulance and they in turn would bring her in. Yes this happened in Calgary and because it's still an on going investigation, I cant even mention the hospital in fear it may cause people to lose faith in that said hospital and not even proceed to said hospital for treatment.

I called 911 and told them the story, they told me I was to turn around and tell those nurses that the medics werent coming. She is suing the hospital, the 911 dispatcher and the hopsital, because the step had a crack in it which caused her to fall. I then proceeded to call the police and reported to them the negligence of what happened. She has 3 witnesses who are willing to provide details if needed.

No one wants the blame, no one wants the responsibility for this, always make it someone elses problem.

[ExplorerShane]

Even though the dispatcher was rude, they were following protocol. She was at the hospital, under their care, not any paramedics. The dispatcher should have contacted the hospital though.

[Just Plain Ruff]

i've done both the 911 dispatching as well as paramedic.

I would not have sent the medics because she's already at the hospital. I would have called the hospital and asked to speak to the supervisor and tell them I've had several 911 calls to get this woman help but that would be the extent of what I would do.

The media, again, is making a mountain out of a mole hill and they should stop focusing on the 911 dispatchers and take a closer look at the hospital's actions.

[Dustdevil]

I think by being snippy with the caller, the calltaker bought that negative attention on the agency. Doesn't matter that she was doing her job correctly, within the guidelines she works under. When you cop an attitude, the media smells blood.

[scratrat]

We've been dispatched to the hospital grounds before. You CANNOT refuse action when someone calls 911. That's called negligence. We've had people call 911 and step outside the doors and state they want to go to another hospital for treatment. They sign out AMA from said hospital and we transport. You can't tell them no as long as they sign out from the first hospital.

[Just Plain Ruff]

Scatrat, I respectfully disagree with you.

It is not negligence. someone has to suffer harm to have negligence proven and it's hard to press negligence if you refuse to go get them.

You are applying your rules for the entire country. You said that you have to go get them, sure you do if you are working where you are at.

In other areas, ambulances do not get dispatched to the ER waiting room to pick up someone to take them to another hospital.

The dispatchers on this particular incident I do not think they did anything wrong, nor would my dispatch supervisor have thought I would have done anything wrong if I was faced with this.

Come on people, they are already at a hospital, they are in the ER waiting room waiting to be seen. Could it have been done differently with better tact and compassion, sure. Is someone going to be getting rich off this, YEP!

Is the 911 system going to shoulder most of the blame - You betcha. Will the dispatcher be fired or disciplined - YEP.

Is this a situation that we want to occur again? NOPE

But to blame the dispatchers for this incident which is what the media and public will do- is just Plain WRONG.

Put the blame where it belongs - the ER Staff and Hospital NOWHERE else.

What could have been done is this - hindsight is 20/20

Put the woman in a wheelchair. Wheel her out of the hospital. Call 911 request an ambulance. Then 911 would have had to send the ambulance and there you go.

Unfortunately - this sounds like she was gonna die anyway. It sounds like it was too far progressed for a 2nd hospital to have helped her but we will never know.

So let's stop slamming the dispatchers and 911 and the ambulance services and let's place blame it belongs.

Our society is so much into blaming everyone who has a deep pocket.