| Paramedics were a NO SHOW; WARNING This might upset you. | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Feb 28 2010, 10:44 PM (250 Views) | |
| Kerri P. | Feb 28 2010, 10:44 PM Post #1 |
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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35631879/ns/us_news-life Pa. man dies in storm when 911 calls unheeded Pittsburgh officials order investigation, reforms of emergency system updated 2:04 p.m. ET, Sun., Feb. 28, 2010 PITTSBURGH - With her boyfriend in severe abdominal pain, Sharon Edge called 911 for an ambulance in the early morning hours of Feb. 6. Heavy snow was falling — so heavy it would all but bring the city to a standstill — and Curtis Mitchell needed to go to a hospital. "Help is on the way," the operator said. It never arrived. Nearly 30 hours later — and 10 calls from the couple to 911, four 911 calls to them and at least a dozen calls between 911 and paramedics — Curtis Mitchell died at his home. His electricity knocked out, his heat long off, the 50-year-old former steelworker waited, huddled beneath blankets on his sofa. "I'm very angry, because I feel they didn't do their job like they supposed to," said Edge, 51. "My man would still be living if they'da did they job like they was supposed to. ... They took somebody that I love away." snip.... Edited by Kerri P., Feb 28 2010, 10:45 PM.
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| kbp | Feb 28 2010, 11:08 PM Post #2 |
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"...Now Pittsburgh officials have ordered an investigation and reforms of the city's emergency services system as Mitchell's case highlighted key shortcomings: — 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. 'Walking to patient? Nope, not in OUR contract. We wish you the best of luck.' |
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| LTC8K6 | Feb 28 2010, 11:27 PM Post #3 |
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
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Why doesn't a city that gets heavy snow have some good 4X4 emergency vehicles? We have a few such vehicles here, even though such snowfalls are rare. We also have a program where citizens who own 4X4's can sign up to be called upon in an emergency to transport people such as nurses and medics to the hospital or wherever they may be needed. When we had 24 inches of snow a while back, lots of these private vehicles were used to transport nurses and doctors to the local hospital, and to transport stranded drivers, etc. A volunteer in a Jeep could at least have gotten the guy to the hospital... |
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| LTC8K6 | Feb 28 2010, 11:35 PM Post #4 |
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Assistant to The Devil Himself
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703793.html?hpid=topnews |
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| jvj | Feb 28 2010, 11:56 PM Post #5 |
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I'm your huckleberry...
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Although years ago, I witnessed something similar during the huge blizzard in March of “93. I was working with one other guy in a plant in Asheville when the snow started on Thursday. We were working out of Charlotte on a contract job and only had about a days worth of work to finish up what had been a four week job when the plant shut down due to weather. We were working second shift and decided to take our chance and work thru the night to finish up rather than have to come back up from Charlotte the next week for just one day. By the time we finished up the next morning the snow had already drifted against our van to the point we couldn’t get out of the parking lot. The plant was a good ways up a small mountain north of the city and we ended up being snowed in until Monday when a 4 wheel drive rescue vehicle with chains was finally able to pick us up and take us back down to our hotel. On the way back to the hotel they received a call about a cardiac emergency, and since they were the closest responder and vehicles that could travel in the conditions were limited, we were informed that we would have to take a detour and ride with them to respond. When we got to the road the call came from, we discovered that we could not turn off the main road because of the high snow bank blocking the small side street. We circled around to the other end of the street and discovered that it was also blocked. The driver radioed in that the street was inaccessible and proceeded to take us back to the hotel. I asked what about the heart attack call, and the driver just shrugged and said there was nothing they could do and hopefully dispatch would be able to figure something out. I’ve often wondered what happened to the call but was never able to find out. |
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| foxglove | Mar 1 2010, 08:18 AM Post #6 |
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Why not order a snow plow truck to go ahead of the ambulance or even send emergency personnel on the snow plow if there is an emergency and no other way of getting to the person in trouble? |
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