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captainsblogSorry, dear, but we're ordering more episodes once I get my stupid puter back to watch them on. However, I did not need this unhappy news from out that way to tide me over:
Coughing and unable to sleep, Birgilio Marin-Fuentes drove himself to the hospital after midnight earlier this week, but he crashed his car just shy of his goal.
By the time somebody noticed the accident in the Portland Adventist Medical Center parking garage and told police, about 20 minutes had gone by.
The 61-year-old Cuban immigrant eventually died, leaving his family in grief, police upset, and a congressman requesting an investigation. All are asking why a police officer was told to call 911 for a heart attack victim just outside the hospital door.
Marin-Fuentes had struck a pillar and wall early Thursday morning inside the first level of the garage under an "emergency parking only" sign about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.
Police say officers Angela Luty and Robert Quick found him unconscious and unresponsive and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A third officer, Andrew Hearst, went to the ER intake desk and told them what was happening.
Police say that's when he was told to call the emergency line.
"The officers recognized this man needed medical attention immediately, and two officers began CPR immediately, and a third officer went to ask for assistance, and they were told they had to wait until an ambulance arrived," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.
Judy Leach, a hospital spokeswoman, said emergency room staff was told it was a car crash and they were following the proper protocol by instructing police to summon an ambulance crew.
"With an automobile accident you don't know if the patient needs to be extricated or transported," Leach said Friday. "There are protocols in place to ensure the right thing is done for the right patient at the right time."
The article goes on to mention that the victim's family has already lawyered up, and apparently so has the horsepital, for this MSNBC version of the story includes a much different version of the events from the ED's perspective:
"We do NOT have a policy against responding to emergencies in our parking lot. In fact, we always call 9-1-1 and send our own staff into these situations whether they are gun shot wounds, heart attacks, or any other medical emergency. We have done so many times in the past year alone. We want to reassure the community that Adventist Medical Center continues to be wholly committed to serving the medical needs of all of our patients, as we have been for more than 115 years. We want to assure all patients that we will always respond immediately to their health care needs with the highest quality medical attention."
So, in other words: we just made asshats of ourselves this time, not as a matter of published protocol.
The comments on that last piece are about what you'd expect: wingnuts blaming it on Obamacare, armchair EMTs telling other commenters to STFU until they've gone to medical school, and my personal favorite, recognizing the ethnicity of the victim:
And if the Republicans had their way, the guy would have died in the parking lot while medical staff were busy verifying his citizenship.
To me, the worst of it wasn't getting an ambulance involved; it was the charge nurse telling the cop to call it into 911 himself. Lord knows their operators are clogged up with all kinds of trouble- shootings, stabbings, and of course stoners seeking legal advice.
The only bright spot is that Steve Buscemi didn't show up in the middle of the whole thing wanting to use the bathroom. He might have been CPR'd to death.
Coughing and unable to sleep, Birgilio Marin-Fuentes drove himself to the hospital after midnight earlier this week, but he crashed his car just shy of his goal.
By the time somebody noticed the accident in the Portland Adventist Medical Center parking garage and told police, about 20 minutes had gone by.
The 61-year-old Cuban immigrant eventually died, leaving his family in grief, police upset, and a congressman requesting an investigation. All are asking why a police officer was told to call 911 for a heart attack victim just outside the hospital door.
Marin-Fuentes had struck a pillar and wall early Thursday morning inside the first level of the garage under an "emergency parking only" sign about 125 feet from the emergency room entrance.
Police say officers Angela Luty and Robert Quick found him unconscious and unresponsive and began cardiopulmonary resuscitation. A third officer, Andrew Hearst, went to the ER intake desk and told them what was happening.
Police say that's when he was told to call the emergency line.
"The officers recognized this man needed medical attention immediately, and two officers began CPR immediately, and a third officer went to ask for assistance, and they were told they had to wait until an ambulance arrived," said Sgt. Pete Simpson, a Portland Police Bureau spokesman.
Judy Leach, a hospital spokeswoman, said emergency room staff was told it was a car crash and they were following the proper protocol by instructing police to summon an ambulance crew.
"With an automobile accident you don't know if the patient needs to be extricated or transported," Leach said Friday. "There are protocols in place to ensure the right thing is done for the right patient at the right time."
The article goes on to mention that the victim's family has already lawyered up, and apparently so has the horsepital, for this MSNBC version of the story includes a much different version of the events from the ED's perspective:
"We do NOT have a policy against responding to emergencies in our parking lot. In fact, we always call 9-1-1 and send our own staff into these situations whether they are gun shot wounds, heart attacks, or any other medical emergency. We have done so many times in the past year alone. We want to reassure the community that Adventist Medical Center continues to be wholly committed to serving the medical needs of all of our patients, as we have been for more than 115 years. We want to assure all patients that we will always respond immediately to their health care needs with the highest quality medical attention."
So, in other words: we just made asshats of ourselves this time, not as a matter of published protocol.
The comments on that last piece are about what you'd expect: wingnuts blaming it on Obamacare, armchair EMTs telling other commenters to STFU until they've gone to medical school, and my personal favorite, recognizing the ethnicity of the victim:
And if the Republicans had their way, the guy would have died in the parking lot while medical staff were busy verifying his citizenship.
To me, the worst of it wasn't getting an ambulance involved; it was the charge nurse telling the cop to call it into 911 himself. Lord knows their operators are clogged up with all kinds of trouble- shootings, stabbings, and of course stoners seeking legal advice.
The only bright spot is that Steve Buscemi didn't show up in the middle of the whole thing wanting to use the bathroom. He might have been CPR'd to death.
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no subject
Date: 2011-02-12 07:06 pm (UTC)And yes, this whole thing with the guy in the parking lot absolutely outraged me. And good lord, I can't believe you read the comments.... the commenters on Oregonlive are a special brand of crazy!! I do kinda hope that nurse gets fired, though. The guy DIED, for pete's sake. Maybe he would have otherwise, but maybe he wouldn't, and delaying the process, even by just a few minutes, was terrible.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-12 07:42 pm (UTC)Name that works (or at least tried to): officer on the scene Robert Quick.
Name that doesn't work (or does, if your job is to make money rather than save lives): hospital spokesperson Judy Leach.
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 10:07 pm (UTC)On a side note: I saw the trailer for the next season of Nurse Jackie and squeed. Even though I'm sick of how they end their shows and then never tackle the consequences, I couldn't help but get excited at the sneak peek! :D
no subject
Date: 2011-02-17 10:43 pm (UTC)And yeah, Jacks in just over a month! (I almost mistyped that as Nurse Hackie, which would make a pretty good zombie movie. Or Nurse Hackie 2 as its sequel;)