Pa. man dies during storm when 911 calls unheeded

AP ^ | 2/28/10 | Dan Nephin

[malkee]

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." Mitchell, on disability for depression, had a history of pancreatitis, an inflammation of the pancreas, Edge said, and had spent nine days in a hospital in late January. He had been home about a week when he was overcome with pain. Autopsy results are pending, awaiting toxicology test results, authorities said. Now Pittsburgh officials have ordered an investigation and reforms of the city's emergency services system as Mitchell's case highlighted key shortcomings:

[raybbr]

I can’t go through this again.

Whew! Thank goodness. I don't think I could follow your circular reasoning anymore.

[library user]

John Valentine said: "But I would not have had a problem with this rendition:"

“My man would still be living if they’d have did their job like they was supposed to ...”

Should be "done" above; not "did." Plus, should be "were supposed to" and not "was supposed to."

No offense, but your rendition/correction is almost as "racist" as this reporter's! :O)

[trisham]

I hear you. During the kind of snowstorm they were experiencing, it is only reasonable to expect that there will be stress on all systems. Two feet of snow is substantial. Just trying to keep the roads clear can be extremely difficult. We had 500,000+ households without electricity after our last big storm here in New England. Some are still without power today.

[fireman15]

I am sure that the EMS system was overwhelmed at the time. Part of the problem with today’s society is that large segments of the population seem to have lost the ability to do anything for themselves. When a challenging situation arrises they all start calling and overwhelm the system, so that people who really need help don’t get it.

For most of the medical calls that we respond to... most of the people would have been better off just driving themselves or having their family drive them to the hospital. Often they call for chronic conditions that they should have just made an appointment for. A very high percentage call only because they know that they will never personally pay for the ambulance and they think that they will be seen quicker going in by ambulance as a way to bypass the waiting room in the hospital.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FLwIGJKv-0&feature=related

[Slings and Arrows]

This story has been all over the EMT blogs, and things ain’t what they seem. To summarize, evidence seems to indicate that the higher-ups fornicated the canine and are making the ambulance crew the fall guys. Good metalink:

http://ambulancedriverfiles.com/2010/02/as-usual-the-truth-is-somewhere-between-the-extremes/

[John Valentine]

I intentionally set out not to change the grammar, only the words spelled to indicate an accent. I KNOW that the woman didn’t speak the “king’s english”. I only felt that it was wrong, even when quoting verbatim, to use misspelt words to indicate an accent.

I have made this point repeatedly, and here I make it one last time.

[lmr]

I’ve actually had Gallbladder Pancreatitis, I had it for 2 years, because I was misdiagnosed. It’s very painful. Sometimes the Chronic attacks flare into Acute peaks. One Acute peak had me in the hospital for 3 days. The Hospital Doctors said it was alcohol related because I had 3 beers the day before the attack. (3 beers won’t cause an attack) My GI doc dismissed the diagnosis of Pancreatitis altogether, but all the doctors I encountered basically believed, in their experience that Alcohol was the most common cause. 2 months ago, I was diagnosed with Gallbladder Pancreatitis and had my gallbladder removed. My pain has resolved 95 percent. I still have lingering bowel issues which I think will be with me the rest of my life.

Who knows if he would have lived? The fact that the ambulance didn’t get to him is horrible, but an Acute attack of this magnitude has a high mortality rate. The article mentions that they are waiting on toxicology reports. My money is on this guy having done himself in.

[Carmen21]

“Very sad. Contributing factors were that she is bi-polar and they did not have a car.

The reality is, though, that relying on the government is a mistake. Sometimes, as in this case, the mistake is fatal.”

Please!!! It was the job of these EMT’s to give this man treatment until he could get to a hospital. According to the official Mr. Huss, these paramedics didn’t even make an attempt to get out of their truck and walk to the residence to treat this man. So please, spare me the “relying on the government” line. These paramedics did not do their job, and that’s the bottom line.

[lmr]

‘take it up with them’

I’ve had Gallbladder Pancreatitis and was misdiagnosed as alcohol as the cause by several doctors because, in their experience, it is most commonly a consequence of heavy drinking.

I walked around for 2 years with this disease before I had a correct diagnosis a few months ago which led to gallbladder removal. I am now cured.

I am telling you what I know from experience. The Mayo site doesn’t list percentage of occurence, and you should be smart enough to realize that.

It is unfortunate that this man died because the ambulance couldn’t make it, but if his pancreatitis was of this magnitude, it may have killed him anyway. I am almost certain he did himself in. The article mentions they are waiting for toxicology reports.