6 King staffers disciplined with letters [ignored woman to death]

Los Angeles Times ^ | June 16, 2007

[John Jorsett]

Six staff members at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital — including a nurse and two nursing assistants — saw or walked past a dying woman writhing on the floor of the emergency room lobby last month but did not help her, according to a report made public Friday.

Their discipline: a letter outlining how they should behave in the future.

The six are in addition to two others whose roles have already been made public by The Times: a contract janitor who cleaned the floor around the woman as she vomited blood and a triage nurse who oversaw the whole episode and pointedly refused requests to intervene.

The janitor was counseled verbally; the triage nurse was placed on leave and later resigned, the report said.

The report released Friday was written by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and included the public hospital's responses. It provides the greatest detail to date on the death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, in the early hours of May 9, which was captured on a security videotape.

Besides the nursing staffers and the janitor, three of the employee witnesses were financial services workers.

According to the report, the videotape shows that for about 30 minutes, "staff members walked past the patient or worked to clean the floor next to her without interacting with her. One staff person was observed sitting behind the financial/registration window and had a view of the patient in the lobby."

[snip]

Rodriguez died a short time later of a perforated bowel that probably occurred in her last 24 hours of life, the county coroner ruled. Experts have said her death might have been prevented had she received treatment sooner.

[John Jorsett]

Let someone die in front of you, will you? Here's your disciplinary letter, you scum!

[GATOR NAVY]

a triage nurse who oversaw the whole episode and pointedly refused requests to intervene.

That's a hard-core hospital if vomiting blood doesn't doesn't get you past the triage nurse.

[John Jorsett]

That's a hard-core hospital if vomiting blood doesn't doesn't get you past the triage nurse.

Perhaps the woman should have said she wanted an abortion.

[saganite]

Although the janitor’s actions were heartless you’ve got to wonder why they thought he could have done anything to save her. Sounds like they’re handing out reprimands to cover some more senior butt.

[PAR35]

Doesn’t sound like much of a discipliary letter:

“Their discipline: a letter outlining how they should behave in the future.”

Perhaps it just instructs them to cover the security cameras and to enforce the rule against using cell phones in the area.

[Dont Mention the War]

I have no direct evidence for it, but I do sort of believe that "ignore 'em" is policy at that hospital, and thus these "reprimands" are nothing but butt-covering devices used when the hospital gets a little bad publicity.

[gcruse]

It’s the same sort of discipline we take against North Korea.

[absalom01]

They don’t call it “Killer King” for nothing!

[SkyDancer]

We shall reprimand them sharply with a letter and if that doesn't work shake our finger sternly in their face ....

[Michael.SF.]

a contract janitor who cleaned the floor around the woman as she vomited blood

Clean up on aisle Four!!

[rottndog]

Letters of reprimand for gross negligence and incompetence that probably killed a human being....

And there are morons by the MILLIONS who want the government to do MORE of this....

*shaking head in disgust and disbelief*

[rottndog]

Oh, and notice the emphasis that it was a CONTRACT janitor...

We must FIRE the private contractor and hire MORE incompetent government workers.

[Michael.SF.]

Although the janitor’s actions were heartless you’ve got to wonder why they thought he could have done anything to save her

In all seriousness, I would hope that he would have had the common sense to call a Doctor, he was in a freakin hospital and she's puking blood as he cleans it up?

[Michael.SF.]

More significantly there are 535 morons in Washington who are eventually going to allow it to happen.

[stuck_in_new_orleans]

I wont drive on a street named “Martin Luther King Jr” nonetheless ever THINK about going to a hospital named on. I imagine it resembles a 3rd world hospital complete with chickens running around.

[saganite]

I would hope that he would have had the common sense to call a Doctor,

You don’t know much about Hospitals. The nurses run the show. If he bucked them he would be cleaning up his own blood!

[pitinkie]

Sounds like the hospital is taking a cue from the UN with “letters”.

[rottndog]

More significantly there are 535 morons in Washington who are eventually going to allow it to happen.

Makes me feel like pukin' some blood.

[rottndog]

NO JOKE....

Police and paramedics report that injured criminals BEG not to be taken to MLK.