Comments on: Ignored By 911, Woman Dies In Hospital

Emergency Operators Did Little To Help A Woman Dying In A Hospital Waiting Room

[betterjack]

It's not a matter of ill gel immigration( which I strongly oppose ill gel immigration). It is matter that Nurses and Doctors provide a standard of care which was failed by nursing staff and resulted in death of innocent women. Nurses are professional's trained to identify emergent situations. The triage nurse ignored signs and symptoms in which could have been identified early may have saved this women's life. This whole event makes me sick. I know that their is understaffing and poor treatment towards nurses but that not an excuse. Nurses take an oath to advocate for their patient. This just reminds us that not everyone should become nurse because many of you do it for a steady paycheck.

[kdshark]

barbaraf4 Shame on you! We live in the United States of America. The land of the free. I am not sure if you meant to sound so racist or not, but USA is suppose to treat everybody EQUALLY regardless of their ethnic background. This woman should not have died. The hospital was at fault! How sad for all the people watching her die in front of their eyes. It should not matter about color or speech when you are fighting for your life in an EMERGENCY ROOM and it also does not matter if she was married or single or common law. I wonder how different your opinion would be if it was YOUR LOVED ONE!!! People like you are what make the USA ugly. Bottom line is a woman DIED not because she did not seek help but because the DOCTORS in the EMERGENCY did not want to help. How sad is this world!!!

[drivelphobe]

The hospital is financially ruined because of the massive use by illegals. They see illegals and they see the demise of their facility. The hospital personnel are strapped with rules and regulations that force them to treat illegals even though the continuation of the hospital is at risk as well as hundreds of jobs filled by the community. The language spoken was not understandable and it makes it quite clear that this is related to the illegal immigration issue. NO one wants illeals here and we are sick and tired of the government forcing them into our system. This is just the beginning. It is absolutely logical to assume that if they don't speak English, which is a requirement of citizenship, that they are illegals. Regardless, there is no excuse for treating this woman, as distasteful as it might have been. She shouldn't have died.

Wake up illegals, we want you out of this country and there will be little assistance from the general population if you need help. We are tired of you raping our system and ignoring our laws and culture. If the Bush amnesty bill passes, this scenario will be commonplace. The citizenry aren't going to take this anymore.

[shammy0202]

I'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out,%u201D Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

So which is it wife or girlfriend ?
Posted by rharrin1 at 04:05 PM : Jun 13, 2007

Both? Neither? Who knows?!

Posted by Klingon69 at 12:37 PM : Jun 14, 2007
LOL does it matter??????

[barbaraf4]

%u201CI'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out,%u201D Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

Another argument for learning to speak English if you live in America.

I am sorry this woman died (and I am even more sorry that the California taxpayers will be paying for it for a long time); however, a better command of the language might have helped her realize a few more options exhisted.

Posted by barbaraf4

I say nothing to imply these are illegals; however, if they aren't, why can't they speak and understand English? If an ambulance service refuses to pick you up at one hospital and transfer you to another, then find a way to get down the block and meet them at the corner. Granted she was past being able to walk, but call a cab, steal a wheelchair, do whatever you need to do. There are options, but only if you know the system and can understand how it works.

And yes, I do believe everyone could have been more helpful, but I continue to believe that healthcare is a commodity and if you can afford it, you get it.

[wiccantexan]

Both? Neither? Who knows?!
Posted by Klingon69 at 12:37 PM : Jun 14, 2007

If he referred to her as "wife" and the reporter chose "boyfriend," they could very well have been common-law.

[klingon69]

I'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out,%u201D Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

So which is it wife or girlfriend ?
Posted by rharrin1 at 04:05 PM : Jun 13, 2007

Both? Neither? Who knows?!

[wiccantexan]

Signed -- someone from Texas smart enough to understand that Spanish doesn't always equal "illegal."
Posted by id_monkey at 12:29 PM : Jun 14, 2007

*wild applause* Kudos from a fellow Texan who gets it, too. I really get tired of this sort of automatic supposition.

[id_monkey]

Two things:

(a) This story scares the bejesus out of me. Literally. To think that someone can be vomiting blood and medical professionals literally stand by and watch is frightening.

(b) What's just as frightening, however,is that too many of those leaving comments have assumed that the people involved are "illegals." Why is that? Just because the man spoke Spanish and they had Spanish surnames?

If the man had spoke Yiddish had people automatically assumed he was an illegal from Israel? How about French...did he sneak in here from Paris? What if he'd been blonde and spoke Swedish, would he have been some rogue illegal with an agenda?

You know nothing of this couple -- they could've been born here just as you were, and simply raised in a household -- and in an enclave -- where Spanish was always spoken. What's more, they could be legal immigrants, like thousands of other people are.

Why not switch coasts and see how many perfectly legal citizens live in neighborhoods like Little Italy, Germantown and Chinatown and still speak in their family's native tongue? So much for a 'cosmopolitan' Los Angeles.

The level of blatant racism make me want to vomit. Christ.


Signed -- someone from Texas smart enough to understand that Spanish doesn't always equal "illegal."

[wiccantexan]

So, he was speaking in Spanish and was Mexican so they were obviously illegals? Since the woman was apparently on parole rather than deported, I would beg the argument that she was a legitimate citizen, or at least here legally.

My Mexican husband's grandmother was a Mexican citizen who spoke Spanish by choice, and she came over here to live legally (south Texas).

And regardless, if a person is so obviously dying in front of you, treat the person and worry about the status later.

[shammy0202]

Just one more comment to make, each and every one of your nursing licenses should be on the line. If you were in the state of Wisconsin the State Board Of Nursing would have a field day with you!!!!

[mikealford3]

I am as much against illegal immigration as anyone, however when a person is lying in the middle of the floor in a hospital ER, spewing blood from their mouth, humanity says forget the money and help this person. I can't imagine the doctors and nurses in that ER not being willing to help this poor woman. The 911 operator should have their tale kicked for reacting the way they did.

Any doctor or nurse or hospital in general that would put money above the need to help someone in the condition this woman was obviously in, should not be allowed to practice medicine.

[lmontenaro]

Even if this woman was an illegal, she didn't deserve to die or to be treated like that.

[shammy0202]

You know MOST places have interpretors today so the fact that THEY did not was thier problem as well. The fact remains she was left laying there to die. The reason I chose to become a nurse is because of the COLD BLOODED so called "ANGELS OF MERCY" I have dealt with in my own life and that is a fact. I have been a nurse for 15 yrs and proud of my career and vowed to NEVER become like the so many cold blooded nurse out there. As I stated before she died because THEY did NOT do the job they were hired to do! Any NURSE knows there is always someone else you can go to if you are not getting the response from an MD you should be. Oh I'm sure that hospital will make it look pretty in 23 days but after that back to the same routine they have now. Been there! Seen it!

[klingon69]

And as for vietvet's comments: I knew it! Someone played the race card. What do illegal immigrants have to do with this case? Are the family illegals? Why should it matter?
It is a legitimate question. Much of the lack in caring is disgust at having Medical facilities that can not stay open due to the rising cost of healthcare and the lack of remittance from the illegals.
BTW, who said anything about race? YOU!

As always, you did not drill downa and give your listeners the truth. You selectively talked about something that is the true cost of the Emergency Room problems around our country. We have over 19 million illegals from Mexico and South America using OUR ERs for their own medical care. Here in California, hospitals are going broke and closing because the great Democrat Legislatures passed a law that the ERs must accept anyone even when they will not pay for care. The key problem is not the 911 dispatcher, because actually what could he do, send a police man to demand that the doctors take care of this illegal alien or send paramedics to the ER. You people in the News never report the news, you selectively dance around the real problem and facts. Those people in your newsroom make news and do not report the news. Say it the way it is! Mexicans are feeding off us here in California to the tune of 17billion dollars in 2006. The contractors that hire them are putting their burden upon us all.

It is time to kick these "free loaders" out of our country, protect our american unskilled workers, and build a fence to protect all Americans.

[barbaraf4]

%u201CI'm in the emergency room. My wife is dying and the nurses don't want to help her out,%u201D Rodriguez's boyfriend, Jose Prado, is heard saying in Spanish through an interpreter on the tapes.

Another argument for learning to speak English if you live in America.

I am sorry this woman died (and I am even more sorry that the California taxpayers will be paying for it for a long time); however, a better command of the language might have helped her realize a few more options exhisted.

[toldyouso21]

I just looked up the best Hospitals in the US:http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/07/07/health/main1783641.shtml

and noted that with the exception of the ENT surgery in Iowa and Digestive in Cleaveland, OH, that all* of the best seemed to be on the East Coast in Democratic eschelons no less. Now why is that? Why are there no (or few) Republican Strongholds in the Midwest with decent or exemplary hospitals? Do we suppose when Republicans (w/money) have severe problems--they hightail it to those East Coast areas.

*2 exceptions--for some Cancer treatment--Houston, and the Mayo Clinic an Minnesota.

This may be off topic and political--but with some of the comments bashing one side or the other, if we want to show true committment to healthcare--shouldn't it be reflected in the level of care where we live?

Boston seems to have a lot of the "best" they have Universal care for their citizens don't they?

[shammy0202]

Speaking as a nurse, what a disgrace. The woman is dying #1 and she gets arrested. Thats a joke!!! POSITIVE SIR YOU'RE THE ONE!!!!!!!!! Ignorant jerk!!!!! I hope you have fun living with this for the rest of your life and YOU NEED TO BE FIRED!!!!!! NOW before more people die because of your ignorance and you nurses at that hospital you are a disgrace to the nursing profession. GET A NEW JOB IF YOU WON'T DO WHAT YOU WERE HIRED TO DO!!!! What you did was nothing more than a murdur. Sorry individuals!!!!

[toldyouso21]

If you think that working hard guarantees you can afford health insurance, you are too ignorant for us to pay attention to.
Posted by weareone2 at 06:49 PM : Jun 13, 2007


I agree. My husband works for a major Pharm. firm. Even for people making well over 100K per year, the insurance sucks. To date, we must pay over 5K+ out of pocket per family or 3K/person before they will pay anything. The fact is a great job does NOT guarantee great benefits, it all depends on the options the company decides to make available each year. the options used to be wonderful, now, after 3 years where BC/BS has paid out less than 2K to my 8K (not to mention the cost of premiums) I continually wonder if this psuedo insurance is any different than no insurance.