Ignored By 911, Woman Dies In Hospital

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

(AP)  A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the emergency calls reveal.

Edith Isabel Rodriguez, 43, died of a perforated bowel on May 9 at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital. Her death was ruled accidental by the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

Relatives said Rodriguez was vomiting blood and writhing in pain for 45 minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could have survived had she been treated early enough.

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Hear The 911 Calls

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County and state authorities are now investigating Rodriguez's death. Relatives reported she died as police were wheeling her out of the hospital after the officers they had asked to help her arrested her instead on a parole violation. Sheriff's Department spokesman Duane Allen said Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.

In the recordings of two 911 calls that day, first obtained by the Los Angeles Times under a California Public Records Act request, callers pleaded for help for Rodriguez but were referred to hospital staff instead.

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

“What's wrong with her?” a female dispatcher asked.

“She's vomiting blood,” Prado said.

“OK, and why aren't they helping her?” the dispatcher asked.

“They're watching her there and they're not doing anything. They're just watching her,” Prado said.

The dispatcher told Prado to contact a doctor and then said paramedics wouldn't pick her up because she was already in a hospital. She later told him to contact county police officers at a security desk.

A second 911 call was placed eight minutes later by a bystander who requested that an ambulance be sent to take Rodriguez to another hospital for care.

“She's definitely sick and there's a guy that's ignoring her,” the woman told a male dispatcher.

During the call, the dispatcher argued with the woman over whether there really was an emergency.

“I cannot do anything for you for the quality of the hospital. ... It is not an emergency. It is not an emergency ma'am,” he said.

“You're not here to see how they're treating her,” the woman replied.

The dispatcher refused to call paramedics and told the woman that she should contact hospital supervisors “and let them know” if she is unhappy.

“May God strike you too for acting the way you just acted,” the woman said finally.

“No, negative ma'am, you're the one,” he said.

The incident was the latest high-profile lapse at King-Harbor, formerly known as King/Drew. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors is investigating claims of recent patient care breakdowns, including Rodriguez's case.

Federal inspectors last week said emergency room patients were in “immediate jeopardy” of harm or death, and King-Harbor was given 23 days to shape up or risk losing federal funding.

Dr. Bruce Chernof, director of the county Department of Health Services, which oversees the facility, has called Rodriguez's death “inexcusable” and said it was “important to understand that this was fundamentally a failure of caring.” He has said conditions are improving, though.

A call Wednesday seeking comment about the 911 tapes from the department's communications office, which handles information about the hospital, was not immediately returned.

Dr. Roger Peeks, the chief medical officer at the hospital, was placed on “ordered absence” Monday, the Times reported. Health officials declined to elaborate, saying it was a personnel matter. Dr. Robert Splawn, chief medical officer for the health department, was named interim chief medical officer, the newspaper said

[robertman3]

I have a feeling that the shockwave of violence that follows this unforgivable offense against not only the family of this woman, but this crime against all of humanity is yet to be seen. The removal of all involved, from the uncaring dispatcher, to the top medical director of this hospital should be expected. We all have placed our trust in this medical and insurance scam far to long. It is now costing us, and the ones we love our very lives. It must stop. It will only change if all of US Americans make it so.

[poebw777]

May her soul rest in peace with God and May God bless, comfort, and be with those grieving the loss of their loved one...

[poebw777]

Maybe this is a wake up call to ALL Americans, especially those who have loved ones who have had to finalize their retirement living the remaining years of their lives in a nursing home or an assisted living quarters...whether the living quarter be exclusive or non-exclusive. As a retired nurse, neglect is not only in the hospital settings but moreso in our nursing home facilities where the elderly can't speak for themselves and even if they could speak, they're afraid to speak up because of the verbal abuse spoken around them and to them by the so-called health care givers...when I heard the story about the Rodriguez lady, it's not only shocking but to think that the nurses being NEGLECTIVE, the police being JUDGEMENTAL, and the 911 not LISTENING to the callers is beyond unreason as to why they ALL would have allowed someone suffering is such a horrific inhumanity way, I agree with the above, everyone of them should be fired, we don't need people like that in the healthcare setting! We don't need our loved ones in nursing homes where their care is being neglected and being verbally abused by nurses and cna's! We all need to stop and ask ourself or think the thought, we could be in this position one day ourself! I hope and pray the nurses, police, and the 911 callers involved regarding the incident of the ladys' death get exactly the punishment they deserve, they definitely don't need to work in the health care setting or with the public!

[emidesu]

The ER triage nurse, the 911 operators and the police officer should be fired and charged with job abandonment. The coldness of the second 911 operator in particular is astounding.
All of these "professionals" should be punished to the limit of the law.

[msantananc07]

I would have to agree with everyone, This broke my heart when I heard about it on the radio on my way to work. Just the thought that it could have been myself or a family is sad. I personally feel that the hospital staff,the dispatcher, the police officer should all be fired.. For being so cold hearted!

[shammy0202]

I am glad to hear a 911 dispatchers views. As a nurse I have had to call 911 many times and until this story have had the upmost respect for ALL of you but in this case I feel these two dispatchers should be fired. You don't get a call from an emergecy room asking for help unless there is a serious problem. They ignored that. I have worked in nursing homes where a few residents have called 911 to say they were being held captive and they responded fast. Along with the police. Also have had a resident call 911 to say her call light was not being answered and they responded. So why they did not respond to this call is beyond me.

[fyrtygrr1]

(continuation)Step 5, the officers that were contacted to help the woman. Get real, this is a medical situation, not a criminal one. There will be plenty of time to deal with her criminal history later. Why kill the woman? Is their action in this situation in keeping with how they are trained to respond to a medical based situation? Not the way our officers where I live would respond, at least I would hope not. Step 6, In the end, humanity, or the lack of it, is the culprit. Not enough people cared, the proper procedures were not followed, and in the end, human life was lost.
My take is let the public outrage and disgust lead the governing agencies to take what we can all hope is the proper action: The hospital investigated, the 911 dispatchers investigated, the nurses and staff investigated, the police department regulations investigated, the officers that arrested a dying woman investigated. The end result is everyone who failed her should be punished, one way or another. Human life is too precious to let go that way.

[fyrtygrr1]

As a 911 dispatcher & firefighter/EMT, this news is devastating. There were so many failures and breakdowns in the way the system is supposed to work. This can't be chalked up to human error, politics, or miscommunication. This is a case of neglect, not caring, lack of priorities in several agencies along the way.
Step 1, it seems that the ER personnel failed to triage and act properly when the woman presented for help. Step 2, the ER personnel failed to reevaluate the situation as it worsened. Step 3, the 911 dispatcher failed to act in a responsible, caring manner that should be inherant and required for the position. The first dipatcher should have at least call-referred to the hospital. The second dipatcher may not have been aware of the first call, however he should have taken action based on the information given. Step 4, the other patient that made the second 911 call was obviously distressed, probably as well as most of the other less urgent patients that were waiting. They all should have taken action. This is a prime example of the desensitized state of humanity as a whole. We all could easily be guilty of not caring. Think about it, when was the last time YOU intervened when a man was yelling and pushing around his wife/girlfriend? Or a mother slapping her child?

[barbaraf4]

"Here's how to make sure it doesn't happen again;

1. Subsidize med school for doctors, under a bond to serve duty for four years in a public hospital, funded by taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, firearms, marijuana, and cocaine (the last two because, since it can never be stopped, it might as well be taxed), set and publish treatment prices at tiered levels, based on income.

2. Issue new drug patents for maximum five years duration, after which the drug becomes generic, and cheaper.

3. Recover the money taken from the so-called "untouchable" Social Security, and Medicare funds from the companies who received them, and the politicians who got the kickbacks and other "donations" from said companies.

4. Prohibit 6 and 7 day work weeks, give a day for rest, and a day for religious observance (or a second rest day for those who don't observe religion.

There you go, no burden on employers, or workers, no windfalls for insurance and drug companies, but access to adequate health care for all, less tax money spent incarcerating marijuana and coke users, and reduces stress levels from overwork, a preventive action.

Too bad all the politicos are too afraid to do the correct thing, though..."
Posted by brianbwb at 12:51 AM : Jun 15, 2007

Excellent suggestions! Well said!

[shammy0202]

I agree with you, it could very well have been the reason and how sad is that. NO ONE should be turned down for medical help when it is so desperately needed. As a nurse this story, I'm sorry makes me physically sick. That poor woman. May God rest her soul. Nothing ecuses the behavior of the nurses, police, the 911 system.

[wiccantexan]

It really doesn't matter if she was French, German, Italian, Mexican, Caucasion, Polish.
What matters is the care she received which was none.
Posted by shammy0202 at 09:38 AM : Jun 15, 2007

Agreed. But the focus was shifted to how "illegals are ruining/exploiting the American medical care system," so that's where the topic came in. It seemed to be a sticking point, but with faulty logic. This type of mentality may have been part of the reason why this woman was neglected; we don't really know.

[shammy0202]

It really doesn't matter if she was French, German, Italian, Mexican, Caucasion, Polish.
What matters is the care she received which was none.

[wiccantexan]

This lady was arrested for a parole violation as she lay spewing blood on the floor, seems kinda cruel and unusual doesn't it?
Posted by mikealford3 at 10:53 PM : Jun 14, 2007

I agree entirely. There is NO reason that personnel trained and dedicated to saving lives should have let that woman suffer and die right in front of them, and the 911 operator should be fired. He wasn't there; he could not judge the situation. But with callers telling him there was an emergency, he should have erred on the side of caution and gotten this woman some help.

And the police; I have no words. Time enough to book her when she's stable; it's not like she was in any condition to flee.

[wiccantexan]

Correction; the African bloodline would also be a mixed-race heritage. I don't believe that's really very prevalent, however. I could be wrong. I'm sure someone will correct me. ;)

Bottom line: "White" is a skin color, not a race. That's a common error. The darkest-skinned Mexican, while not considering themselves "white" culturally and ethnically, are of the Caucasoid race just as much as the lightest-skinned European heritage.

[wiccantexan]

Well.. this is off subject but aren't most Mexicans of mixed race? native American and European? (Spanish, German or Irish?) and aren't many Latinos (from Brazil, Puerto Rico, etc) mixed also with African Blood?

it appears that no Mexican would call themselves white because they are of mixed heritage and are just as proud of their native ancestry or the blend that they are as they are of the European part.
Posted by toldyouso21 at 12:00 AM : Jun 15, 2007

Mexicans, technically, are Caucasiod. Most of the "mixed blood" that you noted was ethnic, NOT race. Europeans are Caucasiod, so are Mexicans. Though they do have a strong blend of Spanish blood, the race is identical. What they have is an ETHNIC blend. The only race mix you mentioned would be the Indian, which is techically Mongoloid.

As for Mexicans calling themselves white, again, my Mexican husband thought the whole discussion was ludicrious. He doesn't call himself "white" ethnically, but as to race, he's in the same category as anyone with European blood.

[brianbwb-2009]

Score another for the LAPD, arrest a dying woman for parole violation.

Maybe they thought that if she were in jail, she would receive medical care, I wonder if they were going to actually put her in the squad car, then noticed she was already dead.

Gives credence to the "no snitch" ethos of the rappers, doesn't it?

No wonder the LAPD is known around the world as a group of lawless thugs, really good job, you stupid, (imagine your own expletives here, I want to use too many)...

[louklou51]

Now I have heard everything, that hospital should be shut down and a complete investigation undertaken, there is no excuse for what happened, someone has to be held accountable.

[brianbwb-2009]

Here's how to make sure it doesn't happen again;

1. Subsidize med school for doctors, under a bond to serve duty for four years in a public hospital, funded by taxes on cigarettes, alcohol, firearms, marijuana, and cocaine (the last two because, since it can never be stopped, it might as well be taxed), set and publish treatment prices at tiered levels, based on income.

2. Issue new drug patents for maximum five years duration, after which the drug becomes generic, and cheaper.

3. Recover the money taken from the so-called "untouchable" Social Security, and Medicare funds from the companies who received them, and the politicians who got the kickbacks and other "donations" from said companies.

4. Prohibit 6 and 7 day work weeks, give a day for rest, and a day for religious observance (or a second rest day for those who don't observe religion.

There you go, no burden on employers, or workers, no windfalls for insurance and drug companies, but access to adequate health care for all, less tax money spent incarcerating marijuana and coke users, and reduces stress levels from overwork, a preventive action.

Too bad all the politicos are too afraid to do the correct thing, though...

[toldyouso21]

LOL! I'll be sure to pass that along to my Mexican husband and his family (2 generations removed from Mexico), who get into quite a rant over "Mexican" being called a race. They will trot out the scientifics of "race" in a heartbeat, and let you know in no uncertain terms that Mexican is an ethnicity, and only an uneducated person would say otherwise.
Posted by WiccanTexan at 04:45 PM : Jun 14, 2007


Well.. this is off subject but aren't most Mexicans of mixed race? native American and European? (Spanish, German or Irish?) and aren't many Latinos (from Brazil, Puerto Rico, etc) mixed also with African Blood?

it appears that no Mexican would call themselves white because they are of mixed heritage and are just as proud of their native ancestry or the blend that they are as they are of the European part.

[mikealford3]

She was arrested for a parole violation as she lay dieing. He11 even death row inmate get medical help if needed. And to think some people think Lethal Injection is cruel and unusual punishment. This lady was arrested for a parole violation as she lay spewing blood on the floor, seems kinda cruel and unusual doesn't it?