LOS ANGELES, June 13, 2007
Ignored By 911, Woman Dies In Hospital
Emergency Operators Did Little To Help A Woman Dying In A Hospital Waiting Room
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Play CBS Video Video Woman Ignored By 911 Dies CBS News RAW: Ignored by emergency personnel, a patient died in a troubled inner city hospital in Willowbrook, Calif. Frantic calls to 911 didn't help.
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Video Emergency Room Tragedy Officials are asking why a woman died in an emergency room while her cries for help were ignored, prompting a 911 call from another patient. Hattie Kauffman reports.
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The emergency entrance to King Harbor Hospital (NNS/KABC file)
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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.
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.Hear The 911 Calls
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
© MMVII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 161 CommentsAll of these "professionals" should be punished to the limit of the law.
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.
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?
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!
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.
What matters is the care she received which was none.
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.
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.
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.
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)...
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 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.
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