VA turns away cardiac victim

[sabra]

Source: SP Times

The man was not a vet. Paramedics were told to take him to a more distant emergency room. He did not survive.


ST. PETERSBURG - The man had suffered a heart attack in a building about 200 feet from the bustling emergency room at Bay Pines VA Medical Center.

But when Bay Pines worker Mark A. Surette collapsed on June 26, Pinellas paramedics weren't sure where to take him.

Surette wasn't a veteran.

So the county asked Bay Pines if its emergency room would treat him. The response: Go to St. Petersburg General Hospital, 3 miles away.

Surette, 51, of St. Petersburg died.

Pinellas County's medical director confirmed Tuesday that she has opened an investigation into the matter, saying Surette should have been treated at the closest hospital. But she said paramedics acted properly, characterizing the inquiry as routine.


Read more: http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/25/Southpinellas/VA_turns_away_cardiac.shtml

[Gman]

1. That was an unfortunate and stupid decision but

if the next ER was only 3 miles away, he probably would have died anyway.

[Occulus]

2. Each and every last second is critical during a heart attack n/t

[Tempest]

5. If he wasn't turned away, he stood a much better chance of surviving

For every minute that elapses after a cardiac arrest 7-10% of victims who might be saved are lost.

Most victims who suffer from cardiac arrest that are not treated within 10 minutes die.

A heart attack is not a static, one-time event. It's a dynamic process that typically evolves over four to six hours. With each passing minute, more tissue is deprived of oxygen and deteriorates or dies.

In the initial minutes of cardiac arrest, the main way to prevent progressive damage is to restore blood flow quickly. In the first moments, a heart attack can also trigger ventricular fibrillation (VF). This unstable heart rhythm produces an ineffective heartbeat, causing insufficient blood flow to vital organs. Without immediate treatment, ventricular fibrillation can lead to sudden death.

http://www.foreheart.com/heart.html

[Gman]

6. Understood...

One would expect that they at least should have stabilized the guy before they sent him off to another hospital for the reasons you mention.

[sakabatou]

3. For the love of the FSM

Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!

[onehandle]

4. Sue them.

Sue them. Sue them. Sue them.


Sue them.

[northshore]

7. Doin' a heck of a job!

As a retired Paramedic, this story doesn't pass the smell test on several levels.

1. I have never had an issue with the VA in my town taking any critical case.

2. There were already VA doctors treating the patient. I would think they would be reluctant to abandon the patient to a lesser level of care.

3. That being said, for the first 10 minutes, the patient was probably being cared for in the same manner by EMS or the ER.

4. Why did it take an ambulance 10 minutes to travel 3 miles?

5. He was already on the VA hospitals property. Taking him elsewhere opens up the facility to a load of legal liability. Of course, this is the G.W. "The king can do no wrong" Bush administration. I'm sure that, whomever made the decision not to treat this patient is "doing a heck of a job!"



Things like this happen when there are not clear cut written guidelines on how EMS is to operate. Sounds like more of an EMS training issue than a VA problem. If it is your protocol, you take the guy to the VA and see if they have the cajones to turn him away at the door.

[youngdem]

8. Imprison the doctors in charge of the ER for negligent homicide

They have a duty to do no harm. They did harm by putting money and procedure over a man's life.

I am sick and tired of watching fellow Americans DIE and hearing otherwise SANE people JUSTIFY this completely FUCKED UP priority to support the process over sanity and life.

Imprison a few doctors and watch care improve. I know some of you will say that this will drive doctors away from care, but I don't want doctors in the ER who are afraid of accountability.

I am so goddamned sick of such shit.