How a hospital death became a cause celebre

[Sequoia]

It might have gone down as the death of a "quasi-transient" woman with a history of abusing drugs. That's how the May 9 death of Edith Isabel Rodriguez was initially reported to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.

But five weeks later, her demise has become a cause celebre, a symbol of bureaucratic indifference. It is fraught with significance not just for one struggling inner-city hospital but for political and health leaders in the Los Angeles area and perhaps beyond. The county Sheriff's Department, health officials and the Board of Supervisors all are feverishly trying to determine who was to blame and how to prevent a recurrence.

Despite a long history of problems at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, two things set the Rodriguez case apart: the existence of a security videotape showing the woman writhing for 45 minutes on the floor of the emergency room lobby and the public release this week of two 911 calls in which witnesses unsuccessfully pleaded with sheriff's dispatchers for help.

The case — first reported by The Times — has crystallized people's fears that even in their most desperate moments, the emergency system won't take them seriously. The videotape itself has not even been made public; mere descriptions of its content by those who have seen it have evoked outrage.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-king15jun15,0,1859102.story?coll=la-home-center

[MADem]

1. I heard some of the audio on TV, it was appalling.

A stranger called on her cell phone, trying to help. The 911 operator CHASTISED her. It was pretty incredible.

You'd think, after getting more than one call from two separate phone numbers and two different people, that the Emergency Services folks would AT LEAST call the hospital ER and ask "What gives?"

[Kagemusha]

3. Their job's to get you to a hospital, not to save you from one.

The 911 operator was wrong, mind you, but that is not the position the person should have ever been forced to be in. The hospital is home plate. Emergency response is supposed to get you there from 1st, 2nd or 3rd base.

[MADem]

4. I realize that. One call, well, OK. But TWO? And the woman I heard wasn't

an acquaintance of the woman who died--she was a bystander, reporting a problem, and she identified herself as such, and the operator was, to put it bluntly, a snide fuckstick to her. Got shirty, rude, insulted her, and rang off.

There should be a process where the call supervisor can see a pattern and take some sort of action, because that was just wrong--what happened to the woman who died, and how that other woman who tried to help was treated.

[Kagemusha]

7. Should be, perhaps. I'm not sure the call operator had a course of action.

The situation's so out there that I'm not sure they had any action they're supposed (or permitted) to do for a case like this. Well, that's why it's under review, the operator's getting counseling, blah blah... just because it's improbable doesn't mean it's impossible or won't happen again, if not there, then somewhere else. Lessons should be learned.

[MADem]

9. I do agree it is an opportunity for improvement. And that operator needs to

take some of the snip and snark out of his delivery. The guy was downright rude. Maybe he should find another line of work.

I realize that 911 job is a tough one, and not everyone is cut out for it. I think that guy is one of those people who isn't optimal for the task, frankly.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Her death is just one in a long string of obscenities...

Any other hospital would have been closed long ago...

I am outraged at how her illness was mismanaged!

And I want that place either closed or with entirely new staff...

I think it's really significant that the triage nurse resigned her position...

Feeling a little guilty, maybe?

:nuke:

[Warpy]

5. I also think there's more to this than we know

but even if she'd been ordered to stonewall that ER from a known drug seeking patient, she should have left her desk/booth long enough if someone had told her Rodriguez was vomiting to notice it was BLOOD. Unless she was in a glassed in booth, she'd have been able to SMELL it.

That's a really bad sign, folks, and I can't imagine any nurse would have failed to buck the ER doc to get her in there FAST.

It sounds like there was a massive breakdown in communications all down the line. Did the housekeeper tell the nurse it was bloody vomit or did s/he just quietly mop it up? Did the people in "chairs" tell the nurse the patient was vomiting blood or did they just say she was sick and on the floor?

Drug seeking patients perform all sorts of drama trying to get their drugs. That bloody vomit can't have been faked, though.

I sincerely hope this all goes to trial at some point, that the hospital doesn't manage to pay out enough in malpractice to hush it up. There are a lot of questions I have about this whole thing that I'd love to have answered.

[enigmatic]

6. When I heard about this case

It literally made me sick. It still does. I don't know how you can call yourself a Doctor or Nurse and watch this woman die on the floor and not only not do anything, but not give a damn.

It's sickening.

[Kagemusha]

8. If I'm reading the other material right, they thought she was faking it

and just making life difficult for everyone by imposing drama into their lives. So she not only didn't need medical attention, she was harassing staff and patients. They thought wrong.

[yardwork]

10. Right-wingers continue to trot out the tired old fear tactics about universal healthcare

Right-wingers go bananas every time someone suggests that our system might benefit from improvement. "We won't be able to choose our doctors!!!! We'll have to wait in line for weeeeeeeeeeks to get health care!"

They never take a look at the real health care system in this country. Most of us can't choose our doctors. The half of us who have decent private insurance are mostly forced into managed care systems. We already wait weeks to see those doctors. Specialty care? Ha!

And the one half of our population with zero health insurance or inadequate insurance? They're lucky to see a doctor at all, ever, even when they're dying. This woman's case is not unusual. It just happened to be caught on ttape.

The only ones who get decent health care coverage in the United States are the government employees (surprise!) who make the laws and the highly-paid CEOs who make the big bucks.

[DBoon]

12. or you will also hear this

right wingers will trot out arguments about "illegal aliens" overwhelming our health care system by crossing the borders in large numbers looking for free government services (while not having to pay taxes).

I've already seen comments like this elsewhere

[yardwork]

13. Most of the "illegal aliens" are young people with few health problems

Young mothers without health insurance do show up in hospital emergency rooms to deliver, having been denied access to prenatal care, but even so, their birth outcomes are quite good compared to those of a lot of U.S. citizens.

Most of the people using emergency departments for inappropriate care are U.S. citizens who have jobs but don't have health insurance. They can't afford to take their kids to the doctor for regular care or keep their own diabetes or hypertension controlled, so they show up at the ER in the middle of the night in crisis.

Illegal aliens are NOT overwhelming our health care system.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

11. K&R...