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Previous coverage of this story here and here
Coverage from Curt Varone's FireLawBlog.com here and here
We teased you this morning with word that it looks like we were finally going to hear the other side of the story surrounding the January 12 fatal skiing accident in Maine of David Morse of Nova Scotia. Morse's widow, Dana, a nurse practitioner, has told reporters that the medic crew not only provided poor care, but left her on the side of the road when she asked to be moved to the back of the ambulance to be with her husband in his final moments.
From the start, many of us said this was a one sided story because we haven't heard from Northstar Ambulance or its parent company Franklin Memorial Hospital. The hospital told reporters it would release a statement today, almost a week after the story made the news.
The hospital followed through on its promise and issued a statement. I would call it a non-statement. It does nothing to set the record straight if, in fact, the details already known are wrong. It does nothing to get this story out and behind the hospital so it can repair the damage.
But yes, it is a statement and it comes from the hospital's CEO Rebecca Ryder:
I would ask everyone in our community and around the state of Maine to join me in extending our heartfelt sympathies to the family who lost their loved one last week as the result of a skiing accident. I have asked the employees in my organization to join me in doing the same.
I understand that this is a very difficult time for the patient’s family, and especially for his wife and children. I am committed to fully understanding all aspects of what occurred following this tragic accident, and will work toward that end.
Throughout this week, we have been conducting a review of this situation. As part of that fact-finding, all involved need to be interviewed, and we have not yet completed that process.
Integral to the mission of Franklin Community Health Network is providing high quality care to our patients and families. As president of the network, I am confident that the health professionals in our organization, which includes NorthStar ambulance service, have continued to maintain our values of expert clinical care and compassion, defined by consistently showing respect for all the people we serve.
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Also on STATter911 …
- Wife who asked to be beside her dying husband in ambulance says crew left her on side of road. Questions about care after Maine skiing accident. – January 15, 2012
- Update: Skier’s widow says story is even worse than depicted. Maine hospital may release information on investigation today. – January 20, 2012
- DC Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe says two recent news stories aren’t accurate. Sends out press releases on training academy sexual harassment & provides a timeline on New Year’s ambulance delay story. – February 22, 2013
- DC ambulance struck near hospital. Car overturns, catches fire killing driver. – January 25, 2013
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Hmmmm, the longer they take to put their side out there, the more i believe her side of the story 100%
It may be that the medics did nothing wrong, but the bosses are doing them no favors by dancing around this. Sounds like they need the Statter school of common sense PR.
i think the hospital is hoping this will just blow over because they dont want to come out and say this lady is a crazy lying b#$%h. i have witnessed patients and their families completely fabricate events that took place during their time in the ambulance. for this women to have been in the midst of planning a funeral and dealing with her husbands death and make the choice to complain to the newspaper first instead of the hospital leaves me very suspect about her motivations.
I'm with Anon #1 and north chief is thinking the longer the hospital system takes to respond appropirately (how Dave has taught us), the more they look like they're hiding something really ugly.
I'm not a NP, but as a nurse, I would want to be in the ambulance near my husband if it was obvious that he was in mortal peril. I know enough about EMS that I would just touch him and keep quiet unless I saw something egregiously wrong.
And this weird ass policy of returning the dead body from whence it came once TWENTY MINUTES has passed and CPR hasn't worked yet? WTF???
The hospital and ambo service needs to speak openly about what happened. If there were difficulties, perhaps the wife trying to run the code, say so. If the EMTs thought she was interfering with good care, say so. And if the ambo service really f****d up, confess. it's good for the soul. At least apologize to the victim's wife
The circling of the wagons continues. I'm pretty much convinced at this point that Dana Morse was left on the side of the road. Why that happened is anyones guess. I can envision meetings between the EMS personnel involved, the EMS agency administration, hospital administration, and their respective attorneys to get the story straight before they issue some type of statement. This is really poor. If I lived in the area serviced by this EMS agency and hospital, at this point, I would have serious doubts about their ability to provide quality medical care to me and my family. And that's a shame, because I'm sure there are many dedicated people in these organizations. But their administrations lack of candor is ruining their credibility.