Paramedics and EMTs must deal with a variety emergency medical situations every single day in Chicago. These situations can be complex and stressful, but paramedics are also highly trained health care professionals who should be able to appropriately handle the situations they come across each day.
On Sunday, though, paramedics in Chicago were faced with a situation that they might not have ever expected to encounter. While traveling by ambulance to Resurrection Medical Center, paramedics were busy treating a 20-year-old man who was ill and vomiting. However, the ill patient suddenly opened the back door of the ambulance and jumped out of the moving vehicle. The man died from his injuries after jumping from the ambulance.
The incident is still being investigated by the Chicago Police Department and the Fire Department. Some folks have been wondering whether the paramedics could have prevented the man from jumping out of the ambulance. According to preliminary reports, paramedics did not deviate from standard practices or procedures when treating the man in the ambulance.
CBS Chicago reported that the incident happened shortly before 6 a.m. on Sunday. Paramedics picked up the man and while traveling to the hospital, the man told paramedics that he needed to vomit. The man was given a basin and he did vomit. However, after doing so, he allegedly got off of the gurney he had been resting on and jumped out of the ambulance.
The ambulance had almost reached the hospital and was traveling at a low speed when the man jumped. The man did not survive his injuries.
In some situations, hospitals may be responsible for mistakes made by paramedics. For example, hospitals that allow paramedics or EMTs to perform certain procedures in emergency rooms could be increasing patients’ risks of injury or death. Paramedics and EMTs are highly qualified professionals, but this does not meant that they are always qualified to perform triage procedures in hospital emergency rooms.
Source: CBS Chicago, “Man jumps from ambulance, dies,” Dec. 10, 2012
- Our Chicago firm represents patients and families who have been harmed by medical malpractice and hospital negligence. To learn more about protecting malpractice victims’ rights, please visit our under-qualified paramedic errors page.
