Family Alleges Man Died After Kaiser Delay
8-26-2013 22:59:00
SAN BERNARDINO (CN) Kaiser Permanente needlessly delayed the transportation” of a 23-year-old man who needed medical care, and he died before he got to Kaiser.
The decedent's family sued Rasor Road Services; Starling Valadez; David Valadez; Barstow Community Hospital; and Kaiser Permanente Hospital in San Bernardino County Superior Court.
Decedent's bad day began when at 8:00am the car he and another man were taking to Las Vegas broke down near Baker, Calif., in August, according to the complaint.
The driver’s phone was running out of battery and there were problems with his insurance, so, he was unable to arrange a tow truck, the complaint says.
After a CHP officer drove the two men to a Del Taco around 12:00pm, the driver was able to arrange a tow truck through a relative, the complaint continues.
A tow truck company employee told the driver he had to be at the car for it to be towed. So, the two men walked two hours to get back to the car, where the decedent passed out from heat exhaustion, in the back of the car, the complaint says.
“After much needless delay” a tow truck driver towed the car with decedent in it instead of calling for an ambulance, according to the complaint. While taking the disabled car to town, the tow truck driver talked of fatalities from heat exhaustion, the complaint says.
When the disabled car was dropped off in town, the driver of the car found that the decedent was unresponsive. He sought help from the tow truck driver, who told him to call 911 and left, according to the complaint.
An ambulance then took the two men to a non-Kaiser hospital that was not equipped enough to help decedent, the complaint says.
That hospital should have arranged a helicopter to get the decedent to Kaiser, according to the complaint.
Kaiser was told the decedent needed an immediate transfer, the complaint says. “However, Kaiser Permanente needlessly delayed the transportation” of decedent, and he died before he got to Kaiser, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff is represented by P. Paul Aghabala.
