LOS ANGELES - A woman who lay bleeding on the emergency room floor of a troubled
inner-city hospital died after 911 dispatchers refused to contact paramedics or
an ambulance to take her to another facility, newly released tapes of the
emergency calls reveal.
Relatives said Rodriguez was bleeding from the mouth and writhing in pain for 45
minutes while she was at a hospital waiting area. Experts have said she could
have survived had she been treated early enough.
County and state authorities are now investigating Rodriguez’s death. Relatives reported she died as police were wheeling her out of the hospital after the officers they had asked to help Rodriguez arrested her instead on a parole violation. Sheriff’s Department spokesman Duane Allen said Wednesday that the investigation is ongoing.
The dispatcher told Prado to contact a doctor and then said paramedics wouldn’t
pick her up because she was already in a hospital.
clipped from: www.msnbc.msn.com