Posted on 05/20/2007 10:52:28 AM PDT by John Jorsett
In the emergency room at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, Edith Isabel Rodriguez was seen as a complainer.
"Thanks a lot, officers," an emergency room nurse told Los Angeles County police who brought in Rodriguez early May 9 after finding her in front of the Willowbrook hospital yelling for help. "This is her third time here."
The 43-year-old mother of three had been released from the emergency room hours earlier, her third visit in three days for abdominal pain. She'd been given prescription medication and a doctor's appointment.
Turning to Rodriguez, the nurse said, "You have already been seen, and there is nothing we can do," according to a report by the county office of public safety, which provides security at the hospital.
Parked in the emergency room lobby in a wheelchair after police left, she fell to the floor. She lay on the linoleum, writhing in pain, for 45 minutes, as staffers worked at their desks and numerous patients looked on.
Aside from one patient who briefly checked on her condition, no one helped her. A janitor cleaned the floor around her as if she were a piece of furniture. A closed-circuit camera captured everyone's apparent indifference.
Arriving to find Rodriguez on the floor, her boyfriend unsuccessfully tried to enlist help from the medical staff and county police — even a 911 dispatcher, who balked at sending rescuers to a hospital.
Alerted to the "disturbance" in the lobby, police stepped in — by running Rodriguez's record. They found an outstanding warrant and prepared to take her to jail. She died before she could be put into a squad car.
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It’s called propaganda.
If Harbor Hospital closes, who is going to provide the crucial ignoring-to-death services in this underserved community? There is a waiting list of people to be ignored to death. Who is going to take care of them?
What a horrible thing to say.
Actually dying pretty much settles the "crying wolf" question for me.
Do you disbelieve, as well, the hospital staff who have seen the videotape?
Applause? The statement is repulsive and that’s putting it mildly.
Sad to say this South Central Los Angeles hospital has a long history of unbelievably horrible incidents, which is why their accreditation was yanked in the first place after multiple warnings. This was a case of neighborhood “feelgoodism” over competence, with both the local politicians and community refusing to hear criticism of “their” hospital until it was way too late.
I’ve been in the ER and dealt with people who complain and seem to have nothing wrong, even scream and shout that they are being discriminated against or refused care because they’re not getting exactly what they decided they want. Yes, it is very irritating. However, my cardinal rule is: “If they annoy me, work them up twice as carefully” because otherwise I’m going to miss something someday because I’m irritated at the patient. I’ve gritted my teeth through it many times, but also blessed that rule a time or two - kept me from dismissing someone with a serious problem that took some digging to find.
It looks like she did. The police picked her up in front of Willowbrook Hospital, where she was causing a disturbance, and brought her back to MLK/Harbor.
I am not familiar with the area. Is Willowbrook the upscale hospital and Harbor the downscale hospital? Otherwise why transport her from the steps of one hospital to the Emergency Room of another?
Life is cheap to you, isn’t it? And, you can STFU in advance. I don’t care to read anything you have to say.
Except she was born in California.
Don’t forget the beginning, she was picked up in front of another hospital.
Snip:
Inquiry
click to enlargeIn the emergency room at Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital, Edith Isabel Rodriguez was seen as a complainer.
“Thanks a lot, officers,” an emergency room nurse told Los Angeles County police who brought in Rodriguez early May 9 after finding her in front of the Willowbrook hospital yelling for help. “This is her third time here.”
The 43-year-old mother of three had been released from the emergency room hours earlier, her third visit in three days for abdominal pain. She’d been given prescription medication and a doctor’s appointment.
Go back to Lousiana.
Large perforation in the large bowel.
Some law enforcement officer should check out this guy. I'm suspicious... could be a fugitive or somethin...
Sounds almost like a scene from the movie “The Hospital” which starred George C. Scott. In that a “paitent” which has already “expired” is asked for their Blue Cross number over and over. It is pretty funny in the movie. Not so funny in real life.
The facts never matter to bigots.
I can diagnose by modem from 3000 miles away that this woman had a ruptured appendix.
Should have had a wicked fever, though. Maybe that's not enough to attract attention at this particular ER.
By the time my kids got to LA and got him to the VA hospital he was nearly dead.
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