EMTs Failed to Help Woman in Pennsylvania

An Oxford woman would be alive today if medical personnel had heeded her plea for help, her relatives contend.

Judy Lynn Pomerleau, 45, called 911 at 12:03 a.m. on Feb. 22, 2004, according to county records.

She did not get the assistance she needed, according to a lawsuit filed yesterday in Chester County Court on behalf of the administrators of her estate.

According to the suit, which was prepared by attorney Joseph P. Green Jr., Pomerleau told the operator that she was experiencing respiratory difficulty, that her door was locked, and that she would attempt to unlock it.

However, employees of Southern Chester County Emergency Medical Services Inc. found the door locked, failed to get a response from anyone inside, and left the home about 12:20, the suit says.

Robert A. Hotchkiss Jr., who heads the not-for-profit emergency medical services firm, could not be reached for comment.

Green, who represents Pomerleau's siblings - Shelby Rivera and Brent Hazelwood - declined to comment on the suit.

"I think the complaint speaks for itself," he said.

The suit says that Pomerleau was rushed to Jennersville Regional Hospital about an hour after her 911 call in respiratory distress and that she died at 3:30 a.m. A medical examiner concluded that the cause of death was "respiratory arrest due to bronchial asthma," the suit says.

Friends said Pomerleau's nephew, who lived with her, came home, found his aunt lying on the floor, and called 911. The suit says she apparently "fell on the way from the phone to unlock her front door." The second 911 call was made at 1:37 a.m., according to records.

The suit alleges that the EMTs "certainly should have known that there was a high likelihood the patient was in a compromised medical condition and unable to answer their communications" and that they should have gained forced entry.

Steve Webb, deputy director of the county's Field Services Division of the Department of Emergency Services, said no statewide protocol exists for forcible entries. "There are value judgments involved in every EMS call," Webb said.

Oxford Police Chief John Slauch said he was not familiar with the case because he has headed the department for only six months. He said fire departments and medics generally call police when a forced entrance is warranted.

"We're going to make the forced entry in the interest of the victim if we feel there's a compelling need," he said.

Distributed by the Associated Press