Man Dies After EMTs Gave Him Antacids for Chest Pain
39 year old Eddie Givens, had no prior medical problems, but when he started having chest pains and was short of breath, he asked his mother to call 911. Givens, a father of two teenage boys and a volunteer youth football coach and basketball player, Washington DC EMTs told Givens to take Pepto Bismol. Hours later, he was found dead at 6:00 a.m. by his mother, Lolitha Givens, in the middle of a hallway floor.
“To wake up and find him dead on the floor is breathtaking, just breathtaking,” said Lolitha Givens. “The thing that gets me is the ambulance refused to take him. They convinced us he was OK.”
“It’s like someone has taken a part of my heart,” said Lolitha Givens. “It’s hard,” she said. “I don’t have an answer to my son’s death.”
This is not the first time that DC EMTs have come under scrutiny for providing inadequate care to patients.
In 2006, when New York Times Reporter David Rosenbaum was robbed and beaten, a series of errors was uncovered that were committed by the Washington, D.C. Emergency Medical Services. In Rosenbaum’s case, his treatment did not meet standards of care outlined in the Emergency Medical Services protocols. According to the Washington Post, Rosenbaum was potentially negligently treated because EMTs thought he might have been drunk and protocols were disregarded.
Mr. Givens appears to have lost his life from a similar failure to follow protocol, but it is unclear why the protocol was not followed.
On Wednesday, ABC 7/NewsChannel 8 learned the department launched a full scale investigation to determine if personnel mishandled Givens’ care.
A number of sources familiar with the standing operating procedure said that based on the victim’s history and symptoms, he should’ve been taken to the hospital.
I don’t understand how professional EMTs could not have taken the precaution of taking this man to the hospital. It is outrageous and resulted in a needless death which orphaned two teenagers. Since this seems to be a repeat of a similar incident, I would hate to need medical assistance from EMTs in DC. A thorough investigation should ensue with significant changes to take place to make sure that EMTs do everything that they can to save lives.
Typical chest Pain of a MI: Crushing, radiation to arm or jaw, and lasting longer than 20 minutes. But over 70% of the time, its not so typical.
I once had a patient come in to the ER with chest “discomfort” where he felt episodic stabbing pains for 10 seconds followed by 30 minutes relief. No radiation. EKG was squeaky clean, no STs, no Q’s, no inverted T’s. Nada. Ran blood tests and his tropinins were boderline. We didn’t risk it and sent him to Cath. lab.
Turned out he had a massive inferior MI and after 2 stents he was fully recovered. Dr’s make these judgment calls, not EMTs. I really don’t know all the facts but that person should of at least been sent to the hospital. EMTs do not make the judgment calls for something as serious as chest pains, they should of known better.
Rob
December 6, 2008 at 3:56 am