# New York City snowstorm



## mariomike (29 Dec 2010)

I was reading about the effect of the snowstorm on 9-1-1 response times. What happened in NYC this Christmas could  happen in Canada. So, I would like to post this:

"FDNY EMS has a aprox 5 hour delay to Emergencies. FDNY personal are advised not to do CPR more then 20 min due to high vol of jobs." [ sic ]

FDNY-EMS reported a backlog of 1,300 9-1-1 calls and a 3-hour to 12-hour delay in response to critical cases, including cardiac arrests and heart attacks.

A report of a mother unable to breath. Her daughter called 9-1-1, but could not get through for 50 minutes. A neighbour administered CPR, but EMS was unable to arrive for another 45 minutes, and they still had to walk to her house. The lady did not survive.

A man died of a heart attack after it took paramedics three-and-a-half hours to arrive. It took another 28 hours for a city medical examiner to pick up the body, which had been resting in a bag on a bed.

A 22-year-old pregnant woman started contractions. Because of the ambulance delay, she began walking from her home to the hospital, but couldn't make it. She stopped in a building lobby. 911 was called again at 8:30 a.m. By 4:30 p.m. she had started crowning and 911 was called again. Around 5:20 p.m. police arrived (by foot since driving was impossible) and found the woman attempting to leave and walk to the hospital again. She was brought back inside and the baby was delivered.  Despite the efforts of police and neighbors the baby was lost. 

Sources said FDNY-EMS requested a state of emergency be declared, but the Office of Emergency Management denied the request. A Hearing is to be held in early January. My _guess_ is that there may be wrongful death lawsuits against the city.


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## Bass ackwards (29 Dec 2010)

Wow. What a major goat screw that must be.

_Fifty_ minutes to get through on 9-1-1 ? Bill Shatner never mentioned that kind of thing on his long departed (thank God!) _Rescue 9-1-1_ show. 

Mike, you're in T.O. How were things EMS-wise during that famous "call out the army!" snowstorm a few years back ? Any comparison ?


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## mariomike (29 Dec 2010)

Bass ackwards said:
			
		

> Wow. What a major goat screw that must be.
> 
> _Fifty_ minutes to get through on 9-1-1 ? Bill Shatner never mentioned that kind of thing on his long departed (thank God!) _Rescue 9-1-1_ show.
> 
> Mike, you're in T.O. How were things EMS-wise during that famous "call out the army!" snowstorm a few years back ? Any comparison ?



B-A, it was not as bad as NYC because Mayor Lastman listened to his Emergency Services chiefs and made his call based on their advice. Had he not reached out for help, the city may have been held liable to wrongful death lawsuits as a result of coroner's inquests.


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## mariomike (19 Jan 2011)

Jan 19, 2011
"Family of NYC Woman Who Died in Blizzard Plans $20M Lawsuit:
Suffering a heart attack during the New York City blizzard after Christmas, Yvonne Freeman "never had a chance," her daughter says, because an ambulance took three hours to reach her over unplowed streets. By the time it got there, it was too late.
Now Freeman's family is planning a $20 million lawsuit against the city -- the first blizzard-related wrongful death case.":
http://www.aolnews.com/2011/01/19/family-of-yvonne-freeman-new-york-city-woman-who-died-in-blizza/

NY Daily News:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/01/19/2011-01-19_20m_suit_vs_city_in_snowdelay_death.html
"...the city is slammed for failing to declare a snow emergency."

In the aftermath of the snowstorm, the Chief of NYC EMS was demoted and replaced. No explanation as to why.
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Blame-and-the-Blizzard----Is-City-Hall-Looking-for-a-Scapegoat-113032359.html

Bill O'Reilly of Fox News had this to say, “The root of the problem is the same that we had in Katrina, that the local mayor- [Ray] Nagin- and the governor- [Kathleen] Blanco- of the state didn’t ask for the feds to come in and people died."
http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Blame-and-the-Blizzard----Is-City-Hall-Looking-for-a-Scapegoat-113032359.html


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