Emergency Room Negligence

A man arrived by ambulance to Wellspan York Hospital’s emergency room. After the ambulance staff checked him in with the pivot nurse, they leave. A couple of hours later, the man is found dead in the emergency room waiting area. Emergency room negligence is a form of medical malpractice. Let’s take a closer look at this situation.

Arrival By Ambulance

A male patient arrived by ambulance at Wellspan York’s emergency room. The report states he was nauseous. Additionally, the man received oxygen on the ambulance. But, once they arrived hospital staff never replaced the oxygen.

Emergency Room Check In

The ambulance staff checked the patient in with the pivot nurse on duty. But, the pivot nurse never spoke to the patient. The man’s name was placed on the patient list. Still, no one from the hospital spoke to the man.

Pivot Nurse Duty

The role of the pivot nurse is to meet all patients as they arrive. A pivot nurse determines if a patient needs immediate care. In this case, the pivot nurse did not meet the patient. Instead, she spoke to the ambulance staff and ignored the patient.

Emergency Room Neglect

Two hours go by. The patient is sitting in the emergency room’s waiting area. Nurses pass the man, but no one stops to check on him. The hospital staff called his name three times. No one responded. Then, they remove his name from the list.

Unresponsive Patient

But, the man didn’t leave. Almost two and a half hours later, the staff finds him unresponsive in his chair. Emergency personnel tries to resuscitate him, but it is too late. This man died sitting in the one place where he was supposed to get quick help.

Hospital Out Of Compliance

Wellspan York Hospital conducted its own internal investigation. Furthermore, the hospital did not immediately report the incident to the proper authorities. This inaction is in violation of MCARE. MCARE is Pennsylvania’s Medical Care Availability and Reduction of Error Act.