Is Keller EMS Responsible for This Patient's Death?

 

The following account was submitted to us unsolicited. We are publishing it here verbatim, using the author's name with her permission. We welcome any polite response from those involved...

On 3.25.22 at 11:02 PM I placed 1 of 2 calls to CC 911 as my 30 year old Son suffered a massive stroke due to an AVM rupture.

Not only did Keller EMS not go en route when paged, but ignored the call as a free unit (900) sat literally 10 minutes from my home. After 20 minutes the FD started screaming for an ETA and AE. It was another 10 minutes when we got a unit on scene yet they brought nothing inside to assist my son knowing cpr had been in progress. AE 16 accepted the call with a 28 minute eta and the possibility of having to refuel.

It ended up being just over an hour from the time I placed the first call to 911 that the Aircraft finally arrived on scene. More time went by, we were directed to Huntsville Hospital by the flight medic. On the way, we heard over Ham Radio traffic the pilot divert the aircraft to 3 mile lane to refuel because “scene time took too long”. The ambulance transported the flight crew by ground to wait. 3 opportunities to divert my dying son to NAMC under stroke protocols were ignored. It was over 2.5 hours before my son made it to Huntsville hospital! I also found out that neither crew took down the information of what happened. The patient report was false.  I could’ve drove (sic) him there in my own vehicle in 1 hour and 15 minutes doing the speed limit. NAMC is 20 minutes from my home doing the speed limit.

Any chance of survival was lost. He passed away on Sunday 3.27.22 at 12:22 pm.

I've been an EMT for nearly 20 years and I knew this was absolutely unacceptable. I started an 18 month long fact finding investigation to get to the bottom of it and found that KEMS didn’t do a report at all. A Keller unit that was available and closer to us didn’t bother responding, and that AE 16 never should’ve accepted the call to begin with. I contacted the State EMS Board in October and they immediately found major compliance violations against both ground and air operations, prompting an emergency investigation which is ongoing at time.

This never should’ve happened according to the state. Both units failed my son on every level. I also learned that Colbert county 911 dispatch never followed up to see who was en route which is also a violation. Their CAD reports are a mess and make no sense whatsoever.

This is the result of a County that still goes by the Good Ole Boy Policies, meaning they are set up to where no other ambulance service can come in and run 911 calls. There is no contract, nothing. When there is no competition, there is no accountability when things go wrong. Had i not been an EMT and put it all together, they would’ve gotten away with this. These were all people I’ve worked with in the past and had great respect for. That being said, if they were so comfortable to do this to another EMT, how many other people has it happened to? This could very well be you or your family! That is a question the EMS Board will hopefully get answered when they’re brought in for questioning in the next week or so. The state also will decide the proper discipline for each of their rolls that fateful night.

I have all the records and audio that prove what I am saying is true based on facts. At this time, I don’t want to name names, but I have those as well.

Thanks for your time,

Tina Allen