At about 3 a.m. on April 16, 2022, two employees with Medway Ambulance Service in South Carolina reportedly responded to the home of 72-year-old Kenneth LaPorte Sr., whose oxygen saturation level was measured at that time at about 74%, which is dangerously low. According to a lawsuit recently filed with regard to the incident, one EMT refused the medical bag the driver brought, stating, “I do not need the bag, take it back out.”
The man’s family alleges that his vital signs were not taken before he was forced to walk the 50 feet from his home to the ambulance without the use of oxygen, and instead of using a gurney and the wheelchair ramp available to the ambulance service employees. Despite the man’s use of oxygen at home, the employees allegedly disconnected his home oxygen because the tubing would not reach the ambulance, and failed to provide him with portable oxygen as he walked to the ambulance.
Once he arrived at the ambulance, he was placed on a gurney but was not strapped in, according to the EMT negligence lawsuit. An ambulance service employee obtained an oxygen tube from inside of the ambulance and began untangling the tube. During this time, the man reportedly stopped breathing. As the gurney was being lifted into the ambulance, the unsecured man slid off of the gurney and struck his head on the ambulance’s bumper as he fell. He then partially rolled under the bumper.
Thirty minutes of CPR was performed while the man’s body remained on the ground where he fell, which was unsuccessful. His cause of death was reportedly determined to be acute respiratory failure with underlying chronic obstructive pulmonary disease of five years duration.
The man was a military veteran who had three children, twelve grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren. The family’s lawsuit alleges that he had a gash on the back of his head, black and blue bruises on his face, his ears and neck were black, and he was covered in dirt. The man’s wife of 53 years and a grandson who both observed the incident seek $750,000 in compensatory damages for their loss of comfort, society and companionship, $250,000 in punitive damages, and for medical and funeral expenses and their attorney fees. Their lawsuit alleges that the ambulance service (the two EMTs were not named in the lawsuit) was negligent, that it negligently inflicted mental distress on them, and that it caused the man to suffer conscious pain and suffering before causing his death.
If you or a loved one suffered serious harm as a result of the negligence of an ambulance service or EMT negligence in South Carolina or in another U.S. state, you should promptly find a South Carolina medical malpractice lawyer, or a medical malpractice lawyer in your state, who may investigate your ambulance negligence or EMT negligence claim for you and represent you or your loved one in an ambulance or EMT negligence case, if appropriate.
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