By Susan Tuz
The News-Times
NEW MILFORD, Conn. — The state Department of Public Health has placed New Milford Community Ambulance on 36 months of probation for a 2008 incident in which a woman waited more than an hour for an ambulance after suffering a stroke.
Marge Hapke suffered a stroke on Feb. 25, 2008, and it took more than an hour for an ambulance to arrive at her home to take her to the hospital.
Her husband, Francis Hapke, filed a complaint with the health department, and the two had been waiting to hear the outcome.
“I am very happy,” Marge Hapke said Tuesday. “I’m glad they are finally doing something to improve service.
“It should have been done years ago,” Hapke said. “It’s unfortunate that it takes a crisis to make things happen.”
Francis Hapke, a former fire chief for Water Witch Hose Co. No. 2 in New Milford, was not available for comment. He is a patient at New York-Presbyterian Hospital in New York, awaiting surgery to have a heart pump installed.
“We’ve been having a rough time,” Marge Hapke said. “But this is good news. He’ll be glad to hear it.”
The probationary measure against New Milford Community Ambulance was taken by the Department of Public Health at the end of October, with a consent order stipulating the terms of the probation signed Nov. 5 by the department’s section chief for the Office of Emergency Management, Gary E. Wiemokly.
New Milford Community Ambulance has 30 days after receiving the signed consent to respond with a “corrective plan.”
Randall DiBella, attorney for Community Ambulance, said Tuesday that he has yet to receive the signed copy back from the state. He said he had Andrew Armstrong, president of New Milford Community Ambulance, sign to acknowledge the order on Oct. 29.
Armstrong declined comment Tuesday, referring a caller to DiBella.
DiBella said the New Milford Community Ambulance board acknowledges that what happened to Hapke was unfortunate.
“But the way they (Community Ambulance) have addressed it, it should never happen again,” the attorney said.
The health department investigation found that “On Feb. 25, 2008, New Milford failed to send an ambulance in response to a 911 call in New Milford. Instead ... New Milford sent a single first responder in a fly-car to provide care.”
According to the consent order, “This responder did not have the capability to transport a patient. After several calls, an ambulance from a neighboring town arrived. On the morning of Feb. 25, 2008, New Milford’s two ambulances stayed in the ‘barn’ and were not utilized.”
The state investigation further found that “during 2007 and 2008, New Milford has had a pattern of failures with respect to providing an appropriately staffed response to 911 calls ... (that) constitute a failure to meet the standard of care required of emergency medical service organizations,” according to the consent order.
The consent order notes that New Milford Community Ambulance has “on its own initiative and prior to the conclusion of the investigation ... taken steps to address the issues.”
It hired paid personnel to cover the weekday hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., which is part of the corrective plan it will submit to the state.
“Night coverage was never a problem,” DiBella said.
Copyright 2009 The News-Times