By Michele McPhee, O’Ryan Johnson and Casey Ross
The Boston Herald
Copyright 2006 Boston Herald Inc.
An ambulance racing to get a heart attack victim to the hospital was snagged in Big Dig tunnel gridlock, turning what should have been a four-minute trip into a desperate 24-minute ordeal that ended with the man’s death, public safety and transportation sources said.
The victim — a 64-year-old man — was found by a state trooper at the limousine parking lot at Logan International Airport’s Terminal A suffering a heart attack about 3:52 p.m. yesterday.
Boston EMS Superintendent James Hooley said when an East Boston-based ambulance arrived at 4 p.m., treatment was under way by state police and MassPort Fire crews. A paramedic crew from Boston Medical Center with advanced lifesaving skills and equipment was also enroute, but by 4:10 the East Boston ambulance elected to take the patient. As they neared the Ted Williams Tunnel entrance, roughly two minutes later, the paramedics overtook them.
“They hit a bit of traffic entering the tunnel,” Hooley said. “So they pulled over and paramedics hopped in to continue with a little better treatment. They spent some time doing some stuff on scene and made arrangements with the state police to provide an escort.”
The ambulance remained near the tunnel entrance from 4:12 to 4:26 p.m. Hooley said he was not clear whether the crew was waiting for the police escort, or if the escort had arrived and was waiting for the ambulance to leave while lifesaving work continued, but in either case, the victim “was getting the best of care during that time,” he said.
A police escort led the ambulance through the westbound Ted Williams Tunnel and onto surface streets through South Boston, a transportation source said.
Another source, however, said due to gridlock in the westbound side, the ambulance was led through the eastbound side of the I-90 Seaport connector tunnel, which was closed due to failing ceiling bolts. That source said they continued through the section where Milena Del Valle was killed by collapsing ceiling panels two weeks ago.
The ambulance arrived at Boston Medical Center at 4:50 p.m., after a 24-minute ride from the tunnel entrance, Hooley said.
The victim was dead in the back of the ambulance, two sources said.
“We have an extra paramedic truck and an extra EMT truck to deal with traffic,” said Jamie Orsino, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association EMS division. “But the hospital is still on the other side of the tunnel. You could have 20 trucks in East Boston and you’re still not going to get to the hospital.”
The incident began just as rush hour was beginning, in some of the worst traffic conditions in the city’s recent history. Because of closures caused by the fatal Big Dig collapse, both the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels are experiencing severe backups.
Jon Carlisle, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Transportation, said the only quick means of travel available to paramedics is the dedicated Silver Line lane, which requires weaving through orange cones that currently block civilian vehicles.
“Emergency vehicles are always entitled to use the dedicated lane in appropriate situations, obviously medical emergencies would qualify,” Carlisle said yesterday.