Associated Press
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The lawyer for the family of a Pawtucket woman who died while waiting for an ambulance has notified the city that he intends to file a $4 million lawsuit.
Attorney Stephen Rappaport says Maria Carvalho would have survived had an ambulance been promptly dispatched after fire department dispatchers received an initial 911 call.
The incident unfolded last September when Carvalho, a kidney patient, began bleeding through a shunt used for dialysis. Her husband ran to a neighbor’s house to call 911. But emergency recordings show the dispatcher refused to send help, saying the call had to come from Carvalho’s own house.
An ambulance was dispatched nearly 15 minutes later, after Carvalho’s husband called 911 again.
Rookie firefighters Sean Mooney and Christopher Jeffrey were later fired. They have filed a grievance seeking to get their jobs back.