NM ambulance provider may face lawsuit in boy’s death

September 21, 2009 04:49 AM

By Diana M. Alba
The Las Cruces Sun-News

LAS CRUCES, N.M. — The family of a 4-year-old Placitas boy who was accidentally run over by a vehicle and killed has threatened to sue Do-a Ana County, contending the ambulance service was negligent in its response.

Family members of the late Domonic Flores filed a tort claim notice last month because of the June 16 incident. Such notices are used to signal the intent to file a lawsuit

According to the notice, Domonic ran to greet his uncle, Joseph Flores, and father, Richard Flores, after they drove up to a home at 193 Placitas St. in Placitas, a community adjacent to Hatch. Domonic was “standing on the driver’s side in front of the rear tire,” when Joseph Flores drove away, the tort claim notice says.

In an interview, Domonic’s mother, Dasha Flores, 25, said she heard her husband yell immediately after the accident, asking for someone to call for help.

“I called 911 seconds after it happened,” she said.

But Dasha Flores said it took the ambulance service, American Medical Response, “a good hour” to actually reach her son, despite the fact the ambulance vehicle for Hatch is typically stationed about a quarter of a mile from her home.

Dasha Flores’ call went through at 6:46 p.m., according to Mesilla Valley Regional Dispatch Authority center records. The 911 log indicates an American Medical Response ambulance was dispatched at 6:51 p.m. and arrived at the scene at 7:26 p.m. — about 40 minutes after Dasha Flores’ call.

The log doesn’t indicate where the ambulance was dispatched from, though an ambulance medic reported at 7:06 p.m. that the vehicle was “passing Radium Springs.”

The records do indicate that personnel from the Garfield volunteer fire district arrived within seven minutes of Dasha Flores’ call, while Rincon firefighters arrived within 12 minutes.

American Medical Response corporate spokesman Doug Moore declined to answer questions because the issue might become the subject of a lawsuit.

According to the Flores’ tort claim notice, Richard Flores began CPR on Domonic, and the fire personnel later took over. The notice claims the boy had a pulse “the entire time CPR was performed.” Meanwhile, the family called the 911 center three more times and was told the ambulance was en route.

Dasha Flores said her son at one point was transported from her home a short distance down the street to the intersection with N.M. 26, in order to be closer to the landing site of a medical evacuation helicopter that was on its way. She said she recalls the helicopter arrived a short time before the ambulance, but took a few minutes to become situated.

Dasha Flores said her son was in a fire department vehicle — a former ambulance but not one outfitted with emergency response equipment — at the time of the ambulance’s arrival, and he was never moved to the American Medical Response vehicle. Plus, she said the two ambulance medics “didn’t do anything,” but instead stood by as volunteer personnel continued CPR.

“We were standing on the back of the rescue (vehicle) looking through the doors, and it was the volunteer firefighters who were doing everything,” she said.

In addition to a slow response, Dasha Flores claimed American Medical Response didn’t have the right equipment on hand to treat her son. A child-sized oxygen mask was needed, she said, but the ambulance was only equipped with an adult-sized mask.

American Medical Response is a private company contracted by Do-a Ana County to provide ambulance services countywide. Do-a Ana County spokesman Jess Williams also declined to comment because a lawsuit has been threatened.

Dasha Flores said while the ambulance’s response may have been less than one hour, it was “still too long,” especially considering how close she lives to Hatch. She described her son as a “happy and “very headstrong” boy, who liked hanging around with his two brothers and playing outdoors.

“I wake up every day and think of him and wish there was something I could do to change it,” she said.

Dasha Flores said her family in threatening to file a lawsuit aims to keep other people from experiencing the same problem.

“It’s the hardest thing to have to give your own son CPR for over an hour waiting for someone to show up,” she said. “How would they feel if that was their son?”