NEW YORK — The two Jamaica Hospital EMTs who wrongly declared a woman dead, possibly contributing to her death, were suspended from the 911 system and have restricted access to patients awaiting the results of an investigation.
The EMTs responded to a 911 call for a person with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. When they arrived at the residence, they found Diana Rodriguez, 32, pulseless, declared her dead and called off further medical response.
Later police arrived at the scene and, as they prepared the apartment for investigators, they heard gurgling sounds and wheezing from the woman.
Rodriguez arrived at the hospital about two hours after the incident occurred. She died of her injuries around 8 p.m., approximately 11 hours after shooting herself.
Officials said the victim’s family wants to know how the two EMTs could have made “such a horrible mistake,” the Queens Gazette reported.