By EMS1 Staff
HAVERSTRAW , N.Y. — An ambulance agency under fire for failing to notify police that a girl drowned in a pool claims they followed protocol in the situation.
Westchester News reported that after a 7-year-old girl drowned in a private pool, private EMS agency Hatzolah Ambulance responded and did not notify the police of the incident.
“Hatzolah’s ambulance arrived on the scene and, as is the protocol for those situations, rapidly transported the child to Nyack Hospital, which is the closest hospital,” Hatzolah spokesman Mordy Eisenberg said.
The girl died over a week later at the hospital, and it wasn’t until then that the police were notified of the situation.
Eisenberg said there was no suspicion of abuse in the incident and that the crew followed protocol.
“The law explicitly trusts the members to make that decision as to whether or not something may have happened,” he said.
Officials said the tragedy highlights a serious problem in the current guidelines and that a proposed law would require that police be notified of calls. The current law says EMS providers only have to notify police in cases of suspected abuse.