COVINGTON COUNTY, Ala. — Pamela Smith has filed a lawsuit against private ambulance company Opportunity EMS, blaming them for the death of her husband Larry in 2015.
She says they were riding their motorcycle together when Larry began coughing. The spasm caused him to run off the roadway and collide with a tree, which lead to severe chest injuries.
Covington County Dispatchers were notified of the accident, and called Opportunity EMS to send one of their ambulances on a Code 3 run.
Due to the nature of their contract, as well as the extent of Smith’s injuries, Opportunity EMS was legally obligated to send a crew with a paramedic trained to provide advanced life support. They did not have any available.
Opportunity EMS instead sent an ambulance unit to the scene that did not have the required ALS paramedic on board.
According to Andalusia Star News, Fire Chief Cory Spurlin requested another ambulance to the scene upon seeing that the Opportunity EMS unit had arrived without properly trained paramedics.
In the time it took to summon another ambulance, Smith’s condition deteriorated.
Pamela Smith’s complaint against Opportunity EMS says the company’s failure to provide an ALS paramedic in the first place resulted in “the loss of essential time for giving assistance to the plaintiff’s decedent (Larry Smith).”
Smith, an off-duty Covington County Sheriff’s deputy, arrived at the emergency department with weak pulses after receiving CPR en route, and died shortly after.