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Call to ER went unanswered for a time
Friday, May 22, 2009
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A dispatcher had to call St. Mary's Hospital's emergency room four times Sunday before reaching a staff member to inform them of an incoming life-or-death patient.
According to a county dispatch report, the emergency room was not answering on either the radio or the telephone just after 1 p.m. as a Hollywood Rescue Squad was inbound from the Wildewood neighborhood with a priority 1 patient who was "cold to the touch" and not breathing. The dispatcher "finally got through on the fourth call and advised the hospital of the incoming priority 1and [told] them to listen to the radio," according to the report.
Hospital spokeswoman Holly Meyer said the emergency room director investigated the incident and acknowledged that the dispatcher had a "slight difficulty getting through, but it did not interfere with patient care." The St. Mary's County Department of Emergency Services said it is not filing a complaint about the incident.
