Special to El Rrun-Rrun
If you read the glowing article in the local daily Friday on the intrepid Brownsville Fire Department and its readiness to handle COVID-19 cases and to transport patients to area hospitals, you would have thought you were in good hands if you came down with some of the symptoms.
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You read how the department under Chief Jarred Sheldon placed a paramedic in the dispatch center to screen calls related to COVID-19 and of using a dedicated ambulance to transport positive or suspicious COVID-19 cases for treatment at local hopitals.
Well, it turned out that the article my have been merely tailored to get positive public perception.
The reality was driven home today to a local family at about 4 p.m. when the mom, 42, and who was a former patient who had been treated for pneumonia and released, returned to the Valley Baptist Emergency Center Brownsville, 2073 E Ruben M Torres Blvd. showing symptoms characteristic of COVID-19 infection.
The staff, after performing all the precursory examinations could not positively say she was positive for COVID-19 lacking the appropriate testing capabilities, but everything, including a CAT scan, indicated a possible positive for the virus.
They called ahead to the parent hospital and had her admitted, had a room waiting for her, and completed the preliminaries so she wouldn't have to go through the same thing when she got there.
It was then decided that she should be transported to Valley Baptist Hospital and the Brownsville Fire Dept. Ambulance was called for transport.
That's when the family and the ER staff got an unpleasant - although not unexpected - response.
According to the family and other patients who were there, the request for a FD ambulance - the same on that Sheldon said was ready and available for all COVID-19 suspect patients - was denied at the direction of BFD medical director Dr. John Wells.
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Instead, the woman, who was experiencing chest tightness, was feverish, and alfeady had an intravenous tube connected to her arm, was told that she would have to have her family transport her there.
Unable to convince higher-ups that her IV would have to be removed and that having her entering a hospital lobby and mingling with medical staff and the public ere would expose people to infection, they were ordered to do as they were told.
Apparently, this is not the first time that BFD ambulance transport has been denied to COVID-19 patients there, say some hospital staffers. But it came as a rude surprise to her family, who couldn't believe what had happened.
And despite the strict requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) that participating hospitals may not transfer or discharge patients needing emergency treatment except with the informed consent or stabilization of the patient or when their condition requires transfer to a hospital better equipped to administer the treatment, the practice is par for the course, there, they say.
According to the EMTALA, once a patient is admitted, the liability for his or her safety or health is the responsibility of the hospital.
'The newspaper article was real pretty," said an observer. "But what happened to that woman is what is happening in reality."
If you read the glowing article in the local daily Friday on the intrepid Brownsville Fire Department and its readiness to handle COVID-19 cases and to transport patients to area hospitals, you would have thought you were in good hands if you came down with some of the symptoms.
You read how the department under Chief Jarred Sheldon placed a paramedic in the dispatch center to screen calls related to COVID-19 and of using a dedicated ambulance to transport positive or suspicious COVID-19 cases for treatment at local hopitals.Well, it turned out that the article my have been merely tailored to get positive public perception.
The reality was driven home today to a local family at about 4 p.m. when the mom, 42, and who was a former patient who had been treated for pneumonia and released, returned to the Valley Baptist Emergency Center Brownsville, 2073 E Ruben M Torres Blvd. showing symptoms characteristic of COVID-19 infection.
The staff, after performing all the precursory examinations could not positively say she was positive for COVID-19 lacking the appropriate testing capabilities, but everything, including a CAT scan, indicated a possible positive for the virus.
They called ahead to the parent hospital and had her admitted, had a room waiting for her, and completed the preliminaries so she wouldn't have to go through the same thing when she got there.
It was then decided that she should be transported to Valley Baptist Hospital and the Brownsville Fire Dept. Ambulance was called for transport.
That's when the family and the ER staff got an unpleasant - although not unexpected - response.
According to the family and other patients who were there, the request for a FD ambulance - the same on that Sheldon said was ready and available for all COVID-19 suspect patients - was denied at the direction of BFD medical director Dr. John Wells.
Instead, the woman, who was experiencing chest tightness, was feverish, and alfeady had an intravenous tube connected to her arm, was told that she would have to have her family transport her there.Unable to convince higher-ups that her IV would have to be removed and that having her entering a hospital lobby and mingling with medical staff and the public ere would expose people to infection, they were ordered to do as they were told.
Apparently, this is not the first time that BFD ambulance transport has been denied to COVID-19 patients there, say some hospital staffers. But it came as a rude surprise to her family, who couldn't believe what had happened.
And despite the strict requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) that participating hospitals may not transfer or discharge patients needing emergency treatment except with the informed consent or stabilization of the patient or when their condition requires transfer to a hospital better equipped to administer the treatment, the practice is par for the course, there, they say.
According to the EMTALA, once a patient is admitted, the liability for his or her safety or health is the responsibility of the hospital.
'The newspaper article was real pretty," said an observer. "But what happened to that woman is what is happening in reality."