Post by Logan on Jul 7, 2016 23:47:09 GMT -6
The death toll continues to climb for a reservation community that has gone seven months without an emergency department.
Eric Emery, program director of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Ambulance Service, on Thursday said nine people have died in the backs of ambulances since December when the government agency that runs the area hospital announced that it would divert patients from the Rosebud hospital's emergency department.
Probes by another federal agency found that the hospital had dangerous deficiencies and reports indicate that employees at the facility hand-washed surgical instruments for six months while a sterilizer was broken, didn't communicate that a patient had an untreated case of tuberculosis and failed to monitor a patient who delivered a baby prematurely on a bathroom floor.
In the months since the Indian Health Service (IHS) hospital was shuttered, ambulances have rushed patients 44 to 55 miles away to the nearest hospitals in Valentine, Neb., Martin and Winner. And the long journeys have taken their toll on patients and medical personnel.
Read more: www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/07/07/death-toll-mounts-7-months-after-er-shuttered/86783160/
Eric Emery, program director of the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Ambulance Service, on Thursday said nine people have died in the backs of ambulances since December when the government agency that runs the area hospital announced that it would divert patients from the Rosebud hospital's emergency department.
Probes by another federal agency found that the hospital had dangerous deficiencies and reports indicate that employees at the facility hand-washed surgical instruments for six months while a sterilizer was broken, didn't communicate that a patient had an untreated case of tuberculosis and failed to monitor a patient who delivered a baby prematurely on a bathroom floor.
In the months since the Indian Health Service (IHS) hospital was shuttered, ambulances have rushed patients 44 to 55 miles away to the nearest hospitals in Valentine, Neb., Martin and Winner. And the long journeys have taken their toll on patients and medical personnel.
Read more: www.argusleader.com/story/news/2016/07/07/death-toll-mounts-7-months-after-er-shuttered/86783160/