Dying Man Robbed in ER Waiting Room, Could this be one of us?

[Debbie Shafer]

Philadelphia (AP)-  A school counselor suffering an apparent heart attack died in Philadelphia emergency room after waiting nearly 80 minutes for help-  and a trio of homeless drug addicts nearby stole his watch, instead of seeking aid, police said.

Joaquin Rivera, 63 died before seeing a triage nurse at Atria Health's Frankford Campus over the weekend, police said.

Rivera, a musician and acitivist in the city's Latino community, had spent more than 30 years working as a bilingual counselor at an inner-city high school.

"We're all destroyed."  A Guy like that, for him to leave us the way that he did- and with what happened to him-everybody is destroyed,"  said Jesse Bermudez, a friend and fellow musician.  Rivera's cruel end was captured on security videotape, much like the June 2009 death of Esmin Green, who died on a hospital floor as staffers at King's County Hospital Center in Brooklyn ignored her.  Green's family recently settled a lawsuit against the city for $2million.

Rivera had walked to the Northeast Philadelphia hospital late Saturday from his home a few blocks away after pain started shooting down his right side.  He registered at 10:45 p.m. and took a seat, chatting for about 20 minutes with two men and a woman nearby.   Based on witness accounts, police believe Rivera passed out about an hour later:  Security video then shows one of the men steal his watch and briefly pass it to the other.   

There is no resistance from Mr. Rivera at all, which is why we believe hes probably dead.  "Theres no stirring from him," said Captain Jack McGinnis, a city Detective.   The Second suspect is then seen by doctors, and a security guard arrives to ask his sleeping companions to leave.  A witness reports that Rivera may be dead.   At 12:04 a.m. he is pronounced dead.

Point:  The man waited 80 minutes which did mean his death.  How in the heck are we going to add millions to the system, and get good health care??   Guess what color the Undesireables were?   

[The One and Only Mo]

This is very sad.

[nessuno]

Philadelphia (AP)-  A school counselor suffering an apparent heart attack died in Philadelphia emergency room after waiting nearly 80 minutes for help-  and a trio of homeless drug addicts nearby stole his watch, instead of seeking aid, police said.

Joaquin Rivera, 63 died before seeing a triage nurse at Atria Health's Frankford Campus over the weekend, police said.

Rivera, a musician and acitivist in the city's Latino community, had spent more than 30 years working as a bilingual counselor at an inner-city high school.

"We're all destroyed."  A Guy like that, for him to leave us the way that he did- and with what happened to him-everybody is destroyed,"  said Jesse Bermudez, a friend and fellow musician.  Rivera's cruel end was captured on security videotape, much like the June 2009 death of Esmin Green, who died on a hospital floor as staffers at King's County Hospital Center in Brooklyn ignored her.  Green's family recently settled a lawsuit against the city for $2million.

Rivera had walked to the Northeast Philadelphia hospital late Saturday from his home a few blocks away after pain started shooting down his right side.  He registered at 10:45 p.m. and took a seat, chatting for about 20 minutes with two men and a woman nearby.   Based on witness accounts, police believe Rivera passed out about an hour later:  Security video then shows one of the men steal his watch and briefly pass it to the other.   

There is no resistance from Mr. Rivera at all, which is why we believe hes probably dead.  "Theres no stirring from him," said Captain Jack McGinnis, a city Detective.   The Second suspect is then seen by doctors, and a security guard arrives to ask his sleeping companions to leave.  A witness reports that Rivera may be dead.   At 12:04 a.m. he is pronounced dead.

Point:  The man waited 80 minutes which did mean his death.  How in the heck are we going to add millions to the system, and get good health care??   Guess what color the Undesireables were?   

The goal for door to balloon time(when a patient hits the emergency dept. to the time they reach a cardiac cath lab) for an ST elevation MI (a person having a heart attack with changes on their EKG)  is 90 minutes or less.  Why was he sitting in the waiting room at all, if his chief complaint was chestpain?  He should have at least had an EKG done.
People are going to be horrified by the degradation of health care for all.
As for him being robbed, no surprise there. 

[The One and Only Mo]

Philly's got a lot of shratzes, no?