I-Team: Why was ambulance for senior citizen delayed?

OLMSTED TOWNSHIP , Ohio (WJW) — The FOX 8 I-Team has found a delay in the suburbs getting an ambulance to a senior citizen in a medical emergency.

So, we investigated.

Weeks ago, a 911 call came in for an ambulance in Olmsted Township.

“My mother-in-law fell, and she cracked her head open. She’s barely breathing,” a woman said.

The same woman called back to dispatch later, saying, “I called the paramedics 10 minutes ago, and they’re not here.”

Tony Quirino said his 78-year old-mother fell on the driveway, ending up with a serious head injury. Quirino said she had to wait for help under a scorching sun.

“Everybody that was there, including my neighbors, said it seems like it was forever for them to get there,” he told the I-Team.

The I-Team found the ambulance response took 14 minutes. That response is nearly three times longer than the Olmsted Township response time target.

“Whether it’s my mother, or my neighbor, or anybody else, that’s a lot of time to go by. Something a lot worse could have happened,” Quirino added.

We went to Olmsted Township Fire Chief Matthew Schneider and asked why it took so long to get to that call.

He told us no one was in the township fire station at the time of that call. The crew had gone to North Olmsted for a debriefing, or follow-up meeting, on response to a recent fire there.

The chief said his crew was ready to respond to emergencies in Olmsted Township — but he agreed this call took a long time.

“As far as the 14 minutes, sir, that is not what we want. We are always striving to increase. Seconds matter. Seconds lead to minutes, and minutes are what we’re looking to save,” the chief said.

The I-Team also reviewed dispatch recordings and notes. We noticed no mention of calling for EMS from another fire department nearby. Schneider argued there’s no way to say for sure if calling in an outside ambulance would have saved time.

“I’ve talked to everyone involved in this incident, and everyone of them thought that they were doing this the right way. We are trying to do the best we can for the community,” he said.

Quirino is still not satisfied.

“I would like their response time to be much better because you’re dealing with somebody’s life, at that point,” he said.

He added his mother spent time in intensive care after the fall, but she is doing better now.

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