Feb 12, 2008 6:54 am US/Eastern
Philadelphia To Add Additional Medical Units
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
If you dial "911" in Philadelphia for a medical emergency, you may soon have a better chance of surviving.
CBS 3 has learned that the mayor and fire commissioner will announce a major upgrade of fire department medical units on Tuesday.
The move comes following an exclusive
CBS 3 I-Team Investigation.
During the early morning hours of New Years, Holmesburg resident Deborah Payne, 55, called 911 and was fighting to stay alive, but there were no medics immediately available to send.
On Tuesday, five weeks after Payne died, Mayor Michael Nutter and Fire Commissioner Lloyd Ayers are taking action they hope will prevent a tragedy like this from happening again.
It took nearly two hours for an Advance Life Support unit to reach Payne inside her apartment. A fire department report stated that on New Years, traditionally the busiest for EMS calls, the city simply ran out of medics.
The failure prompted a demand for an investigation by Councilwoman Joan Krajewski and Mayor Nutter.
"We want to make sure that we are getting to people as quickly as possible," Mayor Nutter said during a January interview with CBS 3.
Sources said the city will add five additional medic units, all Advanced Life Support, and 40 additional medics.
Sadly, even as Payne was dying, medics at a private ambulance only a few blocks from Payne's residence were available, but city policy would not permit them to be called.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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