# Cop stops car rushing to hospital, refuses to call ambulance, girl dies



## bstone (Sep 1, 2010)

> Sources say he has been suspended for failing to take proper police action.
> 
> Police Commissioner Ray Kelly says all NYPD officers are trained in CPR, and have radios to call for ambulances.


http://www.ny1.com/content/124731/n...-who-allegedly-denied-first-aid-to-dying-girl

This sort of story both breaks my heart and also makes me angry.


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## CAOX3 (Sep 1, 2010)

This story is actually posted here.

http://emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=19667&page=3

Thanks for the update.

So he was suspended for not performing CPR?

So there mandated, do they supply them with the neccesary equipment?


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## bstone (Sep 1, 2010)

Seemingly suspended for not preforming CPR and for not even bothering to call an ambulance.


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## Aidey (Sep 1, 2010)

It would be interesting to hear why he reportedly didn't call for an ambulance. The parents were obviously very very very panicked and they had already decided against waiting for an ambulance once. Did he offer and they refused and started to drive away? Did he get caught up in their emotions?


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## bstone (Sep 8, 2010)

Followup http://www.ny1.com/content/125087/family-calls-on-nypd-to-mandate-cpr-refresher-courses



> The law would also punish officers who refuse to give emergency medical assistance.



It's only proposed, but that law might change things a bit.


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## Shishkabob (Sep 8, 2010)

I hope the proposed legislation burns a horrible death and fails to pass, if for nothing more than the fact that it was the idiocy of her parents, and not the ignorance of a lone officer, that caused the death of their child, and that no, the officer doing CPR would NOT have saved her life contrary to what they claim.



The day civilians can demand police do CPR is the day we can demand all civilians do CPR as well.


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## bstone (Sep 8, 2010)

Praytell, Linuss, how it was the fault of her parents for the little girl's death. Because they birthed her, possibly?

The police department felt the officer was at fault, at least partially 





> Officer Alfonso Mendez was already suspended for failing to take proper police action.



He pretended not to know CPR and refused to call an ambulance. How are either of those the fault of the girl's parents?


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## Shishkabob (Sep 8, 2010)

bstone--

Her parents refused to wait for an ambulance.  They also decided to put everyone else's life in danger by driving wildly down a one way street.



Yes, the officer was wrong by not calling for an ambulance, but even had he, guess what, history tells us they would have run off again saying they couldn't wait, just like the first time they refused to wait for the ambulance.  But no, he was not wrong by not doing CPR.  Would it have been good?  Sure.  But not wrong.



They're demanding an officer who has probably NEVER done CPR in his life to do CPR, but refused to wait for the medical professionals who have done CPR countless times, have the tools and the medications?  Yeah... her parents did nothing wrong...


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## bstone (Sep 8, 2010)

Linuss said:


> Her parents refused to wait for an ambulance.  They also decided to put everyone else's life in danger by driving wildly down a one way street.


So take them to court for trying to get their daughter speedy medical care.




> Yes, the officer was wrong by not calling for an ambulance, but even had he, guess what, history tells us they would have run off again saying they couldn't wait, just like the first time they refused to wait for the ambulance.  But no, he was not wrong by not doing CPR.  Would it have been good?  Sure.  But not wrong.


They would have sped off? What are you talking about? The cop did not call an ambulance, didn't do CPR and the parents stood there and watched their daughter die. They clearly did not speed off.





> They're demanding an officer who has probably NEVER done CPR in his life to do CPR, but refused to wait for the medical professionals who have done CPR countless times, have the tools and the medications?  Yeah... her parents did nothing wrong...


How can they be blamed for the cop both not called an ambulance AND pretending not to know CPR.

At least his superiors in the police dept recognized his actions directly contributed to her death and suspended him. I bet the DA will have a field day prosecuting him for manslaughter.


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## Shishkabob (Sep 8, 2010)

bstone said:


> So take them to court for trying to get their daughter speedy medical care.



Better yet-- how about they get denied any law suit that is clear to stem from this?




> They would have sped off? What are you talking about? The cop did not call an ambulance, didn't do CPR and the parents stood there and watched their daughter die. They clearly did not speed off.



You obviously didn't read the original story...

"The mom said she pleaded to be allowed to continue to Long Island College Hospital while the girl was "still breathing," but he tried to box her in.

Good Samaritan Scott Voloshin, who performed CPR on Briana *on the way to the hospital*

Whoever stopped Ojeda eventually *followed her to the hospital.* "

She initially fled to the hospital, going down the wrong way of a street and hitting a car.  Then, after stopped, she fled to the hospital after the officer didn't help.  Again, placing the public at great risk.





> How can they be blamed for the cop both not called an ambulance AND pretending not to know CPR.


  They can be blamed for not waiting for the ambulance.




> I bet the DA will have a field day prosecuting him for manslaughter.



Manslaughter means you have a legal duty to do something, didn't, and it caused a death.

As of right now there is no law requiring cops to do anything in that situation, just department policy, which is why the family is pushing for that law.  

If it was illegal, he would have been fired, not suspended.


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## bstone (Sep 8, 2010)

In Linuss world cops can do no wrong. Ever.


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## Shishkabob (Sep 8, 2010)

bstone said:


> In Linuss world cops can do no wrong. Ever.



You CHOOSE to ignore pertinent information when it goes against your view, don't you?





Linuss said:


> Yes, the officer was wrong by not calling for an ambulance


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## Aidey (Sep 8, 2010)

Yes, the officer could have done differently, but as they were within sight of the hospital he eventually let them continue on, and then opted against ticketing them when he found out the girl had died. 

You could assign some blame to the officer, but much more blame lies with the parents. They called an ambulance, chose not to wait for it and drove recklessly through NYC, eventually hitting a parked car while driving the wrong way down a one way street. 

From what the news said, the officer had been trained in CPR once, while in the academy 5 years ago. No where did it say he had a current CPR certification. I also have not been able to find information about whether he offered to call an ambulance or not, and if so, what the parents said to that.

Edit: Also, 1 CPR class 5 years ago does not prepare someone to do CPR on a child with the parents panicking right there. I don't think the officer claimed he didn't know CPR as some malicious action, I think that he likely was overwhelmed and had no idea where to start and was not comfortable doing CPR.


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## CAOX3 (Sep 10, 2010)

My experience is parents dont always make the best decisions when faced with an emergency involving their children.  The cop should have recognised the severity of the situation, thats his job and well within its description.  I dont have a problem with him pulling them over, but identifying an emergency and acting accordingly shouldnt be to much to ask

Yes every cop should be CPR certified, trained, outfitted with the neccesary equipment including defibs and required to render care.  There are more of them then us, they usually are there anyway and before us. We all know what the evidence states, early interventions save lives.

As far as this story goes, some better decison making and maybe we have a better outcome.   It isnt always somebodys fault. Children sometimes die and yes it sucks, assigning blame isnt going to bring anyone back but planning for future incidents may save a few from suffering the same fate.


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## Aidey (Sep 10, 2010)

The officer did allow the family to continue to the hospital, I have not yet heard how long of a delay was caused.


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## jjesusfreak01 (Sep 10, 2010)

Even if nothing else he should have called for an ambulance. He's an officer, so he can hold them there until the ambulance gets there, or he can let them go on to the hospital (if its right around the corner, otherwise they stay). An officer has to be able to analyze the situation and make an informed decision that they think will best benefit everyone. Holding the people there and not calling for an ambulance is the one wrong choice out of three.


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## Aidey (Sep 10, 2010)

But he did let them continue to the hospital, he didn't detain them there indefinitely. 

Also, I have a feeling had he detained them and forced them to wait for an ambulance and the girl had still died (which is likely) he would be facing even more backlash.


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## Shishkabob (Sep 10, 2010)

And as callous as this will make me sound, the lives of many innocent bystanders outweigh the life of 1 child.

It's bad enough the lady hit a parked car on a one way street... what would have happened had she injured, or God forbid, killed someone?  The cop would be getting in trouble for NOT holding them.




He was in a no-win situation due to the way some of you think.  Because apparently the mom shares no fault for refusing to wait for medical care... in the whole < 8 minutes it would have taken....


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