'AITA for telling a property manager her tenant's death is her fault entirely?'
"AITA for telling a property manager her tenants death is on her hands?"
ThunderChickenSix5 writes:
I am an EMT who works for a private ambulance company that is contracted to provide 911 services in a busy city. Last week my unit was sent to an unknown medical run with the only information given being that a person was on the phone with family stating they didn’t feel good before there was a thud and the phone went silent.
After calling back several times with no answer, the family called 911. The address given was less than a mile away in an apartment complex, so our on-scene time was under five minutes, with the fire department arriving thirty seconds behind us.
We got to the door, knocked, and called out but got no response. We tried the door, but it was locked, along with all the windows. The fire department captain had dispatch send the family’s number to his cell phone to inquire if there was a hidden key somewhere. The family told us that the main office should have a spare. One of the firefighters went over to ask for it.
When the firefighter returned, he told us that the manager wanted to talk to whoever was in charge. She explained that she could not give us the key without the tenant's permission. The captain told her the tenant was having a medical emergency and could not give that permission.
After several minutes of back and forth, the captain told her to either give us the key or we were going to break down the door. The manager said she wanted to help us but did not want to be held liable if she let us in and there was no emergency. Frustrated, the fire department captain told his crew to get the tools ready.
Due to safety reasons and protocol, the fire department is unable to perform forcible entry without the sheriffs present to clear the scene unless there are exigent circumstances, such as hearing someone asking for help or seeing a person down from a window.
Because it was a super busy day, it took the sheriffs about fifteen minutes to show up. The second the sheriffs arrived, the fire department went to work on the door and had it open in ten seconds.
As soon as we went in, we found the patient on the floor unresponsive, breathing in agony, and in an abnormal heart rhythm, which soon turned into no rhythm. The fire department and my paramedic partner started CPR while I ran to the ambulance to get more equipment.
As I exited the door, the manager asked if everything was okay. I told her no, everything was not okay. I returned with the equipment to the apartment, plugged myself in where I was needed, and we proceeded to work on the patient for over an hour before calling it.
As we packed up our gear and used equipment, I went outside to get a sheet to cover the deceased. The sheriff asked if we were going to be transporting the patient to the hospital, to which I replied no, he was gone. We had spent twenty minutes arguing with the manager to give us the spare key, but she didn’t, so now this guy is dead because of it.
Unknown to me, the manager was standing around the corner just out of sight and heard my comment. She let out a very loud gasp and started to cry before walking down the hallway to her office. I was told to apologize or be written up by a supervisor, but I stand by my statement and refused. Am I the a&*#ole?
Here are the top rated comments.
Salty_Thing3144 says:
NTA. Push back legally against your supervisor so she cannot write you up.
curiousblondwonders says:
NTA but I'd get your union rep involved if your supervisor is saying "apologize or write up" but sad reality is you're right- the manager wasted valuable time saving efforts that if the family wanted too, they could sue her for failure to assist medical care.
Funnyhoe says:
NTA. What you said was the truth, not just an opinion. If you were able to get to the person right away you had a better chance to save them. The manager decided it was better to save herself on liability then opening the door to a suspected medical emergency (I’m assuming if it wasn’t an emergency your team would’ve explained why you were there first).
Runnrgirl says:
NTA. Nurse here and you are 100% correct. Had you gotten in even 5 min earlier the patient’s chance would have been exponentially higher.