Ariz. Parents Seek $4M After 911 Fiasco, Girl`s Death
Dec. 03--The family of a 10-year-old girl who died during an asthma attack after an error-ridden 911 call is asking for $4 million from the city of Tucson to settle a wrongful-death claim.
Parents Armando Lugo and Tracey Vollberg maintain their daughter could have lived if she'd received prompt medical care.
The two allege the city's negligence leaves it liable for the death of Twin Peaks Elementary student Janae Marie Lugo, who died in early June.
The claim makes note of some of the problems the city faced at the end of May when it switched systems for its 911 call center.
Among other problems, certain features, such as the automatic location identification feature, did not work consistently, and calls could not be monitored in real time by other 911 employees, which presumably could have served as a backstop against operator error.
City Attorney Mike Rankin confirmed the city had received the claim, but declined comment, "since it's a matter clearly headed toward litigation."
The claim says that Armando Lugo drove his daughter after school on June 1 to the Continental Ranch Urgent Care Center, 8333 N. Silverbell Road, arriving at 4 p.m.
The nearest ambulance was in the Northwest Fire District station that was only a few hundred yards away and is visible from the front door of the clinic.
Reuben Herrera, a city 911 staffer who has since been terminated, took the first call at 4:01 p.m. regarding an unconscious 10-year-old in respiratory arrest. The caller, a nurse from the care center, mistakenly gave the wrong address, saying 833 instead of 8333.
The automatic location didn't pop up on the dispatcher's screen. The dispatcher did not ask the caller to repeat and verify the address, as is protocol, but sent emergency crews to the initial, wrong address.
A second call came in at 4:07 p.m., by a care-center staffer perplexed because emergency crews still hadn't come, despite their usual prompt service, given their proximity.
She repeated the correct address this time, and the call display this time came up.
But the 911 operator merely reassured the caller that help was on the way, rather than checking on its status.
At 4:10 p.m., the third call came in. This time, the urgent-care staff said the units were "right across the street" and still weren't there. After the call disconnected, Northwest Fire was dispatched to the correct address and arrived at 4:12 p.m.
The girl coded at 4:30 p.m. and was pronounced brain dead on June 3.
The claim states Armando Lugo was tormented by having to watch helplessly as his daughter struggled to breathe. Her mother is receiving counseling and taking medication.
The claim indicates the city has 60 days to pay the damages and settle the claim.
Contact reporter Rhonda Bodfield at rbodfield@azstarnet.com or 573-4243.
Copyright 2011 - The Arizona Daily Star, Tucson
