Patient Flees Texas ER, Jumps From Helipad
A patient at Good Shepherd Kilgore reportedly lit a trash can on fire in his treatment room Tuesday and in the ensuing confusion fled the emergency room, bypassed two security barricades and jumped from the facility's helipad to the ground 25-feet below.
Details about the man are limited due to his ongoing treatment at the hospital.
While the ground slopes steeply at the rear of the facility, the back parking lot, ambulance entry and helipad are level with the hospital's first floor. Ringing the structure, a chest-level security fence provides one safety barrier and a horizontal four-foot wide chain-link catwalk offers additional fall-protection in case an individual climbs the fence.
After setting the small wastebasket on fire inside the ER (quickly extinguished by hospital personnel), the patient ran through the back doors of the facility, climbed the fence north of the helipad, crossed the chain-link net and jumped down on to a paved maintenance walkway.
Injured from the fall, the man received treatment where he landed then was transported by ambulance back to the ER.
"He's currently in good condition," GSMC spokesperson Victoria Ashworth said. "Due to patient confidentiality, the hospital's only able to share current condition."
Copyright 2013 - Kilgore News Herald, Texas
