There's an interesting controversy brewing in Detroit where the family of a man who died Saturday evening, is upset because EMTs didn't remove his body. James Rogers, 75, died of natural causes. Police were notified but did not respond for three hours, and it was two more hours before the funeral home could remove the body.
Regarding the five hour wait, Roger's daughter Jamie Allen is quoted as saying "You all just took too long".
Do people really believe that our EMS system should be responsible for moving dead bodies? There are some pretty significant ramifications if our role is to expand in such a way that will meet this family's expectations. Here's a video on the story.
Actually, the only person that suggests EMS shares any blame is the new anchor. If you watch the report without the introduction, it sounds like the family’s beef lies exclusively with the cops’ three-hour response time. The reporter doesn’t place blame on EMS, either, saying that EMS “quickly called police” when it was determined the patient was dead.
Although there are certainly exceptions to the rule, I think it’s still an easy sell to convince folks that ambulances are for the living — not to haul away the the dead. It sounds like Detroit Police are the ones that have some explaining to do.
Michael
Good point- I went back and listened again and you are correct. The family does not specifically blame EMS on the tape – but the reporter pretty clearly says “and the family is accusing EMS and Detroit police of leaving his body on the floor for hours” – so it may be the reporters putting that spin on it. However, the family’s anger seems to be that “someone from government” should have taken the body off their hands faster.
I agree – Detroit PD has some explaining to do, but EMS comes away looking insensitive when the truth is it is not part of our (fire/EMS) mission. How do people’s unreasonable expectations get started? I wonder if stories like this – implying that EMS shared some responsibility for not transporting the body – help foster that misunderstanding.
I have to question how much the delay had to do with manning issues within the PD? If the PD is suffering from budget issues and cutbacks as seriously as the FD is than I can imagine this being a back burner issue for an over worked staff. What little I know of Detroit can be summed up quite easily: poverty, crime, and massive government debt. Three problems stretching all emergency services to the breaking point.
I’m not saying its acceptable, simply that I can see how it might have happened. These agencies must be very near their breaking points.
Shane – that is the irony. Do more with less… we have been told to do more with less for my entire career, but when the inevitable byproduct of chronic underfunding occurs – it doesn’t seem to be recognized as an issue.
I was struck by how indignant the family was in the video. Can the public really be so oblivious to the impact of cuts on services – fire, EMS, or police?
I grew up in Detroit, where my dad was a cop, and still work as a FF/Medic in the Detroit area. Believe me, the DPD is so shortstaffed that the fact they got a cop to show up at all is a miracle. This situation is typical of the entitlement mentality of Detroiters who expect the government to provide them every service for free, and the media’s propensity to jump on the bandwagon without investigating beyond the accusation. Note that the reporter never mentioned any attempt to contact the PD or EMS for their side of the story, where they might have been told that body removal is not the city’s responsibility.
John
I was thinking the same thing – and I am glad you pointed it out. Why would the reporter not get the other side? They slam EMS and PD in a way that would lead the un-informed public to believe that the delay was inexcusable, but fail to do their due diligence in getting to the truth…
My original concern was that stories like that create an expectation in the public’s mind that it is an EMS responsibility to promptly remove bodies – but perhaps a bigger concern is the assumption that municipalities can continue to cut chronically underfunded police and fire departments without a noticeable impact on services.
This is a prime example of the problems rampant in our society today, people expect the government agencies to deal with every problem and do it instantly! People have grown to expect that when they call 911 that there are unlimited resources and help is always right around the corner. This incident is a prime example of unreasonable expectations and a journalist doing nothing more than fanning the fire to create a news story. We need to do a much better job of teaching people what services can be and are provided AND HOW MUCH THEY COST!
Well said Mark. Thanks
Normal , regular people call a funeral home to take care of the body. Paramedics stated the cause of death appeared natural and their findings age,medical history,medications,general observations of scene, body,last time he was seen alive and most importantly his primary Doctors name. All of this information would have been documented via telemetry.And the time of death would have been the time the paramedic made contact via taped telemetry. The duty of the police officer would have been just a formality to “officially” record the death. His primary doctor or E.R. attending M.D.(who paramedic contacted via telemetry) could have been used on death certificate. This gentleman did not require transport to the morgue or require an autopsy, no police “investigation” was necessary. I would and have as a Fire Department Paramedic respectfully placed patient on a sofa or bed to await police, and told the family this was their time to spend with him and quietly say good bye. As well as time to contact a funeral home and other family members. This in order to buy time for police BUT the police response was ridiculously long.