FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) - A man staying at a Fort Worth
hospital's mental health unit died after staffers called for an
ambulance to take him to the emergency room in the main hospital
nearby.
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports the staff at the
mental-health unit at John Peter Smith Hospital summoned the
ambulance instead of doctors from the nearby hospital. The
ambulance took 15 minutes to arrive, while a hospital emergency
team could have been at his side in about five minutes.
The Texas Department of State Health Services said the decision
last month violated state law, so it fined JPS $7,500. State
investigators say the JPS policy for emergency care at the
psychiatric facility amounted to performing CPR and calling 911,
which is flawed. Instead, the main hospital should have offered
resuscitation services at the JPS Trinity Springs Pavilion.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)