PORTLAND, Ore. — An officer responding to a car accident in the Portland Adventist Medical Center parking lot was told to call an ambulance when he went into the hospital’s emergency room seeking assistance. Hospital officials said that calling for an ambulance in the event of a car accident is standard protocol, even if the accident occurred on hospital grounds.
Birgilio Marin-Fuentes struck a pole in the parking lot with his car, OPB News reports. A paramedic was sent to the scene only to find that a hospital staff member was already performing CPR.
The miscommunication between police and ER staff made it unclear as to whether any hospital personnel would assist the Marin-Fuentes. Marin-Fuentes, who was unconscious and not breathing after the crash, died at the scene.
The Main-Fuentes family attorney told the news source that the hospital should have sent a doctor to the scene, not an emergency medical technician.