Collier County EMS Facing Negligence Lawsuit
This month, the Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency oversight filed a complaint against Collier County EMS in regards to a case from 2012. The complaint states that on December 14, 2012 the Collier County EMS negligently failed to respond to an initial set of alert tones that went off for a call regarding 25-year-old Chaz Minard who went into cardiac arrest. As a result, the response time was delayed by six minutes and Chaz died six days later in the hospital.
An investigation into the situation conducted by Four in Your Corner revealed that the EMS crew members may not have heard the initial tones due to someone in the building vacuuming, which ultimately resulted in their delay in response time. The Florida Department of Health’s Bureau of Emergency oversight also states that Collier EMS failed to report the violation of delayed response time after it occurred. Collier County could face over $700,000 in fines if they are found at fault for these violations. Collier County EMS Chief Walter Kopka stated that the he and the department could not comment on any of the pending litigation. The issue is supposed to be discussed at an upcoming Board of County Commissioners meeting.
Chaz Minard’s father, Charles Minard, stated that he and his family are still suffering even two years later. He stated that the ongoing issues with Collier County EMS has prevented the family from finding a sense of closure. They feel that without the six-minute delay in response time, that there was a chance that Chaz could still be breathing and alive today. The Minards stated that they hope that no other families will have to endure the pain they are going through. Elsie Minard, Chaz’s mother, stated that they just want “justice for our son and protection for people. This could happen to anybody it could have happened to anybody and it still can until they fix it.”
What is Negligence?
The main argument in the case regarding Chaz Minard’s death is that the Collier County EMS Department was negligent in its response time and that negligence is what ultimately caused Chaz Minard’s death. The definition of negligence is a failure to behave with the level of care that someone of ordinary intelligence would have exercised under the same circumstances. Negligence usually takes the form of an action of another person or an omission of an action when a person had a duty to act. In order to establish negligence, you must show that there was an existence of a legal duty to exercise reasonable care, someone failed to exercise that duty of care, because of that failure there was a physical injury, and the injury was directly related to that negligent act.
Contact Our Attorneys for Assistance with Your Case
If you were injured and believe that it was due to the negligent acts or omissions of another person, don’t hesitate to reach out to an experienced attorney for help. Contact the Fort Lauderdale attorneys at Boone & Davis today and let us evaluate your case to see if you have a viable claim. It is our goal to secure you the compensation that you deserve.
