Prince George's County, Maryland's budget cutting furloughs may have already triggered their first casualty. WUSA/9's Dave Statter reports that Largo, Md. resident Lawrence Waller didn't receive prompt advanced life support treatment for a cardiac arrest because the closest medic unit was out of service on a mandatory furlough.
Instead, WUSA reports that a basic ambulance unit from the same fire station less than two miles away was summoned along with a more advanced paramedic unit from the much further away Upper Marlboro. The 74-year-old man subsequently died at a local hospital. His widow Tennie Waller believes that the cardiac episode wouldn't have been fatal without the delay in advanced treatment.
Prince George's County fire department officialdom is already attempting to downplay the incident. While these cuts may prove to be just the tip of the bucket in our current wreck of an economy, county officials shouldn't be allowed to get away with their game of pretend where they make believe that the furloughs aren't degrading services to the point of life endangerment.
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WUSA/9: Wife angry over furloughed medics as husband dies, PG-Politics: PG furlough may have caused critical delayLabels: furlough, largo, maryland, medic, prince georges county
