Photo: GoFundMe
A family in Wisconsin is seeking answers following the death of 25-year-old Tashonna Ward — she died on Jan. 2 about an hour after leaving the emergency room, where she was seen for shortness of breath and chest pain. After an initial exam, she was told to wait for treatment — she posted on Facebook that she was told the wait time could be between two and six hours.
According to theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel, Ward, a day care teacher from Milwaukee, had checked into the ER at Froedtert Hospital at 4:58 p.m to seek medical treatment for her symptoms.
Ward left the hospital at 7:35 p.m. after reportedly waiting 2½ hours, her family told theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel.Less than an hour later, she collapsed and was transported back to that same hospital in an ambulance. She arrived unresponsive at 9:07 p.m and was soon pronounced dead, theSentinelreported.
A spokesperson for Froedtert Hospital provided a statement to theMilwaukee Journal Sentinel:“The family is in our thoughts and has our deepest sympathy. We cannot comment further at this time.” The hospital did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
During her time at Froedtert,Ward posted several times on Facebookabout her frustrations over the long wait time.
“I really hope I’m not in this emergency room all night,” she wrote at 5:45 p.m.
“[I don’t know] what they can do about the emergency system at Froedtert but they damn sure need to do something,” she wrote at 7:35 p.m. “I been here since 4:30 something for shortness of breath, and chest pains for them to just say it’s a two to SIX hour wait to see a dr.”
ProPublica compiled wait time data from October 2017 to October 2018. Though the urgency of the condition and arrival time are wide variants, patient wait time before being admitted to the hospital averaged 4 hours and 44 minutes at Froedtert’s emergency room. About 3 percent of patients left without being seen, their data said.
source: people.com
