Poll:
Are your satisfied with Adventist Hospital's explanation of their medical response?
PORTLAND -- Adventist Medical Center held a press conference Tuesday to share surveillance video that hospital officials said would clearly show they responded correctly to a recent crash in the parking garage. However, the family of the man who died still was not convinced.
The video showed the emergency room's charge nurse dispatching a paramedic to the parking lot 46 seconds after police alerted her that a man had crashed and needed help.
Raw: Adventist surveillance video
Attorneys for the family of Marin-Fuentes said in a statement that the press conference raised more questions than it answered, citing officer statements that 10 officers were at the scene and "none observed any Adventist medical personnel responding ..."
The paramedic happened to be in the emergency room because he had just brought in another patient. The video shows him leaving immediately, getting equipment out of his ambulance parked outside, and then responding on foot to the man in distress in the parking lot. When he arrived, police were already performing CPR on Birgilio Marin-Fuentes.
Then, emergency room personnel arrived and Marin-Fuentes was transported into the ER on a gurney while still getting CPR. However, he could not be revived and was pronounced dead in the hospital after almost 25 minutes of CPR efforts.
The officers who first arrived on the scene have said that they were told to call 9-1-1 after an officer ran to the emergency room of the hospital from the accident, just 125 feet away in the hospital's parking garage.
Portland police were openly critical of the hospital response and people across the nation expressed outrage after news of the death circulated in media reports. Many questioned why the hospital didn't send its own staff out to help sooner.
More: Police told to call ambulance after crash at hospital
“I’ve reviewed video and based on this, it seems clear that the hospital staff was preparing a response to aid Mr. Fuentes," Portland Police Chief Mike Reese said during Tuesday's press conference.
Later Tuesday morning, attorneys representing Marin-Fuentes' family released a statement that said they believe "the press conference raised more questions that it answered."
"The police reports show ten officers made it to the scene prior to Mr. Marin-Fuentes being taken into the ER, and none observed any Adventist medical personnel responding to a man who was 'unconscious and not breathing' within 260 feet of the ER entrance on the Adventist campus," the attorneys stated.
More: Read entire statement from family's attorneys
Tom Russell, the president and CEO of Adventist Medical Center, said while he believes the video showed that the hospital responded reasonably, they have made some changes to protocol following the incident to improve communication efforts.
"I wish that we would have said, 'we'll be right there with you.. and we will dispatch an ambulance,'" Russell said.
“Everyone who responded to the incident Thursday morning did everything they could have and everything they should have to save this man’s life,” he added.
More: Read police reports about incident (pdf)
Raw: Calls from police to 9-1-1
Russell also recently placed an ad in The Oregonian newspaper, defending the hospital's actions. On Tuesday, he said the hospital has tried to schedule a meeting with Marin-Fuentes' family, to clear up any questions they may have, but so far that has not occurred.
“At times of death or accident, we all want answers. We all have questions,“ Russell said.
“Our hearts and prayers are with the family of Mr. Fuentes during this difficult time," added Chief Reese.
More: Adventist ad defends hospital
Hospital officials said they don't have a policy against responding to emergencies in parking facilities on campus and that their practice is to always call 9-1-1 and also send their own staff to respond to incidents.
Timeline: Man needing aid dies on hospital grounds
