Mississippi Family’s Lawsuit Claims AMR Ambulance Delay Caused Death

The daughters of a Mississippi woman who waited an hour for an ambulance to arrive have filed suit against American Medical Response, Hinds County, and the city of Jackson for wrongful death.

Tameka Dinkins and Rosalind Yarber filed suit in Hinds County Circuit Court over the death of their mother, Elizabeth Neal, on May 3, 2018. According to the sisters, Neal was attending a bible study when she began having chest pains. Despite numerous 911 calls starting at 8:30 pm, an ambulance did not arrive for over an hour. At some point, one of the bible study members called the Jackson Fire Department, who arrived at 9:36 pm and began CPR. An AMR ambulance arrived on scene shortly thereafter.

Quoting from the suit: “The actions of the Board of Supervisors, Department of Emergency Management, AMR, and the 911 Department and the employees of same were grossly negligent, reckless, malicious, and consciously disregarded the safety and well-being of Elizabeth Neal, leading to her untimely death.”

I was not able to obtain a copy of the complaint. Here is more on the story.

About Curt Varone

Curt Varone has over 45 years of fire service experience and 35 as a practicing attorney licensed in both Rhode Island and Maine. His background includes 29 years as a career firefighter in Providence (retiring as a Deputy Assistant Chief), as well as volunteer and paid on call experience. He is the author of two books: Legal Considerations for Fire and Emergency Services, (2006, 2nd ed. 2011, 3rd ed. 2014, 4th ed. 2022) and Fire Officer's Legal Handbook (2007), and is a contributing editor for Firehouse Magazine writing the Fire Law column.
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