Dear Editor:
On August 31, I called 911 because my husband had massive heart attack. After a considerable lapse of time, the Hoboken Ambulance Corps, Jersey City Medical Center Paramedics, Hoboken firemen and Hoboken police arrived at my home.
After approximately 40 minutes of administering medical care to my husband, they began to take him to St. Mary Hospital. At that time, I begged the paramedic to cover him. She flatly refused, stating that if she did that, she could not treat him. They then proceeded to carry him into the lobby of the apartment building where we live, into the street, into the emergency waiting room and then finally into the emergency room. In fact, the physician who tended to my husband informed me that the paramedic should have honored my request.
What hurts me so much is that the above mentioned, not one of them intervened for my son and I, knowing that we were very upset and in a state of shock, to say the least.
My husband was well liked, an honorable business man, devoted husband and devoted father. To treat him this way was not only disrespectful but also undignified.
I hope with all my heart that the above mentioned take heed of this so that this does not happen to another vulnerable individual because the mental anguish my son and I are experiencing is overwhelming. We have to live with this for the rest of our lives.
Name withheld