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City of Ventura Sued Over Death
July 31, 2007

At the very least, Domingo Cardona deserved a peaceful and dignified death. The 79 year old Ventura, California resident was on dialysis and had had both of his legs, an arm plus several of his fingers amputated due to a series of health complications. On February 4 this year, when Cardona began to vomit blood, his family lost no time calling emergency medical personnel. When paramedics reached the scene, they loaded him onto a gurney, but shockingly dropped him from the gurney on the way to the ambulance. Cardona tipped over, head first breaking his neck. He was rushed to the Community Memorial Hospital where he died from his injuries five days later.

In May, the family filed a claim against the City of Ventura, California and the American Medical Response (AMR) for damages. It's not clear who was responsible for transporting Cardona - Ventura or the AMR. However, Ventura Emergency Medical Technicians were present at the scene of the accident, which is why the city was named in the allegations. As Ventura authorities did not respond to the claim within the required 45 days, the family's attorneys have now filed a lawsuit seeking damages. According to the Ventura County Star, they claim Cardona wasn't strapped onto the gurney and that the rails on one side weren't set up which caused Cardona to tumble over.

As the Cardona family attorney put it, emergency personnel in this case were careless and negligent in the discharge of their duties resulting in a tragic accident. Strapping a patient in and putting up the rails on either side is standard procedure for EMTs in such situations, and when such carelessness is displayed by the very people who are responsible for administering emergency life saving aid, justice to the family needs to be delivered - and swiftly.

The best way to encourage any form of negligence is to ignore it. At The Reeves Law Group, our attorneys have extensive experience in successfully representing families of wrongful death and serious injury claims against government entities, such as the County of Ventura. We have delivered justice in the form of significant monetary compensation to numerous injured claimants.

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