Lawsuit: ME Man Died after Medics Failed to Give Oxygen, Fall Off Gurney

The photo shows a wooden gavel.
Photo by Airman 1st Class Joseph Barron

Paramedics are responsible for a Maine man’s death after failing to give him enough oxygen and allowed him to fall off a gurney, a family says in a lawsuit, according to publish reports.

Two employees with Medway Ambulance Service are responsible for the death of 72-year-old Kenneth LaPorte Sr. on April 16, 2022, according to the lawsuit the family filed in Penobscot County Superior Court, the Bangor Daily News reports.

The medics failed to provide LaPorte oxygen, forced him to walk an unreasonable distance to the ambulance and did not secure him to the gurney, causing him to fall off, according to the lawsuit.

The fall caused LaPorte to have a laceration on the back of his head and black and blue bruises to his face.

LaPorte had already stopped breathing during that time, the lawsuit said.

He was pronounced dead after about 30 minutes of CPR. LaPorte’s cause of death was acute respiratory failure. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease was also a cause of death, according to the lawsuit.

LaPorte’s family is seeking $1 million in damages and other expenses.

In a written response to the lawsuit, Medway Ambulance denied the family’s allegations. After LaPorte’s death, the ambulance service created a policy of strapping patients down, but it was never implemented once the service discontinued, according to the report.

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