BOSTON (Legal Newsline) – A stabbing victim who had to wait 20 minutes for help while watching her mom die will not be allowed to sue her Massachusetts hometown over the delay.
The Massachusetts Appeals Court ruled for the City of Taunton in the wrongful death case filed by Kathleen Slavin, who was stabbed by an intruder and called 9-1-1. But Taunton’s fire truck went to the wrong address and did not get to Slavin and her mother for 20 minutes after the call.
An ambulance arrived 10 minutes after the fire truck. Ultimately, Kathleen’s mother died after she was taken to a hospital.
The appeals court’s ruling affirmed judgment for Taunton because the death was the result of the actions of a third party, ensuring Taunton to protection under the state’s Tort Claims Act.
Only an exception for “negligent medical treatment” would have saved Slavin’s lawsuit, which did not make that allegation.
“The complaint does not allege that, once the public employees responded to the scene, the medical treatment that they furnished – first aid to the plaintiff and CPR to her mother – was provided in a negligent manner,” Justice Peter Sacks wrote wrote.
“Nor does it allege that they were negligent in not providing additional or different treatment.”