From [HERE] A federal court in Pennsylvania dismissed the wrongful death and negligence claims brought against a county by a married couple whose unborn daughter died after an ambulance took over an hour to arrive during the wife’s medical emergency. Their claims do not sustain a constitutional violation, and without this, their state law questions are not appropriate for the federal court to consider. The court ruled:

Plaintiffs’ Section 1983 claims against the other Defendants fail because Plaintiffs have not alleged a violation of Stephanie or Paisley Reiner’s constitutional rights. The Bill of Rights is a charter of negative liberties, prohibiting government action rather than requiring it. The Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution is no different. It prohibits any state from “depriv[ing] any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”66

The Third Circuit has long-standing precedent that there is no constitutional right to receive emergency ambulance services, nor is there “an affirmative obligation on the State to provide competent rescue services if it chooses to provide them.” 67 So any injuries resulting from flawed or incompetent emergency rescue services are not constitutional injuries, and hence not actionable under Section 1983.68 Plaintiffs’ argument that they only waited an hour for the ambulance because they did not know it would take so long requires a closer analysis of this Circuit’s “state-created danger” theory of liability.

According to the court’s decision:

The complaint in this case revolves around the negligent training and response of a 911 Center and dispatcher, whose response to a call requesting emergency medical assistance exacerbated Stephanie Reiner’s injuries and resulted in the death of her unborn daughter, Paisley.

On September 23, 2022, Stephanie Reiner was approximately 32 weeks pregnant with Paisley.8 Stephanie Reiner began experiencing stomach discomfort that same afternoon, which worsened and became constant.9 Reiner contacted a triage nurse in the labor and delivery department at Geisinger Medical Center at approximately 3:00 p.m.10 While on the phone with the nurse, Reiner felt a sensation similar to her water breaking and believed she was going into labor.11 After Reiner described her condition, the nurse advised her to contact 911 so that she could be admitted to the hospital.12 After the call, however, Reiner discovered that her water had not broken, and that she was bleeding profusely.13 She immediately called 911 and spoke to a dispatcher at the 911 Center, informing the dispatcher that this was a medical emergency and that she was in need of an ambulance.14 The dispatcher advised Reiner that an ambulance would be dispatched immediately.15

Reiner’s mother-in-law Luann Snyder came to the residence minutes after Reiner called 911.16 Snyder observed a pool of blood beneath Reiner and throughout the kitchen.17 After waiting for the ambulance for ten minutes, Snyder called 911 to find out when it would arrive.18 The dispatcher stated that an ambulance had been dispatched and was on the way.19 After waiting another ten to fifteen minutes, Snyder called 911 again, asking where the ambulance was coming from and how far away it was.20 But the dispatcher refused to tell Snyder where the ambulance had been dispatched from.21 Instead, the dispatcher reiterated that an ambulance had been dispatched and would be there soon, and that Snyder should be patient.22 Snyder waited another ten to fifteen minutes, and then again called 911.23 She advised the dispatcher that if they could not get Reiner to an ambulance, they needed to get her to a helicopter because she was bleeding out.24 After an additional fifteen minutes of waiting, the ambulance finally arrived.25 Throughout the time Reiner waited for the ambulance to arrive, she experienced severe pain and constant gushes of blood from her vaginal area.26

Two ambulance companies are located within approximately ten miles of Reiner’s residence, while a third is located approximately 24 miles from her residence.27 Yet unbeknownst to Reiner and Snyder, the 911 Center never contacted these companies, which were in service and available on the date of Reiner’s incident.28 Instead, the ambulance which actually arrived was in fact coming from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which was over an hour away from Reiner’s residence.29 If Reiner and Snyder had known that the ambulance was coming from Harrisburg, they would have driven to the nearest hospital immediately.30

Reiner’s misfortune did not end with the arrival of the ambulance. The ambulance that was dispatched was from CLT, located approximately 60 miles from Reiner’s residence.31 After arriving at Reiner’s residence, the Emergency Medical Technicians (“EMTs”) forced Reiner to walk approximately 100 feet to the ambulance outside, even though Reiner advised them that she believed she was hemorrhaging.32 The EMTs then asked Reiner to get on the stretcher by herself, despite her profuse bleeding and difficulty walking.33 They then downgraded the call from a Code 3 response to a Code 1 response,34 and did not leave for approximately an additional seven minutes after Reiner was secured in the ambulance.35 The ambulance did not use lights and sirens and stopped at every red light on the way to Geisinger Medical Center (“Geisinger”).36 And the EMTs never took Reiner’s blood pressure or administered intravenous (“IV”) therapy.37 During the ambulance ride, Reiner vomited four times.38

The EMTs never contacted anyone at Geisinger on the way to the hospital, and Geisinger personnel were unaware of Reiner’s condition when she arrived.39 After the ambulance arrived at Geisinger, the Geisinger nurses asked why Reiner did not have an IV and sent the EMTs away.40 Upon Reiner’s arrival at Geisinger, Paisley Reiner, her unborn daughter, still had a heartbeat.41 Reiner was rushed to the operating room for an emergency Caesarean section.42 Geisiner medical personnel informed Reiner that she had a full placental abruption and hemorrhage.43 Reiner’s surgery continued for five hours because doctors could not stop her bleeding, and doctors were forced to give Reiner large doses of medications to promote blood clotting to attempt to stop the bleeding.44

Ultimately, Paisley Reiner was delivered stillborn that same day.45 Reiner’s treating physician advised her that if she had arrived at the hospital sooner, Paisley Reiner would have survived the trauma.46 The physician stated that Reiner’s condition started as a partial placental abruption and developed into a complete abruption by the time she arrived at Geisinger. As a result of this incident, Reiner suffers from blood clots and has had three miscarriages.47 On September 26, 2022—three days after Reiner’s incident—Russell Fellman, the 911 Coordinator in charge of the Northumberland County 911 Center, modified the Computer Aided Dispatch (“CAD”) station order relating to Reiner’s call at the 911 Center.48 Fellman changed the 13 EMS district station order to reflect the correct station order that should have been used when Reiner originally contacted the 911 Center.49 Although Area Services was not recommended for dispatch on September 23, 2022 because it was listed deep in the station order, Fellman also modified the CAD system station order to move Area Services higher on the list of emergency services dispatched to a particular location.50

The Northumberland County District Attorney’s Office investigated the incident.51 In October 2022, the Northumberland County Fire Chiefs Association’s vice president claimed that mismanagement of the 911 Center had placed the public in danger; another fire chief expressed concern that mismanagement of the 911 Center would result in civilian death.52 At this same meeting, fire officials aired grievances concerning prolonged dispatch times and significant dispatcher turnover, and called for Fellman’s termination.53 Fellman resigned as 911 Coordinator in December 2022.54 According to Plaintiffs, dispatchers at the 911 Center were not properly trained to dispatch ambulances.55

Chad Reiner, Stephanie Reiner, and the estate of Paisley Reiner now bring a five-count complaint against Defendants.56 Counts I and II seek damages against all defendants for alleged violations of Paisley Reiner and Stephanie Reiner’s federal constitutional rights under Title 18 U.S.C. § 1983.57 The remaining counts are brought exclusively against Defendant CLT under Pennsylvania state law. Count III states a claim for Gross Negligence, Count IV seeks damages under Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death Act, and Count V seeks damages under Pennsylvania’s Survival Action statute.58 [MORE]