Good Samaritan gives CPR to dying man, receives $8,000 hospital bill

Woman tries to save dying man, but gets stuck with bills
After county won't test victim's blood for viruses, good samaritan left wondering if she was infected
By Isadora Vail
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF
Monday, July 09, 2007

When Wendy Lee saw a man get hit by a truck that night in May, she had no second thoughts about what she should do. Lee stopped her Suburban to help 64-year-old Juan Vega, who had been trying to cross Williamson County Road 172 near La Frontera in Round Rock when he was struck by a 2000 Chevrolet pickup. Lee said she could see Vega's cowboy boots lying in the road. "I called 911 as I was walking up to him, and they walked me through the first steps of CPR and chest compressions," Lee said. Vega's eyes were open and moving, and he was gasping for air as she put her lips to his and breathed. The next moment, she was spitting his blood into the grass.

Vega died on the way to Brackenridge Hospital in Austin. When emergency workers saw that Lee, 38, was covered in Vega's blood, they sent her to the hospital to be tested for HIV and hepatitis. The tests came back negative, but because Williamson County didn't test Vega for those diseases at the scene, Lee is left wondering whether she was exposed to viruses that might affect her health later. Doctors say that six to eight weeks after exposure is the most important time to test for HIV and hepatitis because both viruses take time to show up, but Lee said she cannot afford to get retested. And more than a month later, she's stuck with almost $3,000 in medical bills.

"When I opened that bill, I wanted to cry," said Lee, a single mother of two teenagers who is a human resource manager at Triple Crown Dog Academy in Hutto. "I kept thinking to myself, 'Didn't I do the right thing?' " Eric Strelnieks, a staff physician at St. David's Round Rock Medical Center, where Lee was taken after she tried to help Vega, said she was given a shot to prevent hepatitis B, a virus that attacks the liver, and was prescribed medication that slows the development of HIV. Lee said she stopped taking the medication after a few weeks because it made her nauseated and dizzy. Lee's health insurance paid a portion of her hospital bill, which was just under $8,000. But she said she can't afford to pay the remainder. "The way life is right now, $50 is too much to pay," she said.

Testing Vega's blood for diseases could have put the questions to rest, but Williamson County doesn't require such tests unless it is suspected that alcohol or drugs were involved in a fatal accident, said Steve Benton, the justice of the peace who was called to the May 15 wreck. The driver, an 18-year-old Round Rock man, was not charged. "I sympathize with (Lee), but if we did a toxicology and blood test every time a fatality occurred, then it would cost the county $2,000 for each test," Benton said... According to hospital officials in Round Rock and Austin, emergency technicians and first responders who are exposed to patients' blood receive the same testing and medication that Lee received, but their employers' insurance covers the cost. Lee said she helped Vega because she and others had failed to help the victim of a car accident in front of her Round Rock home this year. She said she later learned that the man lying in the middle of the road had died, and she vowed to help the next person in need. "I could never regret what I did (for Vega) because I know it was right," she said. "I just wish someone could tell me what to do."

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/07/09/0709samaritan.html

I need a beer.

And here's a kick ya!

guard. You get told the reasons to use it--reasons like the ones in this story.
Someone "gasping for air" doesn't need CPR. If they can breathe on their own, you should encourage them to continue until they no longer can breathe.
I can understand the desire to be a good Samaritan, but you should get trained how to do it first.

The person who failed was the 911 operator who was instructing her.

This story illustrates why you can't just teach people over the phone when an emergency happens. And it is certainly not clear why the 911 operator thought it was acceptable to do this? And why certain steps were omitted. And of course if someone actually trains for EMS. They will typically carry the necessary equipment, gloves, mask, etc. needed to protect themselves.

But the 911 operator should have asked his condition as well before proceeding if anything the 911 operator should be brought up on charges.

happen... are you suggesting that someone who had had no CPR training and thus was left with the choice of depending on voice instructions from 911 should not attempt to do so? Are you (callously, if so, imo) blaming the good Samaritan?

Many public health departments could/would have intervened on her behalf to get the victim tested... I can't speak for Texas Dept. of Health or the local HD, but it is a pity the hospital did not at least inquire on her behalf. If the law prohibits even public health from requesting test of the victim (unlike in many or most states) then I guess we are seeing another typical example of Texas law.

I have the impression that in NY, HIV test results at least are never revealed even if the person in question has died. It's possible that it varies by states though.

You are also taught in the classes that if you do not have protective equipment, it is okay to decline to perform the action. Emergency personnel were on their way.

Sure, we should all get trained in CPR but that's not really the point of the story. She still did the right thing and is still stuck with the bill.

including myself and I don't know anybody who walks around with a face guard of any kind. If you see someone who you think needs cpr you perform cpr. Period. Maybe it was called for in this instance or maybe not, I can't say. But, given the circumstances and the uncertainty of the moment I think I would have done the same thing that she did. She should be commended. It's disgusting that she's now stuck with a bill that size. Our country is sick. That's what I take from this story.

the 911 dispatcher gave her instructions which they are allowed to do what are you talking about certified the dispatcher is certified to assist someone with it.

All of her medical costs should be covered by the
18-year-old driver or his insurance (assuming he
has any).

And yes, as mentioned just above, if we had single-
payer health care, all of this would be completely moot.

Tesha

for hitting a pedestrian, and therefore should pay for all expenses stemming from hitting Vega.

There is a theory in common law that "Danger invites rescue"... I would think she could make a claim on the driver's insurance since the driver placed the man in danger.


edit to add: Here it is...love that wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_doctrine

The rescue doctrine of the law of torts holds that if a tortfeasor creates a circumstance that places the tort victim in danger, the tortfeasor is liable not only for the harm caused to the victim, but also the harm caused to any person injured in an effort to rescue that victim. This doctrine was originally created in case law by Wagner v. International Railway, 232 N.Y. 176 (1926), in which Justice Cardozo stated "Danger invites rescue...The wrongdoer may not have foreseen the coming of a deliverer. He is accountable as if he had."

Essentially it means that the rescuer can recover for damages from a defendant when they are injured rescuing someone. The defendant is usually negligent in causing the accident to occur. Other cases have occurred where the plaintiff is injured rescuing the defendant and is able to collect damages.

In Wagner v. International Railway, riders on defendant's trains were allowed to walk between cars while the train was moving. In one incident, a rider fell through the cars. Plaintiff, trying to help the fallen rider, was injured himself. The court found the defendant liable because of negligence to allow riders to walk between cars while the train was moving.

Essentially, in its pure form the Rescue Doctrine boils down to 4 main elements - all of which must be met in order to bring it to bear for the person asserting its privilege.

1) There must be peril or the appearance of peril to a third party, caused by the defendant.

2) That peril or appearance of peril must be imminent

3) A reasonable person would recognize the peril or appearance of peril and the plaintiff must also have actually recognized it.

4) The plaintiff must have exercised reasonable care in effecting the rescue

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rescue_doctrine"

Good for her for doing something to save someone...I hope she can find some financial respite.

This woman needs to contact Victim Services and her local Health Department ASAP. The Health Department should do free testing, and Victim Services might be able to help her with the bill.

But she should never have gotten a bill in the first place. I working for the day this country joins the Civilized world and recognizes that health care should be every American's right, not just those with the means to pay.

Lee did the right thing in trying to help another person in distress, only to suffer financially because of the screwed up for-profit health care system that we suffer with.

is that if she (technically they are in her name)then the hospital will send her to collections and they will show up on her credit ruining it.

""I sympathize with (Lee), but if we did a toxicology and blood test every time a fatality occurred, then it would cost the county $2,000 for each test," Benton said."

Hep-B and HIV testing doesn't cost that much. Who are they trying to fool with this??

They changed that in CPR, which Hubby learned this last winter when he had to renew his credentials to cover the ICU. They shouldn't have told her to breathe. That was wrong, and you'd think 911 would know the latest procedures. You only do chest compressions if the heart's stopped, but if he was struggling to breathe, then his heart probably hasn't stopped. He probably had broken ribs and a punctured lung. The 911 dispatcher made the wrong call there, it sounds like.

Secondly, those tests don't cost the county two thousand bucks. I don't know what that guy's talking about. If they do cost that, they need a new provider. Period.

I assume she did what 911 told her to do but it was wrong. She may or may not be able to sue 911 for putting her at risk.