Atlanta

EMS crew took hours to get injured 8-year-old boy to hospital, family says

By Rikki Klaus
By Rikki Klaus

ATLANTA — A father told Channel 2 Action News an ambulance took more than an hour to arrive after his son broke his leg -- and the problems didn't end there.

The father said they took the child to two different hospitals.

Channel 2 Action News has learned Ethan Hall, 8, fell at West End Park in southwest Atlanta over the weekend.

The boy's father, Ohiji Corbin, said the child broke his femur after he fell off of a slide. He told Channel 2's Rikki Klaus he and his wife could hear Ethan's bone break and that he hit his head.

"It was a nightmare. My wife can't speak for an interview because she is so upset," Corbin said.

Corbin said he was on the phone with an operator for an hour and 20 minutes between two calls before the ambulance finally reached his boy.

“My son, who was lying on the ground screaming and yelling in pain," he said.

Corbin said EMTs drove his son to Hughes Spalding Hospital but Corbin said they needed a trauma center instead.

He said the ambulance rerouted the very long way to Egleston Hospital. In total, he said it took at least three hours from the time of the fall before doctors treated Ethan.

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Corbin said he has a lot of trust in Grady Health System but added, "If that system breaks down, I feel like everyone’s life is in danger.”

Grady Hospital representatives sent Klaus the following statement:

“We acknowledge and apologize for issues related to the response to a call for assistance at West End Park on Saturday. Our investigation into issues related to this response is on-going. Procedure modifications will be made where appropriate."

Corbin urges Grady to do better. He said he hopes his son will provoke positive change.

“His injuries are going to make Atlanta a safer place and get us a better emergency medical service," he said.

Cox Media Group

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