TRHA CEO gets report on pregnant woman's death

Anderson Graham, right, with his wife Jamila Jordon, who died last month after suffering a seizure. Graham is adamant his wife would be alive if an ambulance had responded sooner. FILE PHOTO
Anderson Graham, right, with his wife Jamila Jordon, who died last month after suffering a seizure. Graham is adamant his wife would be alive if an ambulance had responded sooner. FILE PHOTO

Tobago Regional Health Authority (TRHA) CEO Sheldon Cyrus has received a report on the death of pregnant Jamila Jordon, 35, who passed away after waiting 40 minutes for an ambulance on July 25.

Store Bay resident, Anderson Graham, blamed the slow response of the island’s ambulance service for the death of his common-law wife and their unborn child.

Cyrus told Newsday on Tuesday he was unaware of the incident but promised to investigate. On Friday, he confirmed receipt of the report.

He said, “The manager of the ambulance service, he did an investigation for me. I have received that report but I am yet to go through it.”

Last Tuesday, in an interview with Newsday, Graham, 31, said he called for an ambulance around 7am after his common-law wife had a seizure.

TRHA CEO Sheldon Cyrus

He recalled the operator told him no ambulance was available and he had to hold on. He said he called the service again ten minutes later and was told an ambulance was available in Plymouth and would be dispatched as soon as they had all the necessary information. He said the operator insisted he had to follow the protocol before sending the ambulance.

But Graham said, “We made the call at 6.55. They came at 7.35, five minutes before she passed.”

He complained the ambulance attendant was lethargic when he arrived.

“When they came, the guy like he didn’t even want to attend to her, he didn’t try no form of recovery, no oxygen, no nothing and we told them that she was four months pregnant...Before he even checked, he began arguing with us, not even trying to help. He left to go outside for a pump and came back close to five minutes later. It was like there was no urgency...He came and stood there looking on, passed his hand on her neck and then checked for pressure and then he told us that she had died."

Graham added, “I really would like someone in authority to intervene, I wouldn’t like this to happen to anybody else and this is why I chose to highlight the problems we faced on that dreaded morning.”

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