Long Emergency Room Wait Ends Life for Young Woman

An almost six-hour wait in an emergency room is alleged to be the cause for the premature death of 25-year-old graduate student, Martha Barr, as reported by The Register Guard and KVAL News.

Thom and Ann Barr are seeking $2 million in the wrongful death of their daughter, 2001 North Eugene High School graduate, Martha. 

Her parents allege that Martha died from a blood clot in the main artery of her lung, while waiting to see a doctor at Peacehealth's Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend.

The Barr's state that their daughter entered the hospital's emergency room just after noon on December 23, 2008.  She was then evaluated by triage personnel that listed her with symptoms of shortness of breath, fatigue, abnormally fast heart and respiration rates and low oxygen saturation.

Classified as a level 3 out of 5 on a triage scale, Barr was instructed to sit down in a waiting room until a doctor called for her.

The suit states, "The physician who evaluated her at 6:25 p.m. strongly suspected that the likely cause of her signs and symptoms was pulmonary embolism, a blood clot obstructing the pulmonary artery leading to the lungs."

The doctor ordered a CT angiogram to confirm his diagnosis, but the test was never performed.  Barr had "worsened rapidly and dramatically, and at 7:15 p.m. she went into respiratory and cardiac arrest from lack of blood flow and oxygen to her heart."

CPR and other life support failed to restore her and Barr was pronounced dead at 9:33 pm. Hospital spokesperson, the Barr family members and their attorney, declined any comment on the upcoming litigation.

An obituary published in January 2009, described Barr as a student that had earned a bachelor's degree in zoology and a minor in chemistry from Oregon State University in 2006.  Barr had been currently working on her master's in forensic science from her home in Santa Ana, California before coming to Eugene for a visit.  The obituary also mentioned Barr's longtime work for the city of Eugene's recreation department.

Three months before Barr's death, as reported by the Register Guard, Sacred Heart, open since August of 2008, reported a 26 percent increase in their emergency room's patient volume.

A September 2009 press release announced the hiring of more staff at RiverBend because some patients had "experienced long wait times in the emergency department."  After employing 2 more doctors, 8 nurses and adding 10 more beds, Sacred Heart reported that the patient wait time dropped from 35 to 21 minutes.

RiverBend staff told KVAL News, in August of 2009, that they had changed the way patients were evaluated and that change had helped them bring the time down from 4 hours to 3 hours and 20 minutes.  They reportedly have a goal of 2 1/2 hours.

The Barr's are seeking $500,000 in economic damages for their daughter's medical bills, end of life expenses, past and future lost earnings, $500,000 for pain and suffering and $1 million for losing Martha's "society, support, services, love and companionship."

If you or a loved one suffered in a hospital, or hospital's emergency room, contact a Medical Malpractice Lawyer for help.