NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — A Schuylkill County couple is suing a Pennsylvania county and a Harrisburg-based EMS team for the death of their unborn child.
According to the lawsuit, Chad and Stephanie Reiner are suing Northumberland County, Northumberland County Board of Commissioners Samuel J. Schiccatano, Joseph M. Klebon, Kymberley L. Best, Russell Fellman and Community Life Team Inc.
On Sept. 23, 2022, the lawsuit alleges that Stephanie Reiner began experiencing stomach discomfort which worsened and became constant.
At 3 p.m., she contacted a triage nurse in the labor and delivery department at Geisinger Medical Center and described her condition. The nurse advised Reiner to contact 911 so she could be admitted to a hospital.
While on the phone with the nurse, Reiner experienced a sensation "similar to her water breaking" and believed she was going into labor, according to the lawsuit. However, Reiner quickly realized that her water had not broken and that she was bleeding profusely.
She immediately called 911 and spoke to a dispatcher, relaying that she was suffering from a medical emergency and needed an ambulance.
According to the lawsuit, Reiner was advised that an ambulance would be dispatched immediately.
Despite two ambulance companies being within ten miles of Reiner's home and a third located 24 miles away, an ambulance was dispatched from Harrisburg, over an hour away, which Reiner was unaware of at the time.
Reiner's mother-in-law arrived at the home within minutes and found the kitchen "covered in blood," according to the lawsuit.
Ten minutes later, 911 was called again by Reiner's mother-in-law to find out where the ambulance was. The dispatcher allegedly said that it was on its way.
Ten to fifteen minutes later, the mother-in-law called 911 again, asking about the ambulance. According to the lawsuit, the dispatcher assured that the ambulance would be there soon and to be patient.
During the wait, Reiner alleged that she was in incredible pain and was experiencing constant bleeding.
After waiting an additional fifteen minutes, the ambulance, dispatched from Community Life Team in Harrisburg, arrived.
According to the lawsuit, EMTs forced Reiner to walk approximately 100 feet to the ambulance, even though she believed that she was hemorrhaging and told them that.
They then reportedly asked her to get on the stretcher herself, despite her profuse bleeding and trouble walking.
The EMTs also downgraded the call from a Code 3 response to a Code 1 response and waited for seven minutes after she was secured before leaving, according to the lawsuit.
Additionally, the ambulance did not use lights and sirens and stopped at every red light on the way to Geisinger Medical Center.
According to the lawsuit, Reiner vomited four times on the ambulance ride from her home to the hospital. EMT workers reportedly never took Reiner's blood pressure or administered an IV.
The ambulance also did not contact Geisinger Medical Center on its way to the hospital and the hospital was not aware of her condition.
Once the ambulance arrived, the nurses asked where Reiner's IV was and kicked the EMTs out. According to the lawsuit, when she arrived at the hospital, Reiner's unborn baby still had a heartbeat and she was rushed to the operating room for an emergency C-section.
Reiner was advised that she had a full placental abruption and hemorrhage. Her baby was delivered stillborn at 5:36 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2022.
The physician who delivered Reiner's baby advised that if she had arrived at the hospital sooner, her baby would have lived, according to the lawsuit.
As a result of this incident, Reiner suffers from blood clots and has since had three miscarriages, the lawsuit states.
The 911 Center reportedly never contacted the ambulance services near Reiner's home, even though both were in service and available that day.
According to the lawsuit, officials failed to ensure that the CAD station order was correct for emergency services in particular regions. As a result of the gross negligence and reckless disregard for the unborn baby's welfare, she ultimately died, according to the lawsuit.
The Reiner family is seeking compensatory damages, punitive damages and attorney's fees in excess of $225,000 from the Community Life Team and $150,000 from all defendants, according to the lawsuit.
