A two-year-old girl, Yuna Feeley, died from a cardiac arrest after an overrun ambulance service sent firemen instead of trained medics to save her.
Yuna, from Massachusetts, was suffering from a respiratory illness when she suddenly went limp and stopped breathing on the morning of January 26. Her mother, Andrea Feeley, frantically called 911 but the local ambulance service sent a fire crew instead.
When firemen arrived it was immediately clear Yuna needed advanced life support that trained paramedics could provide, so they radioed in for an ambulance. But Action Ambulance Service did not have enough ambulances available to respond to the call.
"Our hearts go out to Yuna Feeley's family. This was a devastating incident for everyone involved," said a spokesperson for Action Ambulance.
After around 15 minutes without an ambulance arriving, one firefighter drove Yuna to Massachusetts General Hospital with colleagues delivering CPR. Tragically, she was pronounced dead on arrival.
"The EMS system in Massachusetts and across the country is stressed due to an increase in calls," added the spokesperson.
An autopsy report confirmed Yuna's cause of death as 'necrotizing pneumonia', which proved fatal alongside her respiratory virus. Her mother told NBC10 Boston that her daughter deserved "an ambulance and paramedics who could have possibly done more."
"There is no central or regionalized system to track the location of ambulances in real time," reported The Boston Globe investigation.
The investigation highlighted chronic staffing shortages leading to unused ambulances parked in garages and overworked EMTs making serious mistakes during long shifts. It identified three other deaths related to similar issues prior to Yuna's death.
"Maybe having an ambulance wouldn't have made a difference, but it would've given her a better shot," commented Winthrop's fire chief.