Senate Bill sb0070
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Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SB 70
By Senator Crist
13-155A-02
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to Hillsborough County;
3 providing for the relief of James T. Edwards;
4 providing an appropriation to compensate him
5 for injuries caused by the negligence of
6 Hillsborough County; providing an effective
7 date.
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9 WHEREAS, on May 31, 1997, James T. Edwards was partying
10 with friends, during which time he fell and injured his head
11 several times while drinking vodka, and
12 WHEREAS, James T. Edwards' friends placed him in the
13 bathtub to sober him up and called Hillsborough County EMS,
14 and
15 WHEREAS, an operator received the call and, after
16 hearing that James T. Edwards had been placed in the bathtub
17 to sober him up, instructed the caller to remove Mr. Edwards
18 from the tub and place him on a chair, during which time Mr.
19 Edwards was moving his arms and legs, and
20 WHEREAS, upon arriving at the scene, EMS personnel
21 acted contrary to protocol by failing to place Mr. Edwards,
22 who was in an altered state of consciousness, on a backboard
23 to immobilize his spine, and
24 WHEREAS, EMS personnel lifted Mr. Edwards under his
25 arms and by his feet so that his body dropped in a U-shaped
26 position and threw him onto a stretcher, rolled him to the
27 ambulance, and threw him carelessly into the ambulance, and
28 WHEREAS, at no time at the scene did EMS personnel note
29 any paralysis or priapism, but rather noted that Mr. Edwards'
30 extremities were within normal limits, and
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CODING: Words stricken are deletions; words underlined are additions.
Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SB 70
13-155A-02
1 WHEREAS, contrary to protocol, Mr. Edwards was taken to
2 Brandon Hospital rather than to a trauma center, and
3 WHEREAS, at the emergency room, Mr. Edwards was found
4 to have a priapism and to have suffered a subluxation of his
5 spine at C6-7 with a complete spinal cord lesion at that
6 level, resulting in quadriplegia, and
7 WHEREAS, the two EMS personnel have admitted in
8 depositions that, given his condition, Mr. Edwards' spine
9 should have been immobilized, and
10 WHEREAS, Dr. Henry E. Smoak, an expert in such
11 emergency procedures, has concluded that under the given
12 conditions there was a departure in the standard of care on
13 behalf of the Hillsborough County EMS, and
14 WHEREAS, as a result of the negligence of the
15 Hillsborough County EMS, Mr. Edwards suffers from an inability
16 to walk, bowel and bladder incontinence, impotence, lower back
17 pain, a decubitus ulcer on the left buttock, a compromised
18 functioning in both hands, and pinholes on the side of his
19 tracheotomy, and
20 WHEREAS, a lawsuit was filed and this case was
21 submitted to an arbitrator to assess the amount of damages,
22 and the amount of the damages has not been finalized, NOW,
23 THEREFORE,
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25 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
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27 Section 1. The facts stated in the preamble of this
28 act are found and declared to be true.
29 Section 2. The Board of Commissioners of Hillsborough
30 County is authorized and directed to appropriate from funds of
31 the county not otherwise appropriated and to draw a warrant in
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Florida Senate - 2002 (NP) (Corrected Copy) SB 70
13-155A-02
1 the total amount of $8 million, which amount includes
2 statutory attorney's fees and costs, payable to James T.
3 Edwards to compensate him for injuries and damages sustained
4 as a result of the negligence of EMS personnel of Hillsborough
5 County.
6 Section 3. This act shall take effect upon becoming a
7 law.
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