‘Employees Did Not Do Job,' Administrator Says In Response to ER Treatment Complaint

From the Ashley County Ledger (Arkansas), excerpted below:

‘Employees Did Not Do Job,' Sword Says In Response to ER Treatment Complaint

"What happened was that my employees did not do their job," Ashley County Medical Center administrator Russ Sword responded after hearing a complaint by a county citizen in regard to service in the emergency room of the county hospital the weekend of July 9. "There is absolutely no excuse, and I will offer none," he said.

His comments came after James C. Mills addressed the members of the quorum court in regard to his wife's visit to the emergency room. Mills said that his wife woke up about 2 a.m. with an itch and swelling which he said threatened to close her throat and cut off her breathing. He gave her Benadryl to help with the swelling and then took her to the emergency room at the hospital.

When they arrived at the emergency room, he said that they filled out the paperwork, "and no one came to take her vital signs". He said he was told that the emergency room was waiting on an ambulance with a gunshot victim, and they were there 15 to 20 minutes before the ambulance arrived, with no treatment. "There were two doctors at the hospital," he said, "and she couldn't be seen."