By DONNA KENNY KIRWAN

PAWTUCKET — City officials were notified this week of a $4 million claim that has been made on behalf of the family of the late Maria G. Carvalho, a dialysis patient who bled to death while waiting for an ambulance to arrive.

In a communication dated Jan. 7 and addressed to the City Council, attorney Stephen M. Rappoport advised that the letter serves as a formal claim under Rhode Island General Laws and provides a “particularized account” of the circumstances surrounding Carvalho’s death.
He wrote that he had been retained by Carvalho’s husband, Joao, and son, John, with regard to a wrongful death claim and a survivor’s claim, “both arising from the negligent care and treatment to the late Mrs. Carvalho by the Pawtucket Fire Department on September 20, 2007.”
Rappoport said the $4 million claim is based on the pain and suffering endured by the deceased up through the time of her death, loss of consortium suffered by Joao Carvalho, and all damages and compensation for medical, funeral and burial expenses. In addition, a claim of emotional distress is being made on behalf of Joao Carvalho, who witnessed his wife’s death.
According to the letter, this claim is being made against the City of Pawtucket and dispatchers Christopher Jeffrey and Sean Mooney, Fire Chief Timothy McLaughlin, Assistant Chief Richard J. Renzi and Battalion Chief Ronald Doire, in their official capacities as city employees as well as in their individual capacities.
Carvalho, who lived at 101 Gooding St., was a 53-year-old dialysis patient who suddenly began to bleed heavily from a shunt that had been inserted in her arm. The letter outlines the series of events that allegedly surrounded Carvalho’s death, including the three 911 calls that were made by Joao Carvalho and his neighbor, Yvette LeBlanc, to summon a rescue for the ailing woman.
It is alleged in the claim that had a rescue been dispatched at the time of the first 911 call, Carvalho would have been rendered medical treatment within approximately a three minute time period and her life would have been saved.
It is also alleged that Carvalho was suffering a bleed to the brachial artery “which could have been easily controlled by simply applying pressure directly to the affected area.”
Tallying up the 15 minutes’ time it took to dispatch a rescue along with the three minutes to arrive at Carvalho’s house, the claim states that for more than an 18 minute time period, a rescue failed to arrive at the Carvalho residence “and as a direct and proximate result, Mrs. Carvalho bled to death.”
Rappoport wrote that it is the contention of Carvalho’s heirs that if the fire department had properly handled the 911 calls and dispatched a rescue upon receipt of the first call, the ailing woman would have survived.
It further alleges that the dispatchers, Jeffrey and Mooney, were inexperienced and untrained and were not qualified to handle such calls unsupervised. Therefore, the claim alleges that the Pawtucket Fire Department was further negligent in failing to properly train and supervise their employees.
The claim also alleges that the fire department was negligent in failing to give pre-arrival medical instructions to Joao Carvalho that would have helped lessen or stop the blood loss. Further, it is alleged that the fire department was negligent in pronouncing Carvalho dead without first conducting all necessary resuscitation procedures according to state protocols.
It is also alleged that “all of the actions” by the city’s EMTs as well as other employees, agents and servants of the city’s fire department “fell well below the standard of care in the field of medical emergency response, preparedness, training and supervision and protocols.”
Rappoport said that the city council now has 40 days to react to the claim. If it is rejected, the matter will end up in a lawsuit in Superior Court.
City Solicitor Margaret Lynch-Gadaleta declined to comment on the claim, except to say that it is “one of the first steps in a long process. And we’ll deal with the process as we go along.”
The claim was not unexpected. Last November, Rappoport sent a “letter of representation” to the City Council notifying them that a wrongful death claim would be forthcoming. No damages were specified at the time.
The council’s Committee on Claims and Pending Lawsuits denied the claim, based on the advice of the city’s legal counsel. The rejection came on the heels of a ruling by the Attorney General’s office that that the dispatchers, Mooney and Jeffrey, couldn’t be charged with criminal negligence based on their actions.
The ruling included a finding by Assistant State Medical Examiner Dr. Peter Gillespie that Carvalho was in such poor health and was bleeding so profusely that she would have died even if an ambulance had been dispatched right away.
Rappoport, citing testimony and evidence from a slew of medical experts, disputes Gillespie’s ruling.
Besides being exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing, Mooney and Jeffrey were also cleared recently of any negligence by the state Department of Health, which ruled they could keep their EMT licenses. Fired by the city shortly after Carvalho’s death, the two rookies have indicated through their attorneys and the firefighters’ union that they wish to get their jobs back.
The city’s insurer, also sent a notice of the claim, is the Rhode Island Interlocal Risk Management Trust.