MILWAUKEE – The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s office says 49-year-old Jolene Waldref died from Hypertensive and Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease at a bus stop on Milwaukee’s north side January 15th.
The report released Tuesday also lists obesity as a significant contributing factor in Waldref’s death.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Milwaukee rolls out new policy requiring EMS to get out of their vehicles and search for patients
The fallout from the emergency response to Waldref’s death led to the Milwaukee Common Council passing wide-sweeping policy changes for privately contracted emergency responders. At the time, responding emergency medical technicians said they could not see Jolene from their vehicle, and admitted to not getting out to look for her.
Policies now in place require first responders to get out of their vehicles to search for people in distress, when weather conditions make it hard to see from inside.
The enhanced EMS response standard operating guideline also adds provisions for ambulance providers to ensure that the scene is safe prior to coordinating their efforts to locate patients who are not immediately present. First responders are also required to exercise due diligence in performing a search for a patient, and are required to utilize dispatch to attempt reconnect with the patient or 911 caller, interact with bystanders as appropriate who may have information on the patient’s location, and activate their lights and siren to announce their arrival at the location.
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