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Background: News footage of Jackson North Medical Center in North Miami Beach, Fla., where Tasheba Anderson died (WFOR). Inset: Tasheba Anderson (provided by family).
The death of a Florida woman whose family accused first responders of leaving their loved one to go on another call has resulted in an internal investigation.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics responded on Jan. 26 to a call at the home of Tasheba Anderson, 52. Anderson, who had undergone surgery six months earlier, was reportedly suffering from severe stomach pain. Paramedics and firefighters arrived and began treating Anderson, laying her on the floor of her kitchen as her family looked on.
Then, the family claimed, the paramedics left her to go on another call to a fire nearby.
WFOR, a local CBS affiliate, reported on the story and spoke to Anderson’s family members. Her sister, Audrey Bent, told the outlet that Anderson had experienced stomach pain several times since having gastric bypass surgery and had been hospitalized multiple times. But when paramedics arrived on Jan. 26, events took an unexpected turn.
Bent told WFOR, “They had wrapped a sheet around her neck, and then, they got a call for a fire up the street. And they left her here and said they would be back.”
As she lay on the floor, Bent said Anderson begged for them to come back, “She was saying, ‘Why won’t they help me? Why nobody won’t help me? Why they just leave me like that? Why they won’t help me?”” Bent said her sister slipped into unconsciousness as she pleaded for help.
According to Bent, the paramedics did return eventually, but she claimed that they acted irritated toward their patient’s family because they kept asking the first responders why they left. One of the paramedics reportedly tossed Anderson’s ID to the ground after a family member handed it to her.
Anderson was taken by ambulance to Jackson North Medical Center and died within two hours of her arrival.
Law&Crime reached out to Miami-Dade Fire Rescue for a comment but did not immediately hear back. The department provided a comment to WFOR saying that it was conducting an internal investigation and was “unable to provide further details.”
