<p>^^^^Yes.^^^^^^</p>
<p>So seriously - you know chances are the young lady’s body was brought to her parents’ home or other private location; there’s no facility of any sort that is capable of taking her.
So seriously, what happens when the mother calls 911 and asks that an ambulance be dispatched? What happens when an unsuspecting EMT is asked to perform CPR or whatever on her? Are those folks going to be dragooned into this mess? </p>
<p>Oh, “religious beliefs.” Have to treat them as special. Spare me.</p>
<p>If someone has been declared legally dead, I would think no EMT could be compelled to start CPR (unlike having to start CPR if a person is still alive). I am glad Jahi has finally been moved from the hospital. I would imagine it will leak somehow where she is at some point. I will be curious to see if other families that had kids at the hospital will start being interviewed, making statements about their experience with this.</p>
<p>How long before another attorney steps up with an abuse of corpse lawsuit? </p>
<p>This whole situation is heartbreaking for all involved. I do so wish the media would take a giant step back but we sure know that won’t happen.</p>
<p>I doubt the media will step back as long as the family and their lawyer keep calling press conferences.</p>
<p>"If someone has been declared legally dead, I would think no EMT could be compelled to start CPR (unlike having to start CPR if a person is still alive). "</p>
<p>Right. But can you imagine the scene in the moment with this hysterical family pleading with the EMT? And the EMT might or might not know that she was declared legally dead. They don’t respond to a call at “the McMath house” - they respond to a call at “123 Main Street,” right? </p>
<p>Sorry, zoosermom, this is a low-information family. I don’t see what’s offensive about that. I don’t give a darn about their race or their weight.</p>
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I didn’t say it was offensive. That did not happen. I also didn’t say you said anything about their weight, although the issue was brought up on this thread, and I NEVER addressed race. So let’s be clear about what I did say and what I didn’t.</p>
<p>I quoted you and I quoted you correctly. As far as my opinion on what you said, I wanted to stand up and applaud you for the fact that you were the only one who said honestly (and you know this because of how you worded th original post) what you thought and refrained from tiptoeing around the issue. Which is why I always look for your posts and, whether we agree or not, I have the greatest respect for your honesty and consistency. I also happen to agree with you on the merits.</p>
<p>So I was not offended, I was heartened, and I neither stated nor implied offense.</p>
<p>This has been so high profile that I would think any local responders would realize pretty clearly what was up. I would even think that responders are given legal and ethical guidance about responding to something like this. But who knows.</p>
<p>I would hazard a guess that some in the medical community know where she was taken. She was taken by private ambulance (see photo) [Jahi</a> McMath: Brain-dead teen’s family moves her from Children’s Hospital Oakland - San Jose Mercury News](<a href=“Jahi McMath: Brain-dead teen’s family moves her from Children’s Hospital Oakland – The Mercury News”>Jahi McMath: Brain-dead teen’s family moves her from Children’s Hospital Oakland – The Mercury News) and surely, especially those who work for this company, will have the head’s up if they are called. My guess is if the family calls 911, the Fire dept or other city Emergency agency will dispatch, not a private company. But sure wouldn’t want to be the crew that arrived and had to respond.</p>
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<p>No way, not now (and perhaps not ever). They are playing it for the big payday. </p>
<p>(Without a federal claim, there is little money involved, and the hospital would’ve cut a check without the need for a lawyer. Our local hospital botched a burst appendix dx – morons – and the 24 year-old strapping young man was infected and died. While (our neighbor) mom called the family attorney, the hospital attny beat her to it – they offered the $250k on the spot. Take the cash now, or much, much later after court. The amount will be the same.)</p>
<p>I too think it a very strong possibility Jahi’s body has been taken home. I don’t know that it’s a bad thing given so many bizarre turns in this case and this probably will hasten the discontinuation of a heartbeat, the only way her family will accept her death. I have to think this families home address, now very public, is flagged in every local emergency response system so if they do get that frantic call from a family member no one taking the call, or arriving at the home, goes in blind. They may even have a predetermined response set by their risk management to eliminate liability (or reduce as much as possible).</p>
<p>I have no problem respecting religious beliefs in a variety of contexts. The problem is that this family is in effect asking us to subsidize their religious beliefs.</p>
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<p>Which implies that the rest of us are being somehow disingenuous. We’re not. To be clear, for me it has nothing to do with the family’s economic situation, race or weight. If this were a thin, rich, white girl from Winnetka my answer would be the same, ie, that this child has passed away and should no longer remain on life support.</p>
<p>I, for one, disagree with the “as long as they can pay we should let them do what they want” position because I would hate to see us end up in a situation where life-saving procedures are available only to the rich.</p>
<p>As far as I can see the only time weight was mentioned it was to point out that the child’s obesity complicated her surgery, and to suggest that perhaps weight loss would have been a prudent step before resorting to surgery. The fact that sleep apnea can lead to obesity was new information for some posters.</p>
<p>I think the family’s medical IQ is relevant because it could explain why they might believe their daughter to still be alive despite all medical evidence to the contrary. The fact that they have nurses in the family somewhat negates that excuse.</p>
<p>The family made this issue public by calling press conferences and giving interviews. Had they dealt with this privately none of us would be weighing in, but by going public they opened themselves up to public scrutiny.</p>
<p>Sue22, you can’t speak for everyone on the thread. You can only speak for yourself, which you do eloquently. There are a variety of opinions here and yours isn’t the only one. There are unquestionably posters who have placed judgment on the family for the child’s weight and for being medically ignorant. Which they are entitled to do because, as you correctly pointed out, the family has opened itself to public scrutiny and must live with the consequences. I applauded pizzagirl because, as always, I respect the fact that she calls pretty much everything exactly as she sees it.</p>
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<p>The medical teams at Children’s Hospital also had legal and ethical guidance about how to respond and what they can / can’t do when a child has been declared brain-dead. But this is a family who didn’t want to hear that, and they won’t want to hear the EMT state “but I can’t do that.” In some senses, it’s worse for this EMT, because he would be by himself or with 1 -2 partners in a private home facing the family’s full wrath if he refuses. The medical teams in the hospital who were telling the family things they didn’t want to hear were at least on their home turf, could withdraw and send another battalion in, and so forth.</p>
<p>The scenario I envision is that an EMT is called to the scene in X number of days / weeks from now by the hysterical family, he (rightly) refuses to give care that he is legally and ethically not supposed to give, and someone pulls a gun. Really. This is my prediction.</p>
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Which could be where the malpractice problem will come in for the medical professionals. If the plaintiffs can prove to a jury of citizens that the medical professionals shouldn’t have proceeded with this surgery on this child at this time, then they will have a malpractice judgement against them.</p>
<p>In my eyes the family still gets a pass. They just lost their kid in an elective surgery. They cannot possibly be expected to be thinking straight about any of this. </p>
<p>I can’t pass judgment. I don’t know their education, their beliefs, their background of experience. </p>
<p>All I know is they lost their kid and they are not thinking straight. It is heartbreaking.</p>
<p>They did not go into this surgery hoping their kid died so that they could have some big lawsuit and media extravaganza.</p>
<p>The attorney is just doing his job. This is exactly why I could not be an attorney…</p>
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<p>Pure speculation. What specifically are they asking for at this point?</p>
<p>I agree with MommaJ. This is not a public case anymore. My guess is the family will say their goodbyes and quietly bury their daughter in the next few days.</p>
<p>Here’s another perspective. My apologies if this has been posted already.</p>
<p>[Opinion:</a> Let parents decide if teen is dead - CNN.com](<a href=“http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/02/opinion/veatch-defining-death/index.html]Opinion:”>http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/02/opinion/veatch-defining-death/index.html)</p>
<p>But hindsight’s 20/20. Just because the child was obese doesn’t mean the surgery was a bad idea. Just riskier than on an average-weight child. And of course there were risks in NOT doing the surgery. </p>
<p>Every surgery of every sort carries risk. At what point is that risk “too much risk”? Easy to say after the fact.</p>
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It is also possible that, depending on when this medical crisis occurred that in the heat of the moment an individual EMT may not know the situation here. I’ve followed the case and I don’t know if I would recognize any of the family by sight or even Jahi, herself, at this point. In a true emergency, the EMTs don’t always ask for the full name as the first question</p>