Woman Says Lane Closings Were Not to Blame for Her Mother’s Death

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NY Times

By NATE SCHWEBER

FORT LEE, N.J. — The daughter of a 91-year-old woman from Fort Lee, N.J., who died on the day of a major traffic jam precipitated by top aides to Gov. Chris Christie said on Thursday that she did not believe the inability of an ambulance to reach her mother’s house was a factor in her death.

“I honestly believe it was just her time,” said Vilma Oleri, whose mother, Florence Genova, died on the morning of Sept. 9, the first day that the closing of local lanes leading to the George Washington Bridge set off the snarls.

A Fort Lee emergency official has said that the traffic jam prevented an ambulance from Englewood Hospital from reaching Ms. Genova’s home.

Ms. Oleri spoke inside her home in Closter, N.J. She said she had gone that morning to check on her mother, who lived alone in a two-story, red brick house on Harvard Place in the southern part of Fort Lee. Ms. Oleri said she called 911 after her mother went into the bathroom before breakfast and did not come out.

FULL story at link.



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/nyregion/woman-says-lane-closings-were-not-to-blame-for-her-mothers-death.html?partner=EXCITE&ei=5043&_r=0

[Hoyt]

1. As much as I dislike Republicans like Christie and his team, that was always a stupid

accusation.

[tblue]

2. Regardless, it could have been true.

That's why you never do something so stupid, so criminal, as to unnecessarily delay traffic! You just don't do it.

[jberryhill]

26. But what about the lives saved if the bridge could have collapsed?

By keeping people off the bridge, it could have saved hundreds from dying if the bridge collapsed that day.

[BlueCaliDem]

27. Exactly! There was a heightened chance that those lane closings and delays

could have been the cause of many people not getting the help they need on time.

After all, there's a reason why ambulances have sirens and can stop traffic. Otherwise, if time isn't of essence when someone needs immediately medical care, why bother with sirens, right?

[LovingA2andMI]

3. A minute of emergency response time.....

Can save a life. Food for thought.

[onehandle]

4. Regardless, First Responders, some of which reported on 9/11, were impacted by Christie.

Nothing excuses his personal plan to screw 'Buono voters.' nt

[SunSeeker]

5. It was "just her time," eh?

Did Vilma Oleri know "it was just her time" by how long Florence was in the bathroom before Vilma called 911? She doesn't sound all that choked up about her mom's passing. The article says Florence voted for Christie. I'm betting her daughter did too. And she doesn't sound all that upset with the bridge stunt.

Isn't she at all curious to find out whether the DOCTORS think the delay contributed to Florence's death?

[leftyohiolib]

9. republican values

[ninjanurse]

11. Respect

I would respect this family's grief and leave them alone. There's more than enough to hold Chris Christie accountable.

[SunSeeker]

18. Respect for Florence would entail wanting to know what killed her. nt

[BlueCaliDem]

28. Bingo. eom

[Psephos]

33. yes, well said n/t

[LeftyMom]

17. Dude, her mom was *91* People that age don't generally bounce back after an accident or illness.

My grandmother fell and bruised her hip- didn't break it, mind, just a nasty bruise- when she was about that age (93) and that's all it took to get her body to shut down. Over a few weeks after that she just spent more and more time in bed, ate less and less, and wound down like an old clock. A friend's grandfather died in his late 80's of falling out of bed.

This is by no means excusing the retaliatory bridge shutdown, but if a 91 year old has a heart attack while standing in a hospital surrounded by medical professionals her odds are still awful.

[SunSeeker]

19. No doubt. All the more reason to make sure first responders reach them fast.

The fact that the elderly are fragile does not make killing them any less murder.

[tofuandbeer]

24. +1

[BlueCaliDem]

29. +2 eom

[TwilightGardener]

6. The issue was the delay in emergency services. Deliberately caused by

public officials. Had the 91-year-old woman been a choking 3-year-old who needed emergency intubation, it might be more of an issue...but the delay is enough.

[JI7]

7. it doesn't really matter, doesn't change what happened and why it should not be done

[Zorra]

8. Regardless, it very well could have been a factor in someone's death.

That alone makes Christie dangerous and totally unfit for public office.

[davidpdx]

25. +1

[BlueCaliDem]

30. Spot on! eom

[ninjanurse]

10. Humility

In nursing I see so many factors beyond our control that I am very cautious about saying any action saved a life or failed one. Sometimes you can see a direct cause, but more often there are multiple factors and random chance.
Tampering with traffic was a breach of public safety and could easily have cost a life. Possibly it will turn out that there were other consequences that will emerge.
Stalling Ms. Genova's care was indefensible. That's enough.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

12. IT may have been her time, but if that were the case, why call the ambulance anyway?

Just let your mother go naturally without bringing her to the hospital.

Sorry. . .there is a logical flaw in all of the daughter's statements.

[muriel_volestrangler]

34. No, I don't think that follows at all

If you find your mother unconscious and with no signs of life, a normal person will still want an expert to at least check (in the UK, at least, you have to have a doctor certify death - you can't leave a dead person without notifying the authorities), and most people (unless they know their mother has said 'do not resuscitate') will also want them to see if there's any way to save her. And it's quite possible that a 91 year old had already gone beyond saving, and any amount of speed to the hospital wouldn't have made a difference (and it's just as 'natural' to die in a hospital). And, once they've found that out (and SunSeeker above assumes she had never even talked to the doctors about this, which is pretty insulting to her), she might then say "it was just her time".

So, no, no 'logical flaw' in what she says, and it's also a very understandable stance for her. Perhaps you've never been involved in a similar situation.

[Nanjing to Seoul]

36. My parents pretty much abandoned me when I turned 18 and went to college.

We haven't spoken much for the past eight years really. So, no. . .I haven't. Sorry for the presumption about this woman's grief.

It just popped into my mind.

[DamnYankeeInHouston]

13. Was she threatened? Or bribed?

I apologize for my cynicism, but I grew up in New Jersey.

[putitinD]

15. those were my thoughts too

[niyad]

16. that was my first thought.

[calimary]

20. My first reaction was - "was she a republi-CON?"

A fellow GOPer would know whose side to stand by. They're loyal to a fault. Gotta give 'em that.

Sorry to be cynical, but there you are. Hard to be otherwise with the GOP.

[BlueCaliDem]

32. Ms. Genova, the elderly woman, was.

Ms. Genova and her husband were married more than 50 years. She loved her son and daughter and three grandchildren, Ms. Oleri said, though in recent years her memory had began to fail her.

Because of that, she did not vote in the last election of a governor. But she did in the one before.

“She voted for Christie,” Ms. Oleri said.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/10/nyregion/woman-says-lane-closings-were-not-to-blame-for-her-mothers-death.html?partner=EXCITE&ei=5043&_r=1

Color me surprised if the daughter wasn't a Christie voter, too.

[JI7]

21. paid off most likely

[jsr]

31. Somebody talked to her.

We're talking about New Jersey.

[riverwalker]

14. the EMT's tried to revive her

and they would not attempt it unless they thought it would help (i.e she was not stone cold dead) so there were some signs of life when they arrived. Those 4 minutes lost in the bridge delay could have made ALL the difference in her survival. I hope they are called to testify.

[renate]

22. the daughter's lack of blame doesn't equal lack of culpability

I'm glad for her sake that she's not bitter or angry, and maybe she's right about her mother, but the 91-year-old could just have well have been a 41-year-old having a heart attack or an 11-year-old hit by a car. It's not the least bit morally relevant that the daughter doesn't blame Chris Christie.

[Nye Bevan]

23. When your governor is a bullying thug like Christie,

you would probably feel quite a bit of pressure to say the "right" thing.

[Fearless]

35. She can't know that.

The fact is that a service failed to do what it was supposed to (that being arriving promptly) whether or not she would have survived.