A dying Vietnam vet’s last thought before he died was why his New York City ambulance took nearly an hour to arrive, his grieving daughter told lawmakers Friday.
The horror story, recounted by an emotional Maisha Morales, was one of several told by New Yorkers during a City Council hearing over FDNY EMS’ soaring response times to life-threatening medical emergencies, which are nearly a minute longer than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we waited for emergency services to arrive, each minute felt agonizing, filled with mounting fear,” she said about her father Antonio Morales’ last moments in August, when her mother found him lying on the floor in a “pool of blood and bloody diarrhea.”
The wait was so interminable that Morales’ father questioned why it took so long, she said, choking back tears.
When EMTs arrived nearly an hour later, Morales was stunned that the medics showed “no sense of urgency.”