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Date Posted: 19:33:24 01/14/01 Sun
Author: Anonymous
Subject: Secret Code reveals secret victim left to die!

Saturday, December 16, 2000



Confusion follows premature report of death

Authorities are trying to figure out how one of the victims was reported dead then discovered to be alive more than 2 1/2 hours later.

By Novelda Sommers
The Wichita Eagle

Hours after paramedics arrived at the scene of a quadruple homicide Friday morning, a victim who was reported dead was rushed to the hospital.
Tom Pollan, Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Service director, said he and his staff are investigating why more than 2 1/2 hours passed between the time paramedics reported four victims dead and the discovery that one, a male, apparently was still alive. The patient, whom hospital officials and police refused to identify, died at Wesley Medical Center.

Heather Suzanne Muller, 25, Jason Wayne Befort, 26, Bradley C. Heyka, 27, and Aaron Daniel Sander, 29, were fatally shot in a field near 29th Street North and Greenwich Road early Friday.

At 2:59 a.m. paramedics reported that the four victims in the field were "code black," or dead, Pollan said. At 5:37, a paramedic supervisor called for an ambulance for one of the victims.

Peggy Wilson, a paramedic instructor at Wichita State University, said part of the code-black criteria is a mortal wound, such as a severe head wound.

It's possible that a person with a gunshot wound to the head would have a pulse so faint that it would be difficult to detect, Wilson said.

Lying exposed in the snow could also cause a person's pulse to slow to a barely detectable rate, she said.

"That could hinder an accurate assessment, especially if they had a fatal wound," she said.

A similar instance happened Nov. 15, north of Topeka, when a 53-year-old woman attempted suicide by shooting herself in the head.

She called 911 before losing consciousness, and firefighters, who were trained as emergency medical technicians, responded minutes later. Seeing her wounded, they thought she was dead and canceled an ambulance.

Emergency officials waited outside her home to protect it as a crime scene. As they stood outside, the woman regained consciousness and called for help again. She later was listed in fair condition at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.

Whether paramedics followed protocol Friday is under review, Pollan said, adding that all responses, even ones involving no victims, are reviewed.

Normally, paramedics in Sedgwick County would check a trauma victim for respiration, a pulse and blood pressure to determine how serious his injuries were, he said. Pollan expects to complete the review by next week, he said.

A timeline of emergency medical workers' responses Friday morning:

• 2:59 a.m., EMS workers who had arrived on the scene at 29th Street North and Greenwich Road reported the four victims were dead.

•5:37 a.m., an EMS supervisor asked for an ambulance to take one of the victims to Wesley Medical Center.

•6:06 a.m., the ambulance carrying the victim arrived at the hospital.

The victim was pronounced dead about 10 minutes after his arrival.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reach Novelda Sommers at 268-6340 or nsommers@wichitaeagle.com.

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© 2001 The Wichita Eagle

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