Georgia’s law on ambulance transport during a medical emergency is being questioned as a family demands answers in the death of their 15-year-old daughter.
A legal team led by well-known attorney Ben Crump is preparing to have an independent autopsy performed on Amanda Sylvester, who died hours after collapsing at a College Park recreation center on Dec. 5.
Amanda’s parents, Anthony and Barbara Sylvester, stood beside Crump and attorneys Liza Park and Adam Malone during a press conference Thursday. The Sylvesters say they want accountability for the events that they believe led to their daughter’s death.
In the eyes of the family, Amanda did not have the benefit of an ambulance and timely medical attention. Grady EMS, which is the provider of emergency ambulance services for Fulton County, has stated that the transport call for Amanda was canceled. College Park has said in a statement that the ambulance call was not canceled.
“Whether it was Grady Hospital EMS or the fire and rescue unit from College Park, it appears that there were mistakes from the very start, negligence,” Crump said.
College Park Fire and Rescue and emergency medical technicians can respond to a 911 call, but according to Georgia law, they cannot transport a person to the hospital unless it’s a life-threatening situation.
Grady EMS ambulances depart from the EMS yard on Memorial Drive in the city of Atlanta, said College Park spokesman Bill Crane on Friday. 911 calls reveal that there were no ambulances available to go to the College Park recreation center to attend to Amanda.
She collapsed while in the midst of a warm-up run around the recreation center gym with teammates on her Dream Chasers volleyball team. Her mother had just dropped her off and was still in the parking lot of the Tracey Wyatt Recreation Complex when Amanda fainted.
College Park Fire and Rescue and EMTs were the first responders to a 911 call at 6:09 p.m. Subsequent emergency calls were made for a Grady EMS ambulance to transport Amanda to the hospital, but none were available.
College Park EMTs did not think Amanda was in a life-threatening situation, Crane said. And they were taking cues from Barbara Sylvester, who appeared calm, he said.
“She was not critical,” said Crane regarding Amanda.
The EMTs were unable to check Amanda’s oxygen level, Crane said, but otherwise, her vitals were “reasonably stable.”
Amanda fainted a second time at the recreation center after her initial collapse, the city spokesman said.
The Sylvester’s were visibly heartbroken during Thursday’s press conference. It was held a day after Amanda’s funeral service.
Barbara Sylvester said that she told the EMTs that something was very wrong with her daughter and that she could see it was not related to the diabetes that Amanda was diagnosed with at the age of 5.
Sylvester drove Amanda to the hospital after she was brought to the car by the EMTs. They went to the emergency room at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta-Hughes Spalding, which is adjacent to Grady Hospital, and arrived at 7:24 p.m., the attorneys said.
Amanda’s heart stopped after medical staff took her inside, attorney Park said. She was revived, but Amanda’s heart stopped again. She was pronounced dead at 8:40 p.m.
“This is a pain no one can ever understand,” Barbara Sylvester said in tears. “When you call for help, help should come.”
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