Vanderhorst’s leg, which she says was gashed open while being transported by FDNY.Paul MartinkaA Brooklyn woman called 911 for her breathing problems but ended up in even worse shape when FDNY EMS workers shoved her into an ambulance so carelessly that her leg was gashed open and needed 21 stitches, court papers state.
“Instead of using a stretcher they tried to boost me up into the ambulance,” said Jacqueline Vanderhorst, 58.
“My leg got caught in the middle and I ended up with 21 stitches. When I laid down in the ambulance, the sheets were full of blood.”
The Brooklyn Supreme Court lawsuit says the EMS attendants who responded to Vanderhorst’s Canarsie housing project in July 2014 told her they weren’t able to lower the steps into the ambulance because they were “unserviceable.”
“When people call for help to go to a hospital, they shouldn’t get there with another injury as a result of the transport,” said Vanderhorst lawyer Roman Avshalumov.
“Vanderhorst was forced and literally pushed in the ambulance by the EMS attendants, resulting in serious injuries to her left leg which needed immediate medical attention and stitches,” reads the suit.
ShutterstockVanderhorst said one of the EMS attendants was even cruel about her injury.
“One said, ‘Accidents happen. She ain’t going to be able to walk for awhile,’” Vanderhorst remembered.
A city Law Department spokesman said they would review the lawsuit.
