September 23, 2022 | By Greene Broillet & Wheeler
Attorneys Bruce Broillet and Christian Nickerson represented the parents of a twelve-year-old boy who died following a heart arrhythmia in March of 2018 that left him unconscious after running laps in P.E. class. The Los Angeles Unified School District paid a $9.5 million wrongful death settlement that resolved a civil lawsuit filed against the District involving the death of the middle school student.
Evidence uncovered during litigation showed that 911 was not called for many minutes because the teachers believed they could not make such calls themselves. Instead, they were required to call the front office to ask the administration to make the call. That resulted in a delay of at least six minutes in calling 911. Plus, it meant that the 911 operator spoke with the front office rather than the teacher with the student in the field. Direct communication would have allowed the 911 operator to talk the person with the student through proper steps while awaiting the paramedics’ arrival.
Evidence also demonstrated that the AED was not brought immediately and that, once it was brought many minutes later, it was not used. Evidence also showed that the school nurse did not even know that the school had an AED, even though she was the person designated to inspect it daily.
If CPR was performed, it was not started until many minutes after the boy was found unconscious.
Autopsy results showed that the student had an undiagnosed congenital heart anomaly that was readily treatable if the school had provided a proper emergency response. When the paramedics arrived at the scene pursuant to the delayed 911 call, it was too late for the student to be revived. The paramedics concluded that no CPR had been performed before their arrival. The student was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Read more about the case in Los Angeles Times: LAUSD to pay $9.5 million to parents of boy who died after running laps in P.E.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partiner, Tim J. Wheeler who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney.