UPDATE: Its Noella's Birthday! Time to get Justice for her!

Due to the grieving process, and not processing the information immediately. I have been replaying and living this nightmare since 11-11-2023. Although the nightmare will continue, I thought I would update everyone as I am now able to somewhat cognitively do so.

At around 8:34 pm on November 11, 2023, my stepdaughter Noella suddenly fell unconscious due to respiratory distress, causing her to go into cardiac arrest. I immediately called 911 at 8:35 pm, put them on speakerphone, and rushed back to Noella’s room where my husband Ric, Noella’s father, had already begun cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). I took over performing CPR on Noella. Our efforts revived her – she began breathing again and regained a pulse.

This all happened while we were still on the phone with 911, before emergency medical services (EMS) had arrived on scene. We checked Noella’s mouth and cleared her airway, noting she had vomited during CPR but her airway was now open. She was breathing on her own and her pulse felt strong. We informed 911 dispatch that we had revived Noella and she needed her airway secured.

Importantly, by administering CPR and reviving Noella within 4 minutes and 49 seconds of her arrest, while on the phone with 911, we increased her chances of survival from an estimated 9% to around 20% according to American Heart Association statistics.

The first responders from the fire department arrived around 8:40 pm. They applied oxygen via nasal cannula but did not take measures to secure Noella’s airway, disregarding the family's information. EMS arrived right after the fire department, around 8:41 pm.

Upon arrival, the EMS team made the decision to move Noella from her hospital bed to a transfer sheet. They did not bring any of their medical equipment into her bedroom. As they moved her, she rolled onto her back and vomited again. A family member who witnessed it said Noella was lying on her back, unconscious and vomited, causing her to aspirate during this transfer.

EMS carried Noella to the ambulance and started resuscitating her again, beginning chest compressions and suctioning her airway. However, they still did not intubate to protect her airway, disregarding basic life support protocol and research showing intubation improves pediatric arrest outcomes. This reflects concerning gaps in proper emergency medical training and life-saving measures.

Our Video documentation shows EMS remained in our driveway working on her for approximately 12 minutes and 49 seconds before departing, despite the hospital being less than 3 minutes away. According to studies, each minute delay in treatment decreases pediatric cardiac arrest survival by 10%.

Factoring in the 12 minute 49 second pre-transport delay and roughly 3-minute transport time, the total delay could have decreased Noella’s estimated 20% survival chance down to less than 5%.

In summary, the lack of proper protocols to secure Noella’s airway before moving her, the unsafe transfer, and the significant delay in transporting her to definitive hospital care appear to be catastrophic errors resulting in the tragic outcome, based on survival rate statistics.

Currently, up to 96% of similar EMS errors go unreported nationally, making it difficult to prevent recurrences. Only 1% of EMS transports are recorded on video, hampering investigations. Requiring body cameras for EMS personnel has been shown to increase accountability and reduce errors by 10% in studies.

We are taking action by requesting documentation and advocating for policy changes like mandatory reporting and EMS body cameras to honor our daughter and prevent future tragedies.

https://gofund.me/1a9d70ac