Brooklyn Mother: "Man In Uniform" Let My Daughter Die

Briana Ojeda (WABC 7)

The mother of an 11-year-old girl who died of an asthma attack on Friday says a man, whom she believes to be a cop, kept her from getting her daughter to a hospital. Carmen Ojeda's daughter, Briana, began suffering an asthma attack in a playground in Carroll Gardens on Friday afternoon. Ojeda, not wanting to wait for an ambulance, took off with Briana in her car, and turned down a side street to avoid traffic. The street ended up being one-way, and she either crashed into or was blocked by other cars. That's when she waved down a "marked car" and a "uniformed man" got out.

The man yelled at Ojeda for the crash, and when she attempted to explain that her daughter needed CPR, he allegedly "'smirked' and responded, 'I don't do CPR.'" Other witnesses say he simply said he didn't know CPR, but Ojeda said he wouldn't let her continue to the hospital. One witness says Ojeda started screaming, "My daughter is dying," and Good Samaritan Scott Voloshin began performing CPR on her daughter. But by the time Ojeda arrived at the hospital, it was too late to save Briana.

Police are conducting an internal affairs investigation and are trying to determine whether the man was a cop, a traffic agent, an auxiliary officer or a private guard. But Voloshin insists he was with the NYPD, telling WABC, "He was NYPD for sure, but I don't know what." However, none of the cops at the local precinct have said they were at the scene. Whoever it was, Briana's parents want justice. Ojeda said, "My daughter was only 11 ... she had no chance."

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jaya Saxena in News on August 30, 2010 1:36 PM

Comments [rss]

anotherview

Can you give cpr to a person who is having as asthma attack. Can it help?

CPR, Cardiopulmonary resuscitation meaning your heart is stopped asthma is an issue with breathing. So unless you want to break some ribs what you would be doing would be counterproductive

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100901111314AAJEuep

If someone has an asthma attack and collapses, what should a person do? Will CPR help?

If someone collapses from an asthma attack, it is because he or she is not getting enough oxygen. This is because all the lung's small airways have narrowed and are not allowing enough air to reach the air sacs. Mouth to mouth respiration may help a little. The real need is to get this person to an emergency department so that the patient can receive medications and emergency endotracheal intubation (a tube in the main airway).

http://depts.washington.edu/learncpr/askdoctor.html#If%20someone%20has

BC70

It's still the mother's fault - dial 911 instead of pretending to be an ambulance. She could have injured someone.

John L

I guess a lot of you idiots owe this family an apology

NY Daily News: Cop identified, suspended by NYPD for failing to help woman save daughter dying of asthma

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/08/31/2010-08-31_cop_identified_suspended_by_nypd_for_failing_to_help_woman_save_daughter_dying_o.html

Petey

Since the city thought it was a good idea to put everyone in the same type of cars as the real police, including traffic agents, school safety, and auxillary, not to mention allowing the Jewish "patrols", such as the CHVP and the CHSP in crown heights, it could have been almost anyone.

5borough

My money is on some brownie in his new cop-looking uniform and car was the person in question, and I doubt the NYPD trains them in CPR (which wasn't needed anyway).

All around sad, but again: They are barking up the wrong tree.

JacqueMehoff

maybe they should go back to their brown uniforms.

5borough

But then people would realize how few cops are actually on the street.

potsmoker

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KluItc365hU

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5borough

Update: They showed the street on CBS 2 news, and there is no way a car could fit past another. It was probably her vs many other cars that could not back out to deal with her craziness.

Kelles

This is sad but I couldn't even watch ABC interview the mother. She started wailing "why did the officer let her die why didn't he perform CPR?" someone posted 'why didn't the parents learn CPR, why weren't they prepared? They knew their child was asthmatic.' good question. Also the wailing and screaming may have contributed to the problem. The Red Cross says most deaths occur because ppl wait too long for treatment or don't call 911 in time. Either way, it's a sad story.

ANGRYGOD11

Every parent I know is packed and ready to deal with their child's asthma/allergy/medical condition.

I won't kick a mother after she just lost her child, but if this goes to court, she will have to testify in court as to her preparations, if any, for an emergency she knew was coming.

just saying

Yes, asthma attacks don't happen without warning.

The child was probably wheezing that day and/or showing some sign of a worsening respiratory problem. Was the mother monitoring her daughter's breathing on a daily basis with a peak flow meter? A good guess is that these parents were overly relying on the nebulizer as an easy quick-fix treatment for their daughter's asthma episodes instead of taking proactive and preventive measures to avoid such attacks in the first place.

JacqueMehoff

in one of the links it says they have a nebulizer in the car but it didn't help. if that's true, that's not your ordinary puffer.

JacqueMehoff

not to worry briana, it will all balance out in the end, if not now, soon. at least we have one brave eyewitness.

5borough

I bet the woman who climbed under the downed pole had a brave witness too.

JacqueMehoff

did his name show up anywhere?

it all balances out in the end though.

rdayk

This is a tragedy, but I agree that the mom should have called 911. Of course, it's hard to think rationally when your kid's dying, but the ambulance would have been a lot faster than trying to drive to the hospital. Average ambulance response time in NYC is only 5-7 minutes for life-threatening emergencies and the ambulance would have been equipped with medical equipment and staffed by fully qualified EMTs. That is not to say there was no wrongdoing by this guy and I guess we'll just have to wait and see it play out.

Uncle Fester

First of all, I am sorry for her loss. Nevertheless, her plan to "make someone pay" for her child's death is misguided.

1. If the officer could not do CPR, he should not have attempted it.

2. While having her drive to the hospital might seem like the best idea for her child, it seems apparent the woman was not in any condition to drive safely to the hospital. She already crashed once. Putting other people at risk of reckless driving would have been a bad idea. It sounds like EMS was called which was the right decision for safety.

3. Officers document everything. If the NYPD was at the scene, there would be a report.

Sadly, her daughter died b/c she had an asthma attack. Nobody is to blame.

Spirit of 76

Cops document everything? Really?

5borough

What happened to this family is very sad, but trying to blame some one else is dumb. The thing to do was call 911. Just because something terrible happened there doesn't need to be a bad guy and trying to finger some one as the bad guy when you made many mistakes that may have resulted in the death of your child is nasty.

In the article it said the child was breathing (and therefore wouldn't need CPR). The streets in that area are almost all very narrow and cannot fit two cars side by side. I doubt she was blocked as much as after making a bad decision she got stuck.