Family Sues City of Arlington Ambulance for Wrongful Death

    ARLINGTON, MN, June 15, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ -- An Arlington family has sued the City of Arlington alleging that the City's ambulance and ambulance crew caused the death of Dennis Voight when the ambulance equipment failed.

Gary Voight's heirs and family members allege in their Complaint that they had called 911 to check on Gary Voight when they had not heard from him. An Arlington police officer arrived and found Voight on the floor of his apartment, and called for EMS ambulance to respond. When the ambulance crew arrived they were unable to put Voight into the ambulance due to a "stretcher malfunction" and "power lift failure" resulting in the inability to load the stretcher onto the ambulance. The crew instead loaded Voight onto a backboard and placed him on the ambulance floor with the stretcher sticking out of back of the ambulance. The stretcher was protruding from the back of the ambulance with the doors open all the way to the medical facility, with the back door swinging back and forth. The Voight family claims that the ambulance crew dropped Voight onto his head several times en route, causing a large hematoma above his eye.

Upon arrival at the hospital, Voight lost his pulse while in the parking lot, as the ambulance crew were busy attempting to release the stretcher from the back of the ambulance, so that they could get Voight out. The struggle to release the stretcher and place Voight from a backboard to the stretcher, took away critical time needed by Voight. During this time, Voight lost his pulse, and the ambulance crew failed to perform CPR. Voight passed away that day.

Attorney Randall Knutson of the Knutson + Casey law firm in Mankato Minnesota represents Voight's family in the wrongful death case. Attorney Knutson says that every second matters in a case like this, where an injured person needs CPR. "This case shows how important it is to provide an expeditious transport for those suffering from a medical emergency. We need to be able to trust our emergency medical services to transport our loved ones quickly to a hospital in their time of need, and provide medical services on the way there. The failure of an ambulance to work properly can be the difference between life and death." The family of Voight also alleges that the problem with ambulance was a known issue, prior to its failure on the day the Voight was transported.

Attorney Randall Knutson, Knutson + Casey, https://www.knutsoncasey.com
Phone: 507 344-8888
Sibley County Minnesota, First Judicial District, Court File Number 72-CV-22-121

Knutson + Casey is a personal injury and wrongful death law firm located in Mankato Minnesota. Randall Knutson is listed as a SuperLawyer and one of the top 100 lawyers in Minnesota.

# # #