A musician’s alleged fall from an ambulance gurney has sent a New Westminster hospital to court.
According to a notice of civil claim filed in Supreme Court, Alton Moorman is suing Royal Columbian Hospital after allegedly being dropped from a gurney while being transported to the hospital.
A number of other defendants are named in the lawsuit, which was filed Oct. 9, including the Fraser Health Authority, Abbotsford Regional Hospital, the B.C. Emergency Health Services, two unnamed ambulance attendants and an unnamed nurse.
The claim states the incident happened on Nov. 25, 2014, when Moorman was being transported from Abbotsford to RCH in an ambulance by a nurse and two ambulance attendants.
The suit does not say why he was being transported between the two hospitals.
Moorman, who is described as a musician living in Abbotsford, claims he was dropped from a gurney onto his buttock around the hospital and suffered a number of injuries including an injury to his right leg, right foot, right hip, back and numbness/loss of function in his left finger.
Court documents state he also suffered soft tissue injuries, fatigue, insomnia, difficulty sleeping and anxiety and depression.
Moorman is seeking general damages for pain, suffering, and permanent physical disability, loss of earnings and loss of earning capacity.
He’s also seeking past and future costs of health care services.
The suit is claiming negligence on the part of the nurse for failing to properly and safely transfer Moorman, failing to provide nursing services, and for failing to take reasonable or any precaution to avoid the accident.
The ambulance attendants are also accused of being negligent for failing to properly transport the patient, for failing to properly provide ambulance services and for failing to take reasonable precaution to avoid the accident.
None of the allegations have been proven in court and the defendants have yet to file a response.
