Milwaukee Woman Who Had Chest Pains Dies After Long Wait In Emergency Room

A 25-year old Milwaukee day care teach died while trying to find a doctor for help.

Tashonna Ward arrived to Froedtert Hospital on Jan. 2 after experiencing chest pains and tightness of breath but unfortunately was never seen by a doctor. She spent more than two hours in the emergency department before she left to find quicker care and, later, collapsed — now the family wants answers.

The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office has not determined the cause of death.

A spokesperson for Froedtert Hospital provided a statement: “The family is in our thoughts and has our deepest sympathy. We cannot comment further at this time.”

Ward’s family members said they are scheduled to meet with representatives from the hospital next week.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports:

Ward began to have chest pain and trouble breathing while she was working that afternoon at L&M Links child care center on 80th and Burleigh streets. Ward’s sister drove her to Froedtert Hospital; they checked in at 4:58 p.m., according to the medical examiner’s report. 

Hospital staff checked her heartbeat with an electrocardiogram, which appeared normal, according to the report. The chest X-ray revealed cardiomegaly: an enlarged heart. 

Ward had heard this before — in March, when her baby died after the umbilical cord wrapped around the baby’s neck, Ward was told she had developed an enlarged heart during the pregnancy, according to the medical examiner’s report. 

The report doesn’t say whether Ward retained an enlarged heart since the pregnancy, or if she had a more recent flare-up. Cardiomegaly, which can be temporary or permanent, can put people at greater risk for blood clots, cardiac arrest and other heart problems. 

After the tests at Froedtert on Jan. 2, Ward’s family said she was asked to stay in the waiting room until staff could provide further medical attention. The medical examiner’s report does not indicate what happened after the tests.

At 5:45 p.m., Ward posted on Facebook, “I really hope I’m not in this emergency room all night.”

At 5:56 p.m., Ward’s mother called to check in on her, according to Andrea Ward, who pieced together a timeline based on phone logs, texts and Facebook posts. Tashonna Ward was “inseparable” from her mother and sister, the cousin said.

At 6:35 p.m., she texted her family that she was still in the waiting room.

At 7:35 p.m., Tashonna Ward wrote on Facebook that she’d been told she might have to wait two to six hours to see a doctor.

Tashonna Ward told her mom she’d been given tests, was waiting to see a doctor and had gone back to the front desk multiple times asking to be seen, Andrea Ward said.

Ward’s sister, Brianna, picked her up and stopped at their mother’s house to grab Ward’s insurance card, Andrea Ward said.

At 8:39 p.m., Froedtert staff called Ward’s cellphone and her sister picked up, according to the medical examiner’s report. By that point, Ward had collapsed and was already in an ambulance on her way back to Froedtert. The report doesn’t say why Froedtert staff made the phone call.

The ambulance arrived at 9:07 p.m., according to the report. At that point, Ward was unresponsive, the report states and was soon pronounced dead.

The family members have many questions for the hospital. As news of Ward’s death spread on Facebook, many people shared their own stories of waiting for hours in emergency rooms.

Andrea Ward found out what happened from her cousin’s mother, Yolanda.

“She called me and said, ‘My baby stopped breathing,’ ” Andrea said. “And I zoomed over. And she was swearing and she said she was just at the freaking hospital and they kept her waiting.”

Howard Mell, an emergency physician and spokesperson for the American College of Emergency Physicians, said it’s hard to judge the triage decisions of hospital staff without knowing what other patients the hospital may have been prioritizing at the time.

“Unfortunately a lot of times there are no beds and decisions have to get made as to who gets one of the few beds left and who can wait,” Mell said. “To a certain degree, part of triage is the art of the guess.”

Andrea Ward has started a GoFundMe page to assist with Tashonna Ward’s funeral expenses.