Mom Of Girl Who Died Of Reaction: I Was Asked To Drive Ambulance

ELMHURST, IL — The mother of a 13-year-old girl who died of a severe allergic reaction at a slumber party is criticizing the city's handling of the tragedy six years ago.

In an email and an interview, Elmhurst resident Shelly LeGere recounted how the city responded to the 911 call on the August 2015 night. After her daughter's death, Shelly LeGere formed the Annie LeGere Foundation, which led the effort to enact a state law requiring all first responders to be equipped with EpiPens.

That August night, LeGere received a call from her daughter, who said she wasn't feeling well. When LeGere arrived, she said the other girls were outside crying and screaming. A police officer was already there.

"I kept on asking when the ambulance would get there," LeGere said in an email. "When the paramedics finally arrived, they began to give Annie a breathing treatment. Panicking, seeing that Annie was not breathing, I told the paramedics that a breathing treatment was not going to do anything as there was no exchange in breathing; Annie needed to be intubated."

LeGere said she knew that information because she had been a registered nurse for 30 years.

"Once Annie was in the back of the ambulance, the police officer asked me if I knew how to drive an ambulance, as both paramedics were tending to Annie in the back of the ambulance. I did not know how to drive an ambulance, nor was I in a state to drive any vehicle," LeGere said. "The police officer drove the ambulance and I sat next to him. We did not know how to turn on the siren or how to activate (traffic) light alerts."

In an interview, LeGere said the officer had not driven an ambulance before.

"Everything was delayed," LeGere said. "The police officer did nothing wrong. He was relatively new at the time. I'm sure he'll never forget that night."

In a statement, city spokeswoman Kassondra Schref said it was not uncommon for a police officer or firefighter to drive an ambulance.

"Under no circumstances would a police officer or firefighter ask a civilian to operate the ambulance," she said.

LeGere told Patch that the city stopped having fire trucks respond to emergency medical service calls shortly before the 2015 tragedy. That decision, she said, was in the interest of saving on the trucks' wear and tear. She said the city ended the short-lived policy the day after her daughter's death.

Because of the policy, LeGere said, the city could only provide two "brand-new" paramedics — one on the job for a month, the other for three months. She said she was unaware of any profession that would pair up two rookies, certainly not in the medical field.

Schref said she would look into the city's 2015 policy on fire trucks going to medical service calls.

For six decades, the city has employed an ambulance company, Metro Paramedic Services, a subsidiary of Superior Ambulance, to handle emergency medical calls. The fire department oversees the contract.

The firefighters union wants the city to add advanced life support, which includes intubation, to fire trucks. But city officials have spoken out against the idea, warning of the long-term pension and benefit costs associated with such a move. (The firefighters union has responded to this argument.)

Recently, Alderwoman Marti Deuter accused Annie LeGere Foundation board member Liz Ambrogi of making false claims and exploiting a tragedy in making the case for advanced life support (ALS) on fire trucks. She said Ambrogi was suggesting Annie LeGere could have been saved if fire trucks had that equipment.

"As I understand the facts of the case, which I believe may be accessible through a (public records) request, the ambulance arrived on the scene prior to the fire apparatus, and the paramedics were qualified to provide care. Neither ALS on fire apparatus nor firefighters staffing the ambulances would have changed the trajectory of that tragic night," Deuter said in an email.

By suggesting fire apparatus was going to arrive that August 2015 night, Deuter appears to question Shelly LeGere's assertion that the city had suspended its policy of having fire trucks go to emergency medical calls.

In an email to Deuter, LeGere said the alderwoman was the one who should have filed a public records request about the evening Annie LeGere died, saying Deuter's email was filled with inaccuracies.

"Let me be clear that in no way do I believe that my daughter received the 'quality of care' that she deserved," LeGere said in the email. "The situation was surreal with total confusion and disorder. A fire engine should have been dispatched with experienced firefighters-paramedics and equipment to assist my daughter."