Injured Boy's Mom Says Mass. Premier Courts Too Slow On Response

FOXBOROUGH, MA — It’s every parent’s nightmare - watching helplessly as their child screams in pain with little help.

For Leanne Bruno, that nightmare was a reality in April, she told the Foxborough selectmen. Tuesday, the resident, along with her brother and former board member Mark Sullivan, and her son Anthony, were at the meeting to demand improvements to the emergency procedure at Mass. Premier Courts, the facility where her son was seriously injured during a basketball game.

Bruno told the board that her son suffered a “Joe Theismann-like broken and contorted leg” during an April 2 game at the facility. She says that her child was on the floor, in pain for 25 minutes and emergency crews had trouble entering and leaving the building due to a crowded area.

Town Manager Bill Keegan said that he conducted a meeting with Police Chief Edward O’Leary, Fire Chief Roger Hatfield, Building Commissioner Bill Casbarra, and representatives from Mass. Premier Courts to determine the best course of actions. Keegan disagreed with the timetable, stating that it took eight to 10 minutes for Foxborough fire to arrive once they got the call.

Operational Manager Mike Vaughan apologized to Bruno and her son what happened, telling the board that future meetings with Hatfield and O’Leary are scheduled to review their emergency process. Like Keegan, Vaughan said it took well under 25 minutes for emergency crews to arrive. According to his timetable, Anthony was injured at 10:55 a.m., a 911 call from the Mass. Premier Courts’ cell phone was made at 10:56 a.m. along with two more calls from people nearby. By 10:58 a.m., the EMS crew left the Foxborough Public Safety building and arrived at the facility by 11:06 a.m.

The use of a cell phone sent the call to a state police dispatcher in Framingham, who then transferred the call to Foxborough. That added 35 seconds, Vaughan said. While waiting for the ambulance, Vaughan said Anthony was treated by a person with paramedic experience.

A woman having a seizer at the front door also caused a jam, Vaughan said.

Anthony rejected the claim of a shorter wait time for help.

“I was lucky that my coaches had the slightest bit of medical background. I was lucky that one person out of 2,500 was a court medical officer and he helped me whereas I don’t remember the staff coming and checking on me. It was not 10 minutes. I laid on the ground for 25 at least and I am sure of that,” he told the board.

When asked if there is an EMS detail at the tournaments, Vaughan said there is not and they are not required to have one.

Selectman Jim DeVellis said that he was at the building earlier in the day for his daughter’s basketball game, noting that he thought the circulation for traffic in their parking lot wasn’t great.

Vaughan said some attendees are putting their cars in no-parking zones rather than parking further away from the building.

“We need to get better at driving people to the back of the lot. It’s not a problem with spaces, it’s a problem with people wanting to park closer,” Vaughan said, adding that a one-way road used as a back entrance is now paved and can be used by police and fire.

Chairman David Feldman said he spends a lot of time at the RBI Academy, which shares the building. He said the area can get crowded with all the regular customers, tournaments, and AAU teams that use the building.

When asked what capacity is, Casbarra said it is 800 occupants. Sullivan claimed that there were at least 2,500 people in the building when Anthony was injured.

“It’s almost like a shopping mall where they don’t design it for Christmas Eve. You either get a bigger boat or get some people off,” DeVellis said.

While the board cannot order Mass. Premier Courts to take action, they did make some recommendations including having an EMS detail on site for tournament games, using a landline for 911 calls and improving the fire lane outside.

The town and the building are scheduled to continue meeting, with Keegan to give an update to the board in 30-40 days.