http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/scn-sa-nor.delano5jan13,0,7816228.story?coll=stam-news-local-headlines
By Natasha Lee
Staff Writer
January 13, 2007
STAMFORD - The family of a city police sergeant, who died after suffering a heart attack on the job, has filed a lawsuit against the city accusing it of negligence in training officers in CPR and the use of life-saving heart defibrillators.
Sgt. James Delano, 51, had a fatal heart attack Dec. 28, 2004, while working at police headquarters. Police have said officers tried to revive Delano until paramedics arrived. He was in a coma for a week before he died at Bridgeport Hospital.
In the suit filed last month, Sarah and Alicia Delano said their father may have lived if officers had first-aid training and had access to a defibrillator, which uses an electric shock to restore a heart's normal rhythm.
Doctors say if applied within the first 10 minutes of a cardiac arrest, the shock can prevent severe brain damage or death. Police have not said whether the officers who found Delano were certified in CPR.
The family is seeking more than $15,000 for Delano's death and his lost income, the document said.
The lawsuit names the city, the police department, Police Chief Brent Larrabee and former Police Chief Louis DeCarlo as defendants.
Thomas Cassone, the city's director of legal affairs, said lawsuits brought against employers involving injuries or death on the job are typically unsuccessful.
Employees or families of employees injured or killed on the job usually have to file workers' compensation claims to get an employee's earnings.
"Normally, you can't sue your employer. You may be entitled to benefits under workers' compensation, but that's depending on the cause of the incident," he said.
Two phone calls to the Delanos' attorney, Thomas Weihing, were not returned.
In February 2005, the city and police union agreed to provide the seven- to 10-hour training course to the department's 280 police officers and purchase defibrillators - which cost $2,000 to $3,000 each - to be installed in all active police cruisers.
That April, the police department restarted CPR re-certification training which had been suspended since 1988 because of the cost in overtime pay it takes to train officers, and equipment expenses.
Officers come out of the state police academy with full CPR certification, but it expires after two years. The training included a new section on use of defibrillators. As of July 2006, the department had trained 180 officers at a cost of $70,000.
The department has purchased 30 defibrillators. The first defibrillator was installed above the desk where Delano worked the night he died.
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