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P a g e 2, PHOENIX, May 23, 1974 Conflicting Reports Bring D.A. Gold into LICH ProbeBY JOHN BLACKMOREBrooklyn District Attorney Eugene Gold has begun an investigation of the emergency procedures undertaken by Long Island College Hospital and the 76th Precinct in connection with the death of Heights resident, Sidney Simkovsky at the Columbia St. Playground on April 20. The investigation was requested by Councilman Fred Richmond on the basis of conflicting reports of the events surrounding Mr. Simkovsky's collapse and death in Cobble Hill, two blocks from the Hospital.The latest information in the continuing investigation was reported by the Emergency Medical Service Division of the City%u2019s Health and Hospital Corporation. This information consists of an audit of the FCC-required tape recordings of 911 calls for the day in question, April 20. According to the tapes the following 911 communications were made concerning the Simkovsky situation: The tape summaries submitted are as follows.10:49.06 a.m. - 911 Brooklyn dispatcher received request to aid man who had collapsed in Columbia St. Park. Call was made from luncheonette on Congress & Columbia Sts.10:50.40 a.m. - Brooklyn dispatcher received call fromLong Island College Hospital reporting request they had received to aid man collapsed in Park.10:51.0 a.m. - Brooklyn dispatcher acknowledged Hospital call and directed Hospital to dispatch ambulance.10:56.0 a.m. - LICH ambulance reports they are %u201c 1088,%u201d on the scene.Mr. John McMullin, 1st Deputy Director of Emergency Medical Service, who supplied the tape summaries, reported that while no written complaint has been received by the Health and Hospital Corporation, his office has run a check of the tapes as well as the Hospital%u2019s log. He reports, %u201cJust looking at the information we have here, this doesn't appear to be a bad call. But I don%u2019t have all the information.%u201dCobble Hill resident, Shawn Thompson, a witness to Simkovsky%u2019s collapse and the man who went to the LICH Emergency Room to request aid, has filed a complaint concerning the Hospital personnel%u2019s refusal to dispatch an ambulance or send medical aid on their own recognizance. At the time of his request, the Emergency staffperson told Thompson that only 911 or the police had theauthority to dispatch an ambulance.At that time, the LICH staffmember made a call, presumably to 911. This, in fact, is the normal procedure for dispatching an ambulance, though there is a special Health and Hospital Corporation directive in emergency situationssuch as coronaries-where emergency room personnel can bypass 911. This case qualified for the bypass response.Assuming the 10:50.40 call referred to in the 911 Log tape summary is the call made by the Hospital staffmember, then the authorization to dispatch the ambulance was quite prompt (10:51). However, five minutes is a considerable delay for the ambulance to arrive at the scene of the emergency, just two blocks from the hospital (10:56).If, however, the emergency room staffm ember called the police instead this would account for a significant delay. The police had been called and Thompson met the first radio car to respond soon after he left the hospital. He directed them to the scene. The police declined to administer artificial respiration. Instead, they called for a police oxygen unit. According to Thompson, this unit arrived on the scene somewhat later, but was apparently too late. Thompson said the LICH ambulance arrived atthe scene after the police oxygen unit.Last week, John B. Wingate, Associate Administrator of LICH finished his investigation of the matter, concluding that the Emergency Room staff had re %u00adsponded properly. According to Wingate%u2019s findings, when the 9 ll dispatch first requested that the hospital send an ambulance to the scene, \staffer) couldn%u2019t do so, because the ambulance had already been sent there.%u201d This situation is not readily apparent in McMullin%u2019s tape summaries of the 911 log.Congressional candidate Priscilla Rassin led a delegation of local residents to meet with the City%u2019s Health and Hospital Corporation representatives last week. Ms. Rassin and the group learned that the Corporation%u2019s Emergency Medical Services unit pays LICH $85,000 per year for each ambulance operating on a 24 hour basis. LICH operates two such ambulances. The person in charge of dispatching the ambulance determines whether or not the call is a life and death emergency or can wait. Such a delay is what Mr. Simkovsky met.Ms. Rassin declared, %u201c The blame rests with LICH for putting responsibility for such life and death decisions in the hands of a dispatcher rather than a doctor.%u201dBecause LICH is a voluntary rather than a municipal hospital, the Health and Hospital Corporation has no control over its staff operations, such as the staffing of the dispatcher position.McMullin of the Corporation advised the Rassin delegation that complaints about LICH service should be directed to the following numbers: 226-3592 (Mon-Fri, 9-5) or 966-6474 (24 hours per day, 7 days per week). Ask for the Assistant Chief on Duty.Park SlopeCouncil to Meet *The 78th Annual Meeting of the Park Slope Civic Council will be held on Thursday, June 6 at the M ethodist Hospital Nurses Residence, 8th Ave. and 6th Street. The meeting is scheduled to begin promptly at 8 p.m.The main item on the agenda will be the election of Officers and Trustees for the coming year. In addition, a number of Committee reports will be heard, as well as a complete Treasurer%u2019s report.Any additional nominations may be made by a petition signed by 25 or more eligible Civic Council members. Fufther information regarding additional nominations can be obtained from Judy McGaughey, Secretary, 90 Windson Place.Developers Unaware of OppositionBoard of Estimate to Hear CaseOn Atlantic Ave Properties DealBY DAN ICOLARIOn May 16, The PHOENIX disclosed the proposed sale by the City%u2019s Housing and Development Administration, (HDA) of six Boerum H ill buildings for $500 each to Zulators, Inc., a private Manhattan development firm. On May 20, the three Zulators principals, Edward C. Foss, F. Anthony Zunino and Richard S. Berry, who had received a number of telephone calls about the article expressed amazement at their central role in a growing controversy.%u2018%u2018I guess we should have anticipated community oppositio n ,%u201d said Berry, an attorney, %u201c but Rosan (Richard Rosan of the Mayor%u2019s Office of Downtown Brooklyn Development) and Goldberg (Marvin Goldberg, Project Director of the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area) put the deal together so fast I guess we just assumed they had the political end sewn up.%u201dThe three partners outlined the terms of their proposal, emphasizing as positive aspects the creation of 32 moderateincome apartments and the fact that the City would not be required to underwrite any portion of the costs, except the writedown of the purchase price from $13,000 to $500 per building.%u2018 %u2018W e%u2019re not interested in deceiving anybody,%u201d said Foss.527 Atlantic Avenue, one of six buildings offered by Housing and DevelopmentAdministration at $500 each to Manhattan developers. [Richard Solomon Photo]%u2018%u2018We made a perfectly forthright proposal to HDA and they accepted it. The sad thing is that this is precisely the reason nobody wants to invest in the City-the unending red tape, the time, the politics. The only reason our investors were interested at all is because of the tax shelter benefits offered by IRS (the Internal RevenueService) for the creation of moderate-income apartments. If they sense any opposition from the community involved or from the City, they%u2019ll pull out immediately, and I can%u2019t blame them. I guess we should have done our homework in the community.%u201dOne of the community representatives Zulators, Inc.might have consulted is Lorraine Oliver, Chairman of the Liaison Action Council, Inc., a community advisory group in the Atlantic Terminal Urban Renewal Area, who said: \group is trying to make this area better for the people who live here now. W e%u2019ve been working on the Atlantic Terminal project for years, and we%u2019re really tired of having this sort of thing shoved down our throats. Why couldn%u2019t these buildings have been offered to people who%u2019ve been displaced by urban renewal in Fort Greene? Why couldn%u2019t the buildings have been offered to everybody, rather than to an outside group of developers?%u201d Though consideration of the deal by an executive session of the Board of Estimate had been held over to May 23 from its initial presentation on May 8, the Board%u2019s calendar clerk stated the proposal has been removed from the calendar on May 23 because a report from the Director of the Budget has not been received.When I asked him about the status of the Zulators proposal, Atlantic Terminal Project Director Marvin Goldberg said, %u2018%u2018All we can do is wait for the hearing date from the Board of Estimate That%u2019s the key.%u201d Borough President Leone%u2019s office declined comment until the deal has been given a calendar date by the Board of Estimate.