The city of Seattle will pay $1.86 million to the family of a man who died of a heart attack after a warning message attached to his address delayed medical staff’s response.
When William Yurek, 48, died in his townhouse in 2021, his son called 911 and fire department medics who arrived in Seattle initially waited outside for law enforcement officers before entering. According to the Seattle Times.
Jurick’s family claims he was mistakenly placed on a blacklist hostile to police and fire personnel. According to a lawsuit filed last year, Yurick lived in the unit in the years before his death and the former tenant was on the lapsed list.
Paramedics were told to wait for a law enforcement escort, the lawsuit said. As Yurick’s condition worsened, his then-13-year-old son called 911 again and was told help was imminent, even though paramedics had already arrived.
Medics then decided to enter the house without police, but despite treatment, Jurek died.
“Upon entering the hospital, medical staff did everything they could to save Will’s life,” the family’s attorney, Mark Lindquist, said in a release. “The family is always grateful to the health care workers who went in against the rules and did the best they could.”
Tim Robinson, a spokesman for the Seattle City Attorney’s Office, told the newspaper that the city has revised its operational guidelines for warning notes and said warning notes expire in the system after 365 days or are subject to review and update. Each time an alert is sent to the address, records are verified that require the assistance of the Seattle Police Department due to suspected violent or threatening behavior, Robinson said.
Lindquist said relying on an address puts renters and people who move frequently at greater risk.
Seattle also agreed in August to pay $162,500 to a former 911 call center manager who said in a lawsuit that he was wrongfully punished for raising issues at work, including blacklisting scheduling practices.
Lindquist said one doctor said Jurick’s chance of survival was 25 percent if there was no delay.
“From the beginning, the family wanted the city to take responsibility,” Lindquist said. “It just happened.”
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