Opinion ID: 1347867
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Events of October 27, 1995

Text: On the morning of the surgery, Friday, October 27, 1995, Robert and Bobby went to the PRD to request an interpreter, and were told to go upstairs to the pre-op room while an interpreter was sought. At the pre-op room, Bobby asserts that he again requested an interpreter from Dr. Sithian. Surgery began at noon. During the procedure, various family members visited the PRD at least four times to request an interpreter. The Hospital contends that no request for an interpreter for that hospital visit was made until 2pm or 3pm. Appellee's Br. at 9-10. Josephine alleges that she and her sister asked Antoinette Henderson of the PRD to have an interpreter present when Robert got to the recovery room, and for a TTY machine, which allows the deaf to communicate (by phone or in person) with people with normal hearing, through a relay service. Henderson does not remember the Loefflers ever explicitly asking for a TTY, but recalls advising that Robert could use one if he was in a private room. After Josephine and her sister left the PRD, Henderson began looking for an interpreter, but the Hospital's Speech and Hearing Department (SHD) asked whether the Loefflers needed an interpreter who signed ASL (the overwhelmingly predominant sign language used in the United States) or English Sign Language, and Henderson, who did not know, unsuccessfully tried to reach family members to find out. Shortly before 4pm, Josephine (with her mother) returned to the PRD, and answered Henderson's inquiry as to which kind of interpreter was required. Henderson then got back in touch with SHD, and obtained four telephone numbers for ASL interpreters. Two numbers were out of service, and two were unanswered. (The Loefflers claim that the list was outdated.) Henderson told Josephine and her mother that no interpreter would be available that night, and suggested that they check the next morning if one was still needed. Henderson and the Loefflers disagree as to whether any objection was registered. After the surgery, Dr. Sithian brought Bobby into the Recovery Room to interpret for his father, and told Bobby that the surgery had gone well. Bobby again asked about an interpreter, explaining to Dr. Sithian that he did not feel comfortable doing this and ... [did not] understand some of the terms. Dr. Sithian assured Bobby that he was doing just fine. According to Bobby, Dr. Sithian patted me on the back, and laughed it off like usual. Dr. Sithian left Bobby at his father's bedside in the Recovery Room. Soon after the surgery, Robert suffered a stroke. He grabbed his ankle and writhed in pain. Bobby alerted a nearby nurse, who responded with indifference and opined that that was how deaf people communicate. Bobby disagreed, and she responded, what do you know, you're a kid. Bobby raised a disturbance for two to five minutes until Dr. Sithian came back. After removing Bobby from Robert's bedside and caring for Robert, Dr. Sithian told Josephine (through Bobby) that Robert had suffered a stroke and needed another operation. According to Bobby, interpreting was amazingly overwhelming and he had trouble because he did not know what a stroke was. Before Henderson left for the weekend, she advised a charge nurse that, if Robert was not discharged the following day (as expected), the charge nurse should call an ASL interpreter. Henderson gave the nurse the two telephone numbers that had not been disconnected. Henderson was unaware of Robert's stroke; the charge nurse never tried calling any interpreter that afternoon or evening. That night, Kristy stayed overnight in the Critical Care Unit (CCU), in order to translate for her parents. Kristy thus took over for Bobby, who testified that he was traumatized and apparently felt responsible for failing to help his father.