SelectPlusPatient Dies After Being Stuck in ElevatorPatient Dies After Being Stuck in ElevatorThe Associated PressA woman taken from a hospital's emergency room to intensive care was trapped in an elevator for about three hours and later died Sunday in Iowa. But it was unclear whether being stuck in the elevator contributed to her death. (July 9)It was supposed to be a simple transport of a patient from the E-R to intensive care....But soon after Tamela Sims arrived she'd be dead....An elevator at this hospital in Des Moines, Iowa malfunctioned....causing it to get stuck in between floors.Trapping Sims and several others for nearly three hours on Sunday morning....But the cause of the 34-year-old woman's death hasn't been released....and officials say it's unclear whether being stuck in the elevator was a factor.Sims' mother says her daughter weighed over 500 pounds and was claustrophobic But she's questioning why the hospital never called when her daughter first became trapped... SOT-Linda Sims: "If there was a malfunction, I think it should be fixed so it doesn't take anybody else's life." Hospital officials say Sims was in stable condition when she was taken off the elevator...And that she had access to medical help, equipment and supplies while she was stuck.The hospital says the elevator was last inspected in 2006 --- in compliance with Iowa law. ___ ___, The Associated Press. Author: AssociatedPress Keywords: elevator death patient dies after stuck Added: July 9, 2008
