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‘It’s so much a death sentence’: Stroke victim waited 90 minutes for an ambulance in Jackson.

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2 years ago

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Donna Echols had just returned to her north Jackson home from her eldest son’s fairytale wedding in the Bahamas and expected to greet the groom’s father who had stayed behind to watch the house and her pets.

What she didn’t expect was the start of an emotional rollercoaster.

That night, April 27, Echols found her ex-husband, “Diamond Jim” Mabus, on the living room floor unresponsive. Furniture was strewn around. She called 911 to ask for an ambulance.

What followed were five calls and an excruciating 90- minute wait before the county’s ambulance provider, American Medical Response, arrived and took Mabus to St. Dominic Hospital.

Mabus was in the intensive care unit for a week until his death on May 4 at the age of 76. An MRI scan revealed he had suffered a series of small strokes and a large stroke. He left behind two sons from his marriage to Echols, two other sons, and friends and family.

“It angers me so much,” Echols said about AMR’s drawn-out response time. “It’s so much a death sentence for someone.”

AMR spokesperson Nicole Michel said the night Echols called, the central Mississippi service area was at a level zero, meaning there were no available ambulances. Eight ambulances and two sprint medics were already responding to other calls, and during the nine o’clock hour, AMR received six service requests, including one for a heart attack.

Triage protocols are applied to service calls to determine if people are suffering or are likely to suffer a life-threatening illness or injury, the spokesperson said.

Medical providers say that seconds count when someone suffers a stroke because brain cells immediately start to die. Response time can determine whether someone fully recovers, faces complications such as paralysis or dies.

Echols made the first 911 call at 9:15 p.m., according to cellphone records shared with Mississippi Today. Within 10 minutes, four Jackson firefighters arrived and started tending to Mabus, but they were not able to render further medical attention because they are not trained EMTs or paramedics, she said.

When the ambulance still hadn’t arrived, firefighters at the scene called the ambulance provider themselves and were told Echols’ address was in the queue but nobody had been dispatched yet, Echols said.

At one point, Echols called someone she knows who works at Pafford Ambulance, another private company contracted with Madison and Rankin counties, to see if they could send an ambulance. There was an ambulance bus five minutes away, but she was told she needed to get AMR to give permission to Pafford to respond and cross over into Hinds County – AMR’s territory.

Echols called 911 again, and asked the AMR dispatcher what needed to be done to have Pafford respond instead. They told her there wasn’t anything they could do about that.

Finally, at 10:25 p.m. the AMR ambulance arrived. Echols saved the home security image of first responders wheeling Mabus out the front door around 10:30 p.m.

Jam Mabus was taken by ambulance from Donna Echols’ home in Jackson to St. Dominic Hospital on April 27 after nearly 90 minutes after she called 911. Credit: Courtesy of Donna Echols

In its contract with Hinds County, AMR is required to meet 85% of its Jackson and Clinton emergency calls in eight minutes or less and outer-Hinds County calls in 18 minutes or less, Mississippi Today reported in 2018 after analyzing the company’s contract.

That year, there were over 32,000 emergency calls countywide. A review of calls by Mississippi Today and WLBT found the average trip time is an hour and a half. Time starts from when an ambulance is dispatched to when a hospital admits the patient.

Hinds EMS Coordinator Joey Jamison did not immediately respond to a request to receive a copy of or review the most recent AMR contract.

Echols’ experience waiting for an ambulance came as providers across the state – including AMR – have shared fears that an ambulance system collapse is near.

A combination of staff shortages, low wages and an incomplete reimbursement system have been exacerbated by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has greatly affected Missisisppi’s ambulence system, Mississippi Today reported.

In 2018, Mississippi Today reported that “wall time” – the time ambulances wait at a hospital for a bed to become available – often contributes to long response times. AMR agreed that hospital wait times are a challenge its first responders face.

“Every minute a crew is waiting for a bed is a minute the crew cannot respond to assist a patient outside of the hospital,” the company said in a statement.

Weeks since Mabus’ death, Echols has more answers about that night, but she wonders whether AMR will make changes to ensure other families don’t have to go through what hers did.

She understands that staff shortages have plagued multiple fields, including police and fire departments and hospitals, but she wants to know what the company is doing to fix that.

While efforts are taken to build up staff, Echols sees a mutual agreement or “helping hands” clause in AMR’s contract as a potential solution to help when they are overwhelmed by a high volume of calls.

For example, such an agreement could have allowed a Pafford Ambulance to come to her home to tend to Mabus sooner, Echols said.

An AMR spokesperson said mutual aid agreements among ambulance providers in Mississippi tend to be in place for natural disasters or mass casualty events, but not for daily service requests.

Mutual aid can be requested, but the ambulance provider who receives it isn’t required to respond because their service area takes precedence, the spokesperson said. Providers strongly prefer not to send crews outside the primary service area and often they don’t have the resources to do so.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions asked about whether it is possible for another ambulance company to respond to a call in Hinds County and whether there is a process for someone to grant permission for an out-of-county ambulance to come to them.

“What I don’t understand is why AMR has not pushed for mutual aid for a helping hands situation if they can’t do the job,” Echols said. “It makes you ask the question: Are they more concerned about territory and profit than saving lives?”

“Is it my family today and your family tomorrow?”

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

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Mississippi Today

1964: Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party was formed

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8 hours ago

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April 26, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-26 07:00:00

by Jerry Mitchell, Mississippi Today
April 26, 2025

April 26, 1964

Aaron Henry testifies before the Credentials Committee at the 1964 Democratic National Convention.

Civil rights activists started the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party to challenge the state’s all-white regular delegation to the Democratic National Convention. 

The regulars had already adopted this resolution: “We oppose, condemn and deplore the Civil Rights Act of 1964 … We believe in separation of the races in all phases of our society. It is our belief that the separation of the races is necessary for the peace and tranquility of all the people of Mississippi, and the continuing good relationship which has existed over the years.” 

In reality, Black Mississippians had been victims of intimidation, harassment and violence for daring to try and vote as well as laws passed to disenfranchise them. As a result, by 1964, only 6% of Black Mississippians were permitted to vote. A year earlier, activists had run a mock election in which thousands of Black Mississippians showed they would vote if given an opportunity. 

In August 1964, the Freedom Party decided to challenge the all-white delegation, saying they had been illegally elected in a segregated process and had no intention of supporting President Lyndon B. Johnson in the November election. 

The prediction proved true, with white Mississippi Democrats overwhelmingly supporting Republican candidate Barry Goldwater, who opposed the Civil Rights Act. While the activists fell short of replacing the regulars, their courageous stand led to changes in both parties.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

Mississippi River flooding Vicksburg, expected to crest on Monday

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23 hours ago

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @alxrzr – 2025-04-25 16:04:00

by Alex Rozier, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Warren County Emergency Management Director John Elfer said Friday floodwaters from the Mississippi River, which have reached homes in and around Vicksburg, will likely persist until early May. Elfer estimated there areabout 15 to 20 roads underwater in the area.

A truck sits in high water after the owner parked, then boated to his residence on Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg as a rising Mississippi River causes backwater flooding, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“We’re about half a foot (on the river gauge) from a major flood,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s going to be like in 2011, so we can kind of manage this.”

The National Weather projects the river to crest at 49.5 feet on Monday, making it the highest peak at the Vicksburg gauge since 2020. Elfer said some residents in north Vicksburg — including at the Ford Subdivision as well as near Chickasaw Road and Hutson Street — are having to take boats to get home, adding that those who live on the unprotected side of the levee are generally prepared for flooding.

A rising Mississippi River causing backwater flooding near Chickasaw Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.
Old tires aligned a backyard as a deterrent to rising water north of Vicksburg along U.S. 61, Friday, April 25, 2025.
As the Mississippi River rises, backwater flooding creeps towards a home located on Falk Steel Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

“There are a few (inundated homes), but we’ve mitigated a lot of them,” he said. “Some of the structures have been torn down or raised. There are a few people that still live on the wet side of the levee, but they kind of know what to expect. So we’re not too concerned with that.”

The river first reached flood stage in the city — 43 feet — on April 14. State officials closed Highway 465, which connects the Eagle Lake community just north of Vicksburg to Highway 61, last Friday.

Flood waters along Kings Point Road in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

Elfer said the areas impacted are mostly residential and he didn’t believe any businesses have been affected, emphasizing that downtown Vicksburg is still safe for visitors. He said Warren County has worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency to secure pumps and barriers.

“Everybody thus far has been very cooperative,” he said. “We continue to tell people stay out of the flood areas, don’t drive around barricades and don’t drive around road close signs. Not only is it illegal, it’s dangerous.”

NWS projects the river to stay at flood stage in Vicksburg until May 6. The river reached its record crest of 57.1 feet in 2011.

The boat launch area is closed and shored up on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The boat launch area (right) is closed and under water on Levee Street in Vicksburg as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
City of Vicksburg workers shore up the bank along Levee Street as the Mississippi River rises, Friday, April 25, 2025.
The old pedestrian bridge spanning the Mississippi River in Vicksburg, Friday, April 25, 2025.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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Mississippi Today

With domestic violence law, victims ‘will be a number with a purpose,’ mother says

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1 day ago

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April 25, 2025

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mississippitoday.org – @MSTODAYnews – 2025-04-25 15:07:00

by Mina Corpuz, Mississippi Today
April 25, 2025

Joslin Napier. Carlos Collins. Bailey Mae Reed. 

They are among Mississippi domestic violence homicide victims whose family members carried their photos as the governor signed a bill that will establish a board to study such deaths and how to prevent them. 

Tara Gandy, who lost her daughter Napier in Waynesboro in 2022, said it’s a moment she plans to tell her 5-year-old grandson about when he is old enough. Napier’s presence, in spirit, at the bill signing can be another way for her grandson to feel proud of his mother. 

“(The board) will allow for my daughter and those who have already lost their lives to domestic violence … to no longer be just a number,” Gandy said. “They will be a number with a purpose.” 

Family members at the April 15 private bill signing included Ashla Hudson, whose son Collins, died last year in Jackson. Grandparents Mary and Charles Reed and brother Colby Kernell attended the event in honor of Bailey Mae Reed, who died in Oxford in 2023. 

Joining them were staff and board members from the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence, the statewide group that supports shelters and advocated for the passage of Senate Bill 2886 to form a Domestic Violence Facility Review Board. 

The law will go into effect July 1, and the coalition hopes to partner with elected officials who will make recommendations for members to serve on the board. The coalition wants to see appointees who have frontline experience with domestic violence survivors, said Luis Montgomery, public policy specialist for the coalition. 

A spokesperson from Gov. Tate Reeves’ office did not respond to a request for comment Friday.

Establishment of the board would make Mississippi the 45th state to review domestic violence fatalities. 

Montgomery has worked on passing a review board bill since December 2023. After an unsuccessful effort in 2024, the coalition worked to build support and educate people about the need for such a board. 

In the recent legislative session, there were House and Senate versions of the bill that unanimously passed their respective chambers. Authors of the bills are from both political parties. 

The review board is tasked with reviewing a variety of documents to learn about the lead up and circumstances in which people died in domestic violence-related fatalities, near fatalities and suicides – records that can include police records, court documents, medical records and more. 

From each review, trends will emerge and that information can be used for the board to make recommendations to lawmakers about how to prevent domestic violence deaths. 

“This is coming at a really great time because we can really get proactive,” Montgomery said. 

Without a board and data collection, advocates say it is difficult to know how many people have died or been injured in domestic-violence related incidents.

A Mississippi Today analysis found at least 300 people, including victims, abusers and collateral victims, died from domestic violence between 2020 and 2024. That analysis came from reviewing local news stories, the Gun Violence Archive, the National Gun Violence Memorial, law enforcement reports and court documents. 

Some recent cases the board could review are the deaths of Collins, Napier and Reed. 

In court records, prosecutors wrote that Napier, 24, faced increased violence after ending a relationship with Chance Fabian Jones. She took action, including purchasing a firearm and filing for a protective order against Jones.

Jones’s trial is set for May 12 in Wayne County. His indictment for capital murder came on the first anniversary of her death, according to court records. 

Collins, 25, worked as a nurse and was from Yazoo City. His ex-boyfriend Marcus Johnson has been indicted for capital murder and shooting into Collins’ apartment. Family members say Collins had filed several restraining orders against Johnson. 

Johnson was denied bond and remains in jail. His trial is scheduled for July 28 in Hinds County.  

He was a Jackson police officer for eight months in 2013. Johnson was separated from the department pending disciplinary action leading up to immediate termination, but he resigned before he was fired, Jackson police confirmed to local media. 

Reed, 21, was born and raised in Michigan and moved to Water Valley to live with her grandparents and help care for her cousin, according to her obituary. 

Kylan Jacques Phillips was charged with first degree murder for beating Reed, according to court records. In February, the court ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation to determine if he is competent to stand trial, according to court documents. 

At the bill signing, Gandy said it was bittersweet and an honor to meet the families of other domestic violence homicide victims.

“We were there knowing we are not alone, we can travel this road together and hopefully find ways to prevent and bring more awareness about domestic violence,” she said.

This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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