Printable Version Post a Comment Article Rating

ATV rollover accident kills Havasu man

By JAYNE HANSON
Today's News-Herald
Published Thursday, November 12, 2009 9:58 PM MST

A Lake Havasu City resident died Wednesday after he sustained injuries during an all-terrain vehicle rollover about one mile into the desert east of the city.

Emergency medical technicians put Lake Havasu City resident Leonard Eisenman into the helicopter that would take him to a Las Vegas hospital to treat him for injuries sustained in an ATV accident. Eisenman was pronounced dead at the Las Vegas hospital. Submitted Photo.

Leonard Eisenman, 59, was air evacuated about 3:45 p.m. from the 4000 block of Little Finger Road to a Las Vegas hospital to be treated for injuries sustained in the accident and was later pronounced dead in Las Vegas, said Mohave County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Trish Carter.

Eisenman and wife Linda Thomas, 58, also of Havasu, were reportedly climbing a steep hill when the couple’s ATV tumbled back down the hill several times, Carter said.

Battalion Chief Mike Quijada, of Lake Havasu City Fire Department, responded to Little Finger Wednesday and said Thursday he realized right away the man’s injuries were serious.

“He was conscious and talking but his blood pressure was getting to a point that I knew it was urgent and that we had to get him going,” Quijada said.

Eisenman’s injuries included a tear to the cardiac artery, the artery linking the heart to the lungs, and resulted in internal bleeding, Quijada explained. “We noticed some heavy bruising and that he was having some pain to the chest,” the Battalion Chief said.

Thomas was transported from the scene by River Medical ambulance service to Havasu Regional Medical Center where she was treated for minor cuts and abrasions and later released.

The medical helicopter had to stop once while en route to Las Vegas when the injured man’s life was at stake, but cardio pulmonary resuscitation performed by onboard medics stabilized the man enough to continue to the trauma hospital in Las Vegas, Quijada said of follow-up information he received Thursday by MCSO.

Apparently no one in the off-road group had a cellular telephone during the excursion, and the party was therefore unable to call emergency responders right away.

Eisenman’s party transported him from the desert to Little Finger Road where they knocked on the door of a residence before they were able to call for help, Carter said.

“Time is of the essence when someone is injured. Who knows if it would have made a difference,” Carter said.

Lake Havasu City Fire Department responded to the incident with two engine companies and a battalion chief.

Mohave County Sheriff’s Department arrived on scene to investigate the accident. The incident is still being investigated.

You may contact the reporter at jhanson@havasunews.com.

Printable Version Post a Comment Article Rating

Article Rating

Comments (38 comment(s))

cal/hav wrote on Nov 19, 2009 9:58 PM:

" Actually Dead in the Field do Not need to be transported. Medics Can and will discontinue resucitation in the field under the following policy. Page 9 and 10 azdhs.gov/diro/admin_rules/guidancedocs/gd-097-phs-ems.pdf

If any of the following occur consider terminationo f resuscitation:
1. Presenting rhythm as asystole, greater than 10 minutes of full ACLS without return of spontaneous circulation, asystole continues.
2. More than 30 minutes of full ACLS without return of spontaneous circulation.
3. Blunt traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest without organized ECG activity upon EMS arrival.
4. Penetrating traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest
lacking all of the following: papillary reflexes,spontaneous movement or organized ECG activityupon EMS arrival.
5. Traumatic cardiopulmonary arrest witnessed by EMS provider with greater than 15 minutes of cardiopulmonary resuscitation without return of
spontaneous circulation.

Contact Medical Direction
Resuscitation terminated?
Yes
Notify Law Enforcement "

ttracy wrote on Nov 19, 2009 11:41 AM:

" REALLY Triple J!!! "

MN wrote on Nov 19, 2009 5:13 AM:

" Blue, I am truly sorry about the loss of your son. May he rest in peace and may God wrap His arms around you to comfort you. Do something special in his memory. Cell phones are great, if they are used properly (not while you are driving)..but you cannot always depend on them! Also, may God be with this mans friends and family. "

northbound wrote on Nov 18, 2009 11:30 PM:

" As far as cell phones working every where not true, depends what carrier you have. Yes even 911 calls on cell phones get dropped. And not all 911 dispatch centers have the equipment on their ani/ali's to pinpoint where the caller is calling from. Your cell phone provider will be glad to point out the features to sell you the cell phone but 911 centers don't all have that capability. Know where your at when your traveling on a highway or out in the desert. It makes it much easier for us to find you and to know where the landing zone will be for a helo. "

northbound wrote on Nov 18, 2009 11:27 PM:

" JM wrote:(Ignorance on these posts are the real problem with the hospitals reputation. Every field of medicine practiced in our town has a doctor on call 24/7. That's right ON CALL. You name it wether it be orthopedics, general surgery (i.e. hernia, gull bladder), cardio etc etc.... There is always a dr on call to treat medical emergencies that are deemed REAL emergencies.)

True we have on call doctors in many fields 24/7 we don't have the equipment a trauma center has.
Not sure what part of ems/fire/law enforcement you work in, but we DON'T HAVE a TRAUMA CENTER in LHC or even with in an hours drive. Both Lake Havsu and La Paz County fly out major trauma patients from scene to either Phoenix,Vegas or Calif. Far better to fly a trauma patient to a trauma center then not to as that is protocal for our ems/fire departments. I sure hope you never have to find that out yourself. "

oldone wrote on Nov 18, 2009 11:09 PM:

" Had it with Havasu: To answer your last question,The medic on the scene can not pronounce any one dead because they are not Doctors, and believe it or not by law are to coninue life support pocedures, due to possible law suits. As far as Hospitals go HRMC is staffed with people with the patients best health in mind. I know because Last Saterday I found out just how dedicated they are, and they never once asked me how I was going to pay until it was all over and I was in recovery and looking to go home. "

Leslie wrote on Nov 18, 2009 1:34 PM:

" Hey JM- As a matter of fact I had a family member at the Parker hospital. She was treated kindly by professional nurses who cared. Nothing but a positive experience. I would go there any day of the week over HRMC where you are sure to end up with a poor experience! "

blue wrote on Nov 18, 2009 11:58 AM:

" MN, you're absolutely right. 911 can't determine your location on cell phones. My son passed away at my Grandma's home in August. I dialed 911 and the operator couldn't understand me give the address multiple times. I had to pass the phone to my Grandma to give the address. I have friends with different cell services and not all can always get reception. If I had used a landline I wouldn't have had to repeat myself. People mistakenly think because cells have GPS now a days that the call can be tracked. Not true. "

tomgarven wrote on Nov 18, 2009 11:23 AM:

" I copied the following from Wikipedia.

"Some technologies, such as GSM, have a fixed maximum range of 40km (25 miles), which is imposed by technical limitations. CDMA and iDEN have no built-in limit, but the limiting factor is really the ability of a low-powered personal cell phone to transmit back to the mast. As a rough guide, based on a tall mast and flat terrain, it is possible to get between 50 to 70 km (30-45 miles). When the terrain is hilly, the maximum distance can vary from as little as 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to 8 kilometres (5.0 mi)... Depending on terrain and other circumstances, a GSM Tower can replace between 2 and 50 miles of cabling for fixed wireless networks.[3]" "

MN wrote on Nov 18, 2009 4:10 AM:

" I am with the person whose cell phone does not always work at home. Sometimes I have to go to the patio door to get service, then while talking, I might have to dance around in circles to keep the connection..other times..it just drops the call. Cell phones are wonderful but they are not as good as a land phone. So don't DEPEND on one in an emergancy!I don't believe that 911 calls can pick up on your location from a cell phone..unless you are able to speak and tell them your location! "

Riverman wrote on Nov 17, 2009 5:40 PM:

" I see the PC Noddle Heads that oversee these posts didn't like mine abnout the types of doctors we have to use. "

Triple J wrote on Nov 17, 2009 3:54 PM:

" To prove my point about cel phones, I'm making this post on my cel phone about 3.4 miles up from Donkey acres. Looks like I still have internet access from out here(although I've never tried before). For those of you without cel phones, it's time to step into 1998 and get yourself a life saving device. I couldn't imagine traveling or going off-road without one. If you don't travel or go off-road and you just sit in your house all day, having no cel phone is fine I guess. I'm going to start heading back into town now before it starts getting dark. "

Had it with Havasu wrote on Nov 17, 2009 11:35 AM:

" The desert is a wonderful place to explore and enjoy. To the family of the man who lost his life due to a mishap during a recreational outing, I am very sorry for your loss.

For everyone else, HRMC is a for profit hospital which focuses on treatments that are as profitable as they can make them. Our medical transport system is also a for profit enterprise geared to be profitable. While the personnel staffing the hospitals and medical transports are likely as dedicated and professional as they come, the enterprise they work for is about the dollars they can extract from every billable event. Just like Wall Street these enterprises are exceeding greedy and place obscene levels of profit at a higher priority than patient care.

Of my many trips to ER I rate River Medical near the top in terms of professionalism and effectiveness, HRMC second from the bottom. Second to a third rate forgotten relic in a neglected burg of California. Again, I'm talking ER.

I've never needed a life flight although I do work with the largest companies building and operating the equipment. The decision to send the patient to LV over local treatment or even Kingman was made by someone who possessed far more information, skill and experience than any of us here. All we can realistically do is trust them and thank them for their efforts. Or move to Canada or Mexico where patient care is still about the patient. They don't have the double standard, going to extreme measures to save one life while allowing a less profitable or less notable individual die unattended.

Beyond all that, why is it that an individual can be dead on scene and the ambulance transports the dead person to the hospital only to be declared DOA?

Sick world we live in. "

ttracy wrote on Nov 17, 2009 11:05 AM:

" Kudos to all people that have cell phones that work out in the desert. Our whole family has phones and they do NOT work in the desert. Heck sometimes they don't work in town. Doesn't sound like it would have much matter, that kind of injury is pretty much really bad news, no matter where it happens. Prayers to the family. "

brightone wrote on Nov 17, 2009 8:34 AM:

" Jm: There must not be any level 1 trauma Psychiatrists in Havasu either, which explains ! Mr. Exclamations ignoramous personality? He!! that could be reason for the majority of people, if not all, that post on this forum. Heck, I know I'm loopy. BEERS! "

MN wrote on Nov 17, 2009 7:49 AM:

" Believe it or not..not everyone has a cell phone! "

! wrote on Nov 17, 2009 7:43 AM:

" JM-It would all depend on what you call a major city. I never said there were rural trauma centers anyway. I said this hospital couldn't attract doctors qualified to make this one. Who's the neurosurgeon in town? You can try to marginalize my wife as you wish for your pleasure. "

JM wrote on Nov 16, 2009 11:27 PM:

" Hey Leslie, you ever been to Parker hospital? You wouldn't be saying that if you had. Careful what you wish for.... "

JM wrote on Nov 16, 2009 10:52 PM:

" Ignorance on these posts are the real problem with the hospitals reputation. Every field of medicine practiced in our town has a doctor on call 24/7. That's right ON CALL. You name it wether it be orthopedics, general surgery (i.e. hernia, gull bladder), cardio etc etc.... There is always a dr on call to treat medical emergencies that are deemed REAL emergencies.

! mr exclamation, please explain what rural hospital within an hour airlift of a major city is a level 1 or 11 trauma center? None, so i guess according to you there are no REAL doctors that live in rural communities anywhere in this country since rural communities don't support level 1 centers.

I guess that makes them lesser physicians since they chose to live and serve a smaller community like ours. Something tells me you aren't being entirely truthful about your wife's little health episode. You speak of airlifting for profit? Sounds like good-ol Sumerlin hospital and your wonderful doctor took you for a ride and cost you more money by admitting your lovely wife for a week. Sounds like they made quite a "lucrative profit" and they all "got a slice" as you put it.

Hmmmmmmm, interesting..... You just proved your own ignorance..... "

Sissy wrote on Nov 16, 2009 7:18 PM:

" I know a nurse that travels to Havasu for 6 mos a year and works here. She is a very good nurse that cares about her patients. You can get bad apples in any bunch, no matter where you work! "

Triple J wrote on Nov 16, 2009 5:54 PM:

" My cell phone works all over in the desert. I might have to roam sometimes, but I'll pay the $1.50 to save a life. Yes there are some spots where you can't get service, but it sounds like they were right outside of Donkey Acres so they should have had service no problem(if they actually had a phone). Unless your miles out there you should get service. I do. "

ttracy wrote on Nov 16, 2009 10:44 AM:

" Prayers to the family. And Cell phones rarely work out in the desert. "

wingnut wrote on Nov 16, 2009 12:15 AM:

" Do any of you know how many nurses at most hospitals are not locals either? They like doctors are called traveling nurses. They will go out of state and work for 6 months or 3 months at a time then come home for a break. Doctors and nurses do this all over the country. It's not that specialists don't want to live here, they make more money doing this. That is a big reason we have non local doctors in our hospital. Hospitals unless they are trauma center don't have doctors on 24/7 except for the ER doc, and if a specialist needs to be called in they are. Doctors work during the day in their offices patients have apts then they make rounds at the hospital to see their patients that are in the hospital. ER doctors handel the hospitals at night. Some hospitals may have one attendant on at night but thats it. "

Leslie wrote on Nov 15, 2009 11:09 PM:

" My thoughts and prayers go out to the family. I do agree with the others saying how crummy our hospital is. I swear, if I ever need a hospital take me to Vegas, Kingman, Parker, etc. ANYWHERE but the Havasu hospital. Rudest bunch of nurses, doctors without much sense, and a bill for things you didn't use. "

Havasu Resident wrote on Nov 15, 2009 6:37 PM:

" Pulmonary artery tare is hard to survive in Vegas or LA for any cardiac team! To have a team ready to push blood & deal with a large volume of blood in the chest & locate the tare after cracking the chest is a tall order to say the least.

Riding Protection helps to increase survivability against such trauma. A $60 chest plate may have made the difference. I hope everyone had helmets.

My heart goes out to you for the loss of your life partner. The pain is something I hope eases quickly in time & I hope you have family & friends near by to help you in your time of this loss. He died living life! "

! wrote on Nov 15, 2009 9:31 AM:

" This hospital is horrible. No doctors on 24/7. Just an ER doctor who usually is hired through some agency and isn't even a Havasuvian. My wife went to the ER with a problem and they sent her home, we took the lab work with us. When we got homewe called our doctor in Vegas. After reviewing the lab work with us he told us to drive to Summerlin Hospital, my wife was admitted for a week. Doctors and hospitals don't admit people for no reason but to not admit when there is, is unconscionable. When we lived back east in a rural area the local hospital would call in the appropriate doctor if the ER doctor couldn't resolve the situation. But that was 7 years ago. Maybe the way to go is using helicopters and send patients hundreds of miles away for a lucrative profit. They all get a slice of the pie. This hospital isn't a trauma center because it can't attract the qualified physicians. .azdhs.gov/bems/trauma-pdf/ExhibitIArizonaTraumaCenterStandards.pdf "

MN wrote on Nov 15, 2009 5:03 AM:

" This is not a time to complain about our hospital, the paramedics, the police or anything else. Some one lost their life here..be respecful!
My sympathy to friends and family of Lenny. "

Triple J wrote on Nov 14, 2009 12:52 PM:

" Ford Fairlane, you sound bitter about Havasu. I'm assuming you live "here" so if you have such a negative image of Havasu, why not move to a place that you feel has a positive image instead of staying here, being bitter and complaining about it?

I feel bad for this mans family and especially his wife. I can't understand why none of them had a cellular phone in the group. I never go out without one. It could be the difference between life and death for someone. "

jtman wrote on Nov 14, 2009 4:58 AM:

" Thanks for all the well wishes. Linda is my mother + Lenny was a great guy.. She is pretty banged up but will be ok, she is back home in MA.. This never should have happened. They had ridden this trail several times, it was a freak chance.. as for the cell phone BS, there is limited, if any reception where they were.. I want to thank all of the FD + Sheriff's Dept in Havasu City. "

JTMAN wrote on Nov 14, 2009 4:42 AM:

" Thanks for all of your well wishes. My mother + Lenny lived in Havasu + Foxboro Mass.. This is a very difficult time "

wingnut wrote on Nov 14, 2009 4:37 AM:

" What part of not all hospitals are trauma centers don't some of you understand? It's not that we don't have good doctors, HRMC doesn't have the equipment to treat trauma patients.

To be able to design effective counter measures one has to know what parts of the body are injured and what injury mechanism is responsible for the injury.
The injuries sustained by victims in a motor vehicle accident can vary in type and severity. The reason to transport him via helo is TIME. Flying a helo to vegas is under an hour vs driving in an ambulance for 3 hours. Thank you RMI/LHCFD for making the right choice to fly him for a better chance, sometimes the injury is just too sever for a patient to make it. But you dont know unless you make that choice, "when in doubt send them out" "

r2sweet99 wrote on Nov 14, 2009 3:15 AM:

" My Prayers are with those who have lost. May God BLess and keep you in your time of need. "

dunhavasu wrote on Nov 13, 2009 9:21 PM:

" Done,Riverman, I've seen them land a helicopter on the freeway in L.A. just to get someone to a better hosp. just to try to save there life, vs a community hosp. Why do you think most all hosp. have a heli pad? Havasu hosp is a good hosp but far from a trauma hosp. "

pmllttts86 wrote on Nov 13, 2009 7:05 PM:

" My sympathy goes out to the family in their time of grief! I want to say a huge thank you to the Havasu Fire Department, River Medical, Omniflight Crew, and the Police Officers who put their lives on the line every day to save ours! The medical crews made a good call to airlift this critically injured resident to the closest availa ble top notch Level I trauma center to give him a fighting chance! Do the folks in Havasu know what it takes to have a Level I trauma center? ALLOT!!! That is why we have a helicopter ready to go at the hospital!!! "

FORD FAIRLANE wrote on Nov 13, 2009 12:21 PM:

" Why would a Real/Good Doctor want to live/work here??? His reputation would be ruined in no time,, "

Riverman wrote on Nov 13, 2009 9:24 AM:

" No cell phone ? The reason to transport to Vegas via chopper is because it will cost you $ or your Ins. $ 25,000 "

Done wrote on Nov 13, 2009 6:22 AM:

" What do we have a hospital for? If someone stubs their toe we air lift them to Vegas. This life could have been saved if we had doctors here that knew what thay were doing. My heart goes out to the family. Onions to Havasu "

wingnut wrote on Nov 13, 2009 12:58 AM:

" My prayers are with his wife and the rest of the family. "

WRITE A COMMENT

Comment posters are responsible for the opinions they express and the accuracy of the information they provide. We urge comment writers to treat this as a public forum where manners matter. We encourage a collegial, non-insulting tone and we reserve the right to withhold or remove any comment from publication.

Do not post:
    * Potentially libelous statements or damaging innuendo.
    * Obscene, explicit, or racist language.
    * Personal attacks, insults or threats.
    * The use of another person's real name to disguise your identity.
    * Comments unrelated to the story.

Opinions, advice and all other information expressed in havasunews.com's story comments represent the individual's own views and not necessarily those of Today's News Herald. Today's News Herald provides an interactive computer service and does not endorse and is not responsible for statements, advice or opinions offered by anyone other than authorized Today's News Herald spokespersons.

Thank you for your comments!

You must register with a valid email to post comments. Only your Member ID will be posted with the comments.

Registered users sign in here:

Become a Registered User

*Member ID:
*Password:
Remember login? (requires cookies)

Do not use usernames or passwords from your financial accounts!

Note: Fields marked with an asterisk (*) are required!

*Create a Member ID:
*Choose a password:
*Re-enter password:
*E-mail Address:
*Year of Birth:
	(children under 13 cannot register)
*First Name:
*Last Name:
*Zip Code: