<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>AMES, Iowa — An Ames woman being taken by elevator to the intensive care unit at Mary Greeley Medical Center was stuck between floors for three hours before dying Sunday. Irina Bassis, director of community relations for the hospital, confirmed Monday that Tamala Sims, 34, was stuck in an elevator for nearly three hours. Sims reached the ICU in stable condition and died after reaching the unit, Bassis said. Her cause of death wasn't immediately released. Bassis said the elevator's brake control board malfunctioned, stranding Sims and several attendants between floors. Sims' mother, Linda Sims, said her daughter weighed more than 500 pounds and was in the elevator with medical personnel and equipment, so the elevator's weight limit might have been exceeded. Bassis said, however, that the weight limit for the elevator is registered at 4,000 pounds and that the estimated load including Tamala Sims, the attendants and medical equipment was about 2,000 pounds. Bassis said the elevators are maintained regularly. While in the elevator, Bassis said, Sims had access to medical help, equipment and supplies, and full communication with doctors was available through the elevator's telephone and ceiling outlet. "We are looking into the incident," Bassis said, "and we are trying to make sure that we are adhering to every policy, procedure and protocol that we have here." Sims, her mother said, had been too weak to get herself to the hospital and had to be taken by ambulance. She arrived at the hospital's emergency entrance around 11:30 p.m. and was sent to the ICU around 3 a.m., but she didn't get there until around 6 a.m. Linda Sims said that her daughter was claustrophobic and that she wondered whether being trapped that long in an elevator could have brought on a heart attack.</div> Source
I wonder if she had some sort of disorder to be 500 pds. It is sad that some people are that large and dont realize it is dangerous for their health. RIP
This is, for sure, a heavy topic. Not sure about the mature part. I guess at 34 years old, she was sort of mature.
