Starving homeless woman dies at city hall after being left lying outside
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HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka — A starving homeless woman died after an ambulance dropped her off at city hall here and she was left lying down outside, unable to open emergency food that she had been given, it has been learned.
Municipal government officials said they did all they could to help the 70-year-old woman, but her death has raised questions over the city’s response.
Officials said a police officer found the homeless woman in a weak state near Hamamatsu Station at about noon on Nov. 22, and called for an ambulance. The woman told paramedics that she had not eaten for four days and wanted some food. Since she did not show any signs of illness or injury, she was taken to city hall, which has a social welfare division.
The woman got out of the ambulance herself, but she soon lay down on the asphalt. Social welfare division officials gave her a packet of dried rice used as emergency food. To eat it, however, she had to open the packet and wait 20 to 30 minutes after adding hot water or 60 to 70 minutes after adding cold water.
Municipal government officials watched over the woman and considered what to do with her, but she was not taken anywhere.
About one hour after the woman’s arrival, a member of a support group for homeless people happened to pass by. He checked her physical condition and called out to her, and although her eyes remained open, she gave virtually no response. The member asked municipal government workers to phone for an ambulance, but it was too late.
“Before I came, no one touched her body and checked her condition even though a public health nurse was present,” the member said. “Couldn’t they have taken her inside or at least have laid a blanket down on the road for her?”
The member said that when he approached the woman, the emergency food was unopened on her chest.
Municipal government workers defended their response.
“Within the scope of what we were authorized to do, we did everything that should have been done,” a social welfare section official said. “To workers, the woman didn’t appear debilitated. They aren’t doctors so they couldn’t predict that her condition would suddenly change.”
The woman’s cause of death was acute heart failure. The death sparked protests from a citizen’s group and other organizations. An internal investigation into the incident was carried out, but it was concluded that workers acted properly.
“Workers gave emergency food to the woman, who was complaining of hunger, and considered what welfare facilities she could be taken to. They also called for an ambulance the second time. They did not evade their duties or fail to carry out their legal responsibilities,” a report by the Naka-ku social welfare division said.
Click here for the original Japanese story
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