‘No CPR’ among EMS issues with Coral Gables plastic surgery center in death
No CPR. Surgery staff not using defibrillator pads. Staff being uncommunicative with EMS workers.
A Coral Gables Fire Rescue patient care record alleged those and other emergency situation shortcomings on April 29 at Svelta Plastic Surgery, 4950 SW Eighth St. The patient whose medical emergency caused EMS to be called: Lexington, Kentucky’s Kenly Aponte.
Aponte died that afternoon. She was 35.
Asked about problems listed in the report, Svelta owner Gretel Jardon responded to the Miami Herald by email, “None of these statements are accurate.”
Aponte and Memphis 19-year-old Endrys Martinez, who died May 26, were the two latest deaths at the surgery center, known as Seduction Cosmetic Center until a name change in January. In fact, Svelta was referred to as “Seduction Cosmetic” on the fire rescue report.
READ MORE: One name change, two more patient deaths at a Coral Gables surgery center
State inspectors found several violations at Seduction after a 2021 Brazilian butt lift death, including post-operative follow-up appointments being “completed by an unlicensed staff member who signed as a nurse practitioner or physician.”
A tragic April afternoon at Svelta Plastic Surgery
Aponte went to Svelta on April 29 for a “Mommy Makeover:’ a tummy tuck, breast augmentation and Brazilian butt lift, according to the report and Aponte family attorney Jorge Silva.
According to the Coral Gables Fire Rescue patient care report:
- “Staff was unable to provide an exact time of when the patient went into cardiac arrest.” The time listed on the report was an estimated 2:25 p.m. The call from Svelta to Coral Gables Fire Rescue was received at 4:50 p.m. The report says Aponte was “unresponsive” and “pulseless” when emergency medical services workers arrived.
- “There was a delay to patient contact due to a slow elevator, and no staff was holding the elevator for rescue.”
- In the five minutes between EMS getting the call and the arrival at 4:55 p.m., the caller said Aponte’s blood oxygen level had dropped to 0% “at which point they reported beginning CPR.” But, when EMS workers got there, “No CPR was in progress.”
- Also, “no AED pads were placed by staff.” AED pads are used to deliver a shock from a defibrillator. “A defibrillator can save your life if you’re in cardiac arrest,” Cleveland Clinic says. “This device provides an electrical charge that stops your heart’s abnormal rhythm so your heart can get back to a normal rhythm. Even with defibrillation, cardiac arrest is fatal for many people.”
- “No crash cart was visible.” A surgical area’s crash cart holds the equipment and drugs necessary to deal with an emergency. Florida law requires a “full and current” crash cart to be present for office surgeries.
- “There was minimal communication from the surgery staff and physicians to EMS.”
Coral Gables Fire Rescue eventually took Aponte to the Baptist Health Doctors Hospital emergency room, where she was declared dead at 5:47 p.m.
