Estate of Former CVH Patient Suing Fire Department

The family of a patient who died while being transported to Middlesex Hospital for seizures is suing the and , accusing both of numerous counts of negligence.

The estate of Thomas Bavedas, represented by Bavedas’ father, Frank L. Bavedas, says in the lawsuit that Thomas Bavedas died after suffering multiple seizures at CVH in December of 2009. The lawsuit was filed last month.

Thomas Bavedas, who was from Milford and whose family still lives there, was a former teacher in Bridgeport who was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl. He died while awaiting sentencing in that case, and while awaiting trial on charges he secretly videotaped other young female students in his classroom while they were undressing for a Halloween pageant. He was at CVH after suffering a stroke a year earlier.

You can read a fuller account of those two cases that was written by the Connecticut Post following Bavedas’ death. You can view his obituary here.

Middletown Fire Chief Gary Oullette could not be reached for comment Thursday. David Lowell, CEO of Hunter's, said he had not seen the lawsuit and could not comment on it.

The lawsuit filed by Bavedas' estate argues that both the Middletown Fire Department and Hunter’s Ambulance were negligent in Bavedas’ death because neither of the initial responding units they sent to the hospital was equipped to deal with someone suffering seizures.

It also accuses both the fire department and ambulance company of failing to hire personnel who know how to care for patients suffering from seizures and failing to train existing personnel on how to care for someone having seizures.

Because of their negligence, the lawsuit alleges, Bavedas, who was 40 at the time of his death, suffered additional seizures, bleeding from the mouth, an aneurysm and cardiac arrest. He died, the lawsuit states, during the three-minute ride from CVH to Middlesex Hospital.

That alleged negligence, the lawsuit adds, “was a substantial factor in causing the injuries and losses to the Plaintiff.”

Bavedas’ estate is seeking compensatory damages in excess of $15,000, the lawsuit says.