Student remains comatose

The condition of Sumit Mehta, the Wharton sophomore who collapsed in the Gimbel Gymnasium weight room September 14, remains largely unchanged, family members said this week. Still comatose, Mehta can now breath on his own without the help of a respirator after undergoing a tracheotomy last week. But family members said Mehta's condition is otherwise unchanged, due to the severe brain damage he suffered immediately following his collapse. Mehta went without oxygen for nearly 45 minutes as medics attempted to restore his heartbeat. Doctors did not manage to resuscitate Mehta until after the student reached the emergency unit. Family members and friends have expressed concern over the time it took University Police and Philadelphia Fire Rescue to transport Mehta from Gimbel to HUP's emergency unit. According to police, hospital and city reports, Mehta collapsed around 12:30 p.m. September 14. Paramedics were called at 12:35, and Fire Rescue's Medic Unit #7 arrived at 12:41 and attempted to resuscitate Mehta on the scene for about 20 minutes. But the reports differ on the time the ambulance took to transfer Mehta from the gym, at 38th and Walnut streets, to the hospital's emergency unit, at 34th and Spruce streets. According to University Police reports, the ambulance left Gimbel with sirens blaring at 1:05 and arrived at HUP at 1:19, fourteen minutes later. Family members said yesterday that hospital reports agree with these times. But Captain Paul Seaman of the Philadelphia Fire Commissioner's Office said Monday that city reports state the ambulance left the gym at 1:04 and arrived in the emergency unit at 1:06, two minutes later. "This looks like a very normal job," Seaman said. He added that the medic unit may have assisted hospital personnel in the emergency room for up to an hour. According to Fire Rescue's report, the unit became available for new emergency calls at around 2 p.m. Family members said further decisions on Mehta's treatment -- including the possibility of transporting him home to India -- may be made this weekend.

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