CINCINNATI – After she was trapped in a house fire last May, 81-year-old Josephine Payne had to go to Columbus for special treatment not available in her hometown.
Nine months later, Payne died Tuesday from her injuries.
The fire broke out overnight in their home on Louis Avenue in Corryville. Frefighters had to rescue Payne and her daughter from the second floor.
"I couldn't get upstairs because the flames engulfed me," Josephine's son, Raymond Payne, said at the time.
Both women inhaled a lot of smoke and needed to be treated in a hyperbaric chamber, where they could breathe pure oxygen in a pressurized room.
At the time, we asked why they had to go so far for care even though we had hyberbaric chambers here in the Tri-state. But we found out that Tri-State hospitals no longer have the staff, training or certifications to use them in an emergency.
