George Warren

KXTV-TV, Sacramento, Calif.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Vietnam veteran and former deputy sheriff who died following surgery last week at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center here had a do-not-resuscitate armband mistakenly placed on him, VA officials said.

But the officials insisted the error was not fatal because doctors quickly checked the medical records of Roland Mayo, 65, of Citrus Heights, Calif., to confirm the designation.

"Friday morning he was smiling and doing fine," said Delania Mayo Kenton, the youngest of Mayo's three grown children.

Privacy rules prevent the VA from identifying the patient to anyone other than his next of kin, in this case his twin brother, spokeswoman Tara Ricks said Monday.

Kenton and Mayo's daughter-in-law were among the family members who identified Mayo as the patient .



Kenton, who lives in Los Angeles, said her father was hospitalized Oct. 8 for a stent replacement in his carotid artery but that complications from previous cancer surgery required a second operation. Initial reports from family members at the hospital were that the second surgery had gone well.



Later, Kenton was told her father began vomiting and then choking on the vomit.



"After an initial investigation, we can confirm that a do-not-resuscitate band was incorrectly placed on one of our patients who passed away on Friday," Ricks said in a statement. "The arm band did not contribute to a delay in the response of the code team, which attempted to resuscitate the patient within minutes of the code being called. At this time, initial findings indicate that timely resuscitation was performed.



"Leadership at VA Northern California Health Care System has made contact with the patient's family to apologize and express our sincerest condolences for their loss," she said.



Family members said Mayo's twin brother and best friend, Noland, was heartbroken over Roland Mayo's death Friday and was too distraught to talk about it.



"He was a great guy. He loved his kids. He loved his grandkids," Niecy Mayo, who is married to Roland Mayo Jr., said of Roland Mayo Sr. "This came out of the blue."



Kenton said the brothers had served together in the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division and her dad was a retired Riverside County deputy.

The men lived a few miles apart in the Sacramento suburb of Citrus Heights and spoke on the phone several times a day, she said. She expressed frustration that hospital officials had not returned her phone calls seeking a detailed explanation of the incident.