Rachel Worster Hunter died at her Macwahoc Plantation home on Jan. 8, 2025, after 10 ambulance services refused to drive to her home.
She died from low potassium, a medical condition she had long grappled with, according to her husband, Michael Hunter. Rachel simply needed IV fluids.
Macwahoc Plantation had no contract with an emergency medical service at the time, which meant no ambulance legally had to go to Rachel’s home. Michael watched his wife die for nearly an hour as a 911 dispatcher tried to find an ambulance to save her life.
G&H Ambulance out of Hudson ultimately agreed to make the hour-long drive to Macwahoc, but by then Rachel was dead.
Rachel’s death is a devastating example of the consequences of Maine’s crumbling EMS system. After decades of emergency services shrinking or shuttering completely across the state, they are now “at the edge of a cliff,” a committee convened to study the issue told the Legislature two years before Rachel’s death. The same panel echoed those concerns in a 2024 report.
Read the full transcript of Michael’s 911 call below.