SFFD fell short on response time goal after statue fell on toddler

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- There are questions emerging about just how long it took the San Francisco Fire Department to respond to the accident that killed a 2-year-old boy.

Kayson Shelton and his family were visiting Fisherman's Wharf while on vacation from Utah when a 6-foot dolphin statue toppled over onto the toddler outside the Majestic Collection art gallery.

The San Francisco Fire Department admits they fell short of their response time goal.

"In this case, all of the ambulances that we had running were dispatched to calls," San Francisco Fire Department spokesperson Mindy Talmadge said. "Sometimes it's busier than others. During that particular hour we had 16 medical calls and there were 16 units."

Kayson's father, a doctor, made the first 911 call from the Jefferson Street gallery at 11:30 a.m. Friday, reporting that his toddler son was barely conscious and bleeding from the nose.

At the time, the closest available ambulance was across town at Oak and Stanyan streets. Fifteen others in the city were already on calls.

According to the timeline provided by the fire department, the first officer arrived within 1.5 minutes, the first firefighters 2.5 minutes after the 911 call and then finally, the ambulance 13 minutes after the initial call.

The fire department's medical director says it's hard to say if a few minutes would have made much of a difference.

"I will just say in this case, that despite the heroic efforts on the part of everyone involved, our trauma surgeons were not able to repair this boy's injuries," Dr. Clement Yeh said.

Kayson died at San Francisco General Hospital four hours after the incident from internal injuries to his abdomen.

Earlier this week, Kayson's uncle said the family was grateful for the response and all the help they received after the accident. Contacted by ABC7 News today, he said the family would have no comment about the time it took the ambulance to arrive.