Seattle firefighter punched while treating patient

By John de Leon

A Seattle firefighter was punched in the face Friday while treating a patient in the 1500 block of Northwest 56th Street, according to Seattle Police.

Fire Department personnel were treating the patient at 4:43 p.m. when a friend of the patient, who was apparently intoxicated, stepped in and threw a punch, which struck the firefighter over the left eye, police said. Fire Department personnel called police, who arrested the man.

The man was booked into King County Jail for investigation of assault. The suspect was also under state Department of Corrections supervision.

New York Volunteer EMT Shot, Killed at Medical Scene

JEMS - A Cape Vincent, New York man who lived and breathed emergency services was tragically shot and killed by a man he was trying to help Friday night.

Mark Davis, 25, a two-year member of the Cape Vincent Fire Department, was reportedly gunned down by Christopher Burke. Davis and other crew members were attending to Burke when the victim left the room, returning with a rifle, according to news reports.

The crew tried leaving the situation, but two shots rang out, with at least one striking Davis.

Mark Davis, 25, died after being shot by a victim he was attempting to help.

Photo from TI-Rescue.org -- Browse More "EMTs at the scene fervently attempted life saving measures, and continued these efforts during the ambulance transport to the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, NY where he was pronounced deceased," a New York State Police report said. (WWTI Photo Slideshow - News 10 Video)

"Burke became agitated and retrieved a high powered rifle from the bedroom of the residence, police said. As the EMT’s were retreating from the residence, it is alleged that Burke fired two rounds, one at the victim striking and killing him, they said.," state police said. "The suspect then ran from the residence and was tackled and held down by another EMT who was also at the residence."

Davis was a member or employee of several emergency organizations in the area, WWTI reported in a profile of the victim. He was enrolled in a paramedic program at a local college and worked ful time at an ambulance company in Watertown, New York.

The Thousand Islands Emergency Rescue Service, where Davis was a volunteer since 2007, posted a tribute to him online Saturday.

"He was one of those guys that EMS was what he lived for," Cape Vincent First Assistant Chief William E. Gould II told the Watertown Times,

Burke was arrested and charged with second degree murder, WYSR reports. He was arraigned Saturday morning.

WWTI reported that police were not yet revealing what type of emergency EMS crews were on the scene for.

Cape Vincent is about 90 miles north of Syracuse, near the Canadian border.

Penn Study: Chances of Surviving Cardiac Arrest Depend On Where Patients Are Treated

NewsRx Health & Science

PHILADELPHIA -- Efforts to fight the toll of cardiac arrest have typically focused on pre-hospital factors -- bystander CPR education and improvement, public defibrillation programs, and quicker EMS response. But new research from the University of Pennsylvania School of

Medicine reveals that the hospital where patients are cared for after being resuscitated plays a key role in their chances of survival following these incidents, which takes the lives of more than 300,000 Americans each year.

Patients in large, urban, and teaching hospitals are more likely to survive compared to those in small, often rural, non-academic hospitals, according to a study published recently in the journal Intensive Care Medicine. A second study, published in Resuscitation, suggests that patients who are cared for in the highest volume intensive care units after cardiac arrest are also most apt to survive. The findings points to a need to explore the development of specialized, regional post-cardiac arrest care centers modeled after those that treat serious trauma patients, says lead author Brendan Carr, MD, an assistant professor of Emergency Medicine and Epidemiology, and associate director of the Division of Emergency Care Policy & Research.

Carr's findings also underscore the importance of the recent move by New York City to require ambulances to take cardiac arrest patients to hospitals that provide therapeutic hypothermia -- the so-called "cooling" therapy that protects against damage to the brain and other organs in the crucial hours after the heart is restored to its normal rhythm -- even if those facilities are further away.

"We are describing the variability that exists in cardiac arrest outcomes not at the level of the patient but at the level of the hospital. Hospitals with more resources and hospitals with higher volumes have better outcomes," Carr says. "There are two possible implications: Either we need to get everyone up to speed on how to optimize survival, or we need to selectively transfer patients to hospitals that have expertise in the post-arrest period."

The two studies, which examined a combined 115,000 cases in two different national datasets, also point to an overall improvement in cardiac arrest care. Over the course of the five years studied, the authors found a small reduction in mortality that translates to about 11,000 additional lives saved per year -- a significant decrease for a condition that is typically fatal.

Better survival odds are multifactorial, but likely related to advances in critical care, the recognition of the role of hypothermia, and the creation of national guidelines for post-cardiac arrest care.

"There has been a fundamental shift such that we now recognize the condition patients experience after cardiac arrest as a treatable disease," says senior author Robert Neumar, MD, PhD, associate professor of Emergency Medicine and associate director of Penn's Center for Resuscitation Science, and Chair of the Advanced Cardiac Life Support Subcommittee for the

American Heart Association. "Among the patients that regain a pulse after cardiac arrest, only one out of three survive to hospital discharge, and there appears to be significant variability among hospitals. Further research is needed to determine if this variability in outcome is caused by the quality of post-cardiac arrest care. If it is, we need to identify best practices and develop mechanisms to deliver optimal care for all patients."

Carr and his colleagues say further study of post-cardiac arrest care among these large, urban, and teaching hospitals will be crucial in mapping strategies that maximize a patient's chances to be discharged without the neurological deficits that often plague cardiac arrest survivors. And he emphasizes that practitioners can learn lessons from the connections between the way hospitals care for patients with cardiac arrest and other emergent conditions.

"For me, cardiac arrest is the tip of the iceberg with respect to disparities in care for time-sensitive conditions," Carr says. "Whether you've had a cardiac arrest, a stroke, or a heart attack, it is our job to build a system that promises you the best possible care no matter where you are, who you are, or what time of day it is."

MPP wants award for paramedics

Private Member's Bill Up For Second Reading Feb. 19

Ontario will begin to honour the bravery of paramedics, just as it does for police officers and firefighters, if a private member's bill is passed at Queen's Park.

The Ontario Award for Paramedic Bravery Act was introduced in the legislature in December by Lambton-Kent- Middlesex MPP Maria Van Bommel.

It's up for second reading on Feb. 19.

Van Bommel said she was approached by the parents of a paramedic who died while on duty in Chatham-Kent in 2007.

The MPP said the parents made the case that there currently is no provincial award for paramedics.

Paramedics are relatively new in Ontario, but communities are relying on them more and more, Van Bommel said.

"Now, we always expect there to be a paramedic with the ambulance."

She said the bill has been gathering support.

"I certainly expect that we can look forward to some success with this," she said.

Jeff Brooks, manager of quality assurance for Lambton County's ambulance service, said it would welcome the award.

The Association for Emergency Medical Services of Ontario issues the McNally Award to honour paramedics in the province who have risked their lives to rescue or protect others from harm.

"But," Brooks said, "it's not a provincial (government) award."

Ontario does have awards to recognize the bravery of police officers and firefighters but, Brooks said, "but there has never been anything" for ambulance workers.

Brooks and the late Clarence Lenting received the McNally Award in 2007, for an ambulance call several years ago in which they entered a water-filled ditch to reach a patient who was trapped in a burning vehicle.

Other local recipients of the McNally Award include paramedics Abby Brown and Blake Smith.

They subdued a knife-wielding attacker who forced his way into the back of their ambulance and stabbed a patient.

If Van Bommel's private member's bill passes second reading Feb. 19, it will go before a legislative committee.

After that, it would have to pass third reading in the legislature and receive royal assent before the award could be established.

Union flags self defence courses for paramedics

The union says assaults against officers are increasing.

The union says assaults against officers are increasing.

Queensland's Ambulance Union says it will consider teaching paramedics self-defence if assaults against them continue.

A Sunshine Coast paramedic was assaulted at Coolum yesterday by a 16-year-old boy who police believe was affected by drugs.

Union spokesman Jason Dutton says assaults against officers are increasing.

"We are seeing more and more assaults on paramedics in the field when called upon to treat people and certainly a number of those incidents are around the use of illicit drugs," he said.

"It's a shame and it is obviously a minority of the community that are using paramedics as punching bags and it's getting to a point where enough is enough."

BB gun battle in FD bunkroom

Earlier this month two firefighters from the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department in Prince George's County, MD were in a darkened firehouse bunkroom firing BB guns at each other when one of the men was wounded in the eye. Sources familiar with the incident tell STATter911.com investigators have a statement from the uninjured participant confirming the BB gun battle took place.

An investigation by the Prince George's County Fire/EMS Department was started after the details of the initial injury claim began to unravel. According to numerous sources, the injured firefighter filed paperwork indicating the injury happened when a handlight fell from a locker and struck his eye. Volunteer firefighters are covered under workers' compensation. Sources tell STATter 911 the paperwork for the claim was filled out on January 17, the same day the incident is reported to have occurred.

Prince George's County Public Safety Director Vernon Herron said Friday afternoon that medical reports indicated something very different, that a BB was removed from the volunteer's eye.

The firefighter was initially seen at Southern Maryland Hospital in Clinton. The eye injury was serious enough that the firefighter was then taken to the trauma center at MedStar in the District of Columbia.

The firefighter, born in 1986, is listed as an active member of Clinton VFD on the department's website. Since no criminal or internal charges have currently been filed, STATter911.com is not publicly identifying those under investigation.

Vernon Herron said the county is very concerned about the allegations. Herron expects the investigation to quickly get to the truth of this incident. Besides his concerns about violent activity in the workplace, Herron said the county will not tolerate "those who are not honest or forthright".

Herron had a meeting scheduled Friday afternoon with Prince George's County Fire/EMS Chief Lawrence Sedgwick to discuss the incident.

STATter911.com has contacted the Clinton Volunteer Fire Department for comment about this incident, but has not received a response.

Emergency room doctors sue state of California

By Kimi Yoshino

The class-action suit alleges that the system -- which received a failing grade in access to care -- is on the edge of a breakdown unless more funds are obtained.

Frustrated emergency room doctors filed a class-action lawsuit against the state Tuesday, saying that California's overstretched emergency healthcare system -- which ranks last in the country for emergency care access -- is on the verge of collapse unless more funding is provided.

Across the state, scores of hospitals and emergency rooms have shut their doors in the last decade, leading to long waits, diverted ambulances and, in the most extreme cases, patient deaths.

Doctors say the situation is only getting worse. State officials, struggling to balance the budget, have proposed another $1.1 billion in Medi-Cal cuts.

"Are people truly suffering consequences? Absolutely," said Irv Edwards, one of the doctors represented in the lawsuit and president of Emergent Medical Associates, which staffs 14 emergency rooms in California. "This could happen to you or me. We could be traveling through San Francisco or San Jose, get in a car accident, have a broken leg and end up in the ER, where it takes hours to be treated regardless of our screams. Then we get to diagnosis, and they say, 'There's no orthopedic on call. I'm sorry.' "

The lawsuit comes a year after several healthcare groups, led by the California Medical Assn., sued the state and were granted an injunction that stopped a proposed 10% cut to the reimbursement rate for doctors, dentists and other healthcare providers. The Legislature instead passed a bill reducing current reimbursement rates by 1% to 5%, beginning March 1.

Emergency room physicians say they have been particularly hard hit by the state's low Medi-Cal reimbursement rates. Unlike other doctors who can choose not to accept Medi-Cal patients, emergency room doctors are required by federal law to treat every patient who walks through the door, regardless of their ability to pay.

In 2007 alone, emergency room doctors statewide say they have subsidized more than $100 million in services provided to Medi-Cal patients because the reimbursement rate often barely covers half the cost of treatment.

The problems are widespread, affecting urban cities as well as rural and poor areas of the Central Valley.

A national report card released last month by the American College of Emergency Physicians gave California a failing grade for access to emergency care. The state ranks last in emergency departments per capita, with only seven per 1 million people, compared with the national average of 20. And it ranks 43rd in the country for Medi-Cal reimbursement.

Jon Mark Hirshon, a Baltimore doctor who worked on the organization's report card task force, described California as "abysmal" when it comes to emergency medical care.

In Los Angeles County, the pressure has built at hospitals such as Centinela Freeman Regional Medical Center's campus in Inglewood, where Edwards is one of the emergency department directors. The closure of three area hospitals in recent years, including Martin Luther King Jr.-Harbor Hospital in 2007, has more than doubled the typical daily emergency room visits there from 80 to 200.

The stress on emergency departments is driven by both hospital and emergency room closures and an increasing number of Medi-Cal patients unable to find primary care physicians who will treat them. As a result, many turn to emergency rooms, further compounding the overcrowding.

Specialists are also opting out of on-call assignments, Edwards said. That means waits for cardiologists, orthopedic surgeons and other specially trained doctors can be longer, if they are available at all.

"There are emergency rooms throughout the state where people, we believe, have died," Edwards said. "Some have died in the lobby before they were seen. Some have died shortly after being placed in a bed after having waited in the lobby for hours. . . . Patients are suffering every day."

Anthony Cava, a spokesman for the state Department of Health Care Services, said officials are reviewing the complaint and cannot comment on specific arguments in the suit. In a written statement, Cava said Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has "long maintained the need for comprehensive healthcare reform in California to improve the healthcare delivery system in ways that would benefit patients and those who are on the front lines in delivering healthcare, including emergency room physicians."

He acknowledged that reimbursement rates are among the lowest in the nation and said more budget cuts may be on the horizon.

"As we go forward, these emergency room doctors, they can't any longer take on the financial burden of the state's obligation to its poor and to its elderly," said attorney Raymond Boucher, who filed the lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court. "They are on life support."

Hirshon, an associate professor at University of Maryland's School of Medicine, said emergency room care in California is turning into an unfunded mandate.

"I wish I could paint a rosier picture," Hirshon said. "We have to decide in this society whether we think emergency care is worthwhile and we're going to have to pay for it if that's what we want. . . . But if people are going to cut the healthcare safety net, more and more people are going to fall through."

Paramedic drunk at wheel of ambulance, hearing told

A paramedic was drunk when driving an ambulance on an urgent call-out during which he was involved in an accident, a professional misconduct hearing ruled yesterday.

Robert Kane admitted to his supervisor he was drunk and offered him money to forget about it, the Health Professions Council (HPC) fitness-to-practise panel, sitting in Belfast, was told.

Kane, who has already been sacked by the health trust which employed him as a paramedic in Coleraine following an internal disciplinary hearing, failed to attend the hearing in relation to the incident which occurred on February 14, 2007.

The Conduct and Competence Committee of the HPC decided to go ahead in his absence after making contact with Kane who said his car had broken down and it did not suit him to travel by bus or train. He said he was happy for the proceedings to continue in his absence.

Station officer Malcom Steward, who carried out an investigation into Kane’s conduct, said Kane insisted he had not been drinking that day or the previous night and attributed it to the use of some alcohol wipes earlier in the day which he had put across his face to cover the smell of diseased remains.

He said it was shown at the disciplinary hearing that the smell of the wipes disappeared after a couple of seconds. Kane’s conversations with ambulance control had also been recorded, he said.

“It was my view his voice was slurred. I concluded there was a question over whether he was fit to be on duty at that time,” said Mr Steward.

Kane was found guilty of professional misconduct on a series of charges dating back to the date in question.

He has the option of appealing to the High Court within 28 days.

Kane was found guilty of being the driver of an ambulance which had been dispatched to an urgent “doctor’s call” on the way to which he was involved in a crash and that he failed to stop at the scene.

He was further found guilty of being confused about details and having slurred speech when he did later report the collision.

He was also found guilty that when the call was complete he smelled of alcohol, his appearance and demeanour indicated intoxication and he admitted being intoxicated when questioned by the crewmate.

Extra $10 Tag Fee Proposed for Trauma Care

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Mary Lou Pickel

Governor revives legislation for $200 super-speeder fine

ATLANTA -- Car tag renewals could cost $10 more as a way to pay for a statewide trauma care network. And super-speeders could get $200 fines above and beyond a regular speeding ticket.

These separate efforts to breathe life into the state's weak trauma network were introduced in the state Legislature Tuesday.

Both ideas have been tried in the past with no success.

State Rep. Austin Scott (R-Tifton) and Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah) introduced a bill that would add a new $10 fee on car tags above the annual registration fee.

The money, estimated to be about $85 million per year, would go to the Georgia Trauma Trust Fund.

Supporters of a trauma care network say that's the sum needed to adequately pay the cost of trauma care. If Georgia could reach the national average in trauma care services, it could save 600 lives per year, said Earl Rogers, senior vice president of Georgia Hospital Association. Doctors says deaths decrease if a patient is taken to a trauma center within a "golden hour" of an accident.

South Georgia is particularly bereft of trauma services. Statewide, Georgia has 15 designated trauma care hospitals, but there's nothing much south of Macon to the Florida line.

Gov. Sonny Perdue has resurrected his "super-speeder" legislation from two years ago. Rep. Jim Cole (R-Forsyth) introduced the governor's legislation.

The law would charge a $200 extra fine on motorists driving more than 85 mph on any highway and more than 75 mph on a two-lane road.

"What we tried to do is tie behavior that causes the burden on trauma centers to helping to fund trauma care," said Perdue spokesman Bert Brantley.

Perdue estimates the super-speeder fines would generate $23 million per year. The governor has proposed a fee on hospitals and health care providers to contribute money to Medicaid and to pay the rest of his proposed $60 million for trauma care this year.

Medevac Officials Denounce Proposed Reform Legislation

Liam Farrell - The Maryland Gazette

MARYLAND -- Under a legislative microscope, state police officials are building up a defense of their medevac helicopter system and forcefully denying it needs reform.

State Sens. John Astle, D-Annapolis, and E.J. Pipkin, R-Elkton, were anticipating opposition when they unveiled a proposal in December to divide the state's helicopter fleet into law enforcement and medical divisions, introduce new safety standards, and require bids from the state police and private operators to ensure the most cost-effective operation.

That opposition mobilized in force Thursday during a heated hearing ostensibly to discuss Gov. Martin O'Malley's budget proposal to use $40 million to buy two new helicopters. The meeting with the Senate Budget and Taxation Committee quickly devolved into a chance to denounce the senators' legislation.

Questions have dogged medevac officials since a critical audit and crash last fall. Although Maj. A.J. McAndrew, the commander of the Maryland State Police Aviation Command, said he is supportive of the senators' new safety proposals, splitting the fleet and putting the operation up for bid are untenable suggestions.

"We do not need to be reformed and should not be required to compete in a bid process to maintain the medevac operation that we developed in this country 39 years ago, refined over those 39 years, and (we) are a model for other people worldwide," he told the committee.

The discussion developed after Col. Terrence Sheridan, the superintendent of state police, said the price tag to replace the helicopters is a good deal.

"Maintaining the fleet's mission is the correct thing to do," he said. "The cost is miniscule compared to what we get out of this program."

Underlying the helicopter purchase proposal, however, is a much more fundamental debate. Since the Sept. 28 helicopter crash killed four people, the use of the medevac helicopters has fallen.

Although historically there have been about 4,200 medevac flights a year, this year the number is more likely to be 1,700, said Dr. Robert Bass, the executive director of the Maryland Institute for Emergency Medical Services Systems.

A study is being done now to determine whether the state should maintain eight helicopter bases or go down to seven or six, Dr. Bass said. "We want to make sure we don't overshoot this reduction," he said.

For Mr. Pipkin, who attended the hearing, going ahead with buying new helicopters when the flights are significantly declining is "mind-boggling."

"This is the toughest political operating group in the state," he said after the meeting. "All this testimony won't change the basic fact that we need to improve the safety."

What Thursday's rhetoric demonstrated is the attempt to change the medevac system will feature an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object.

"There's a documented threat that's been proposed by Sen. Astle and Sen. Pipkin," Maj. McAndrew said. "We should be moving forward to improve our current state of affairs as opposed to submitting a bid to keep what we have been doing for the last 39 years."

Mr. Pipkin's response to the criticism: "What are they afraid of that they won't compete with private industry?" he asked. "Saving lives isn't just about helicopter flights."

The senator believes the support of new safety regulation proposals means the ground is starting to shift in his favor.

"Our efforts are already having impact," Mr. Pipkin said. "A year ago that would have been met with stiff resistance … so the process is working."

Paramedic hurt by exploding tank

Oxygen cylinders have been removed from all ambulances in Greater Manchester after a paramedic was injured when a tank exploded.

He was treated for burns to his hands when the cylinder "spontaneously combusted" when responding to a 999 call in Mossley in Tameside.

It happened on 17 January and the paramedic was discharged from Wythenshawe Hospital on Tuesday.

The North West Ambulance Service said the incident was being investigated.

The Healthy and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed it was looking into the incident.

The North West Ambulance Service added: "Since the occurrence of this incident, all oxygen and entonox cylinders of this type have been removed from front line operations and replaced with similar equipment until the outcome of a wider investigation."

Paramedic charged over alleged extortion plot

Last Updated: 7:02PM GMT 27 Jan 2009

A paramedic in the Bahamas has been charged in connection with an alleged plot to extort $25 million from John Travolta following the death of his teenage son at the family's holiday home on Grand Bahama.

Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne has been charged in connection with an alleged plot to extort $25 million from John Travolta following the death of his teenage son Jett. Photo: GETTY

Ambulance driver Tarino Lightbourne, 47, was led handcuffed into a Bahamian court, where he pleaded not guilty to charges of attempting to extort and conspiracy to extort from the Hollywood star.

The development follows the arrest of Pleasant Bridgewater, a lawyer and former Bahamian senator, who was last week charged with abetment to extort and conspiracy to extort in connection with the alleged scheme. Released on $40,000 bail, she has vowed to prove her innocence but on Saturday resigned from her seat in the legislature.

Details of the alleged extortion remain unclear but Bernard Turner, the prosecutor in the case, said investigators were looking for a "certain document" thought to relate to the death of Jett Travolta, 16, who was chronically ill and died of a seizure on January 2.

Police have said the alleged scheme involved $25 million. Lightbourne, who had earlier been quoted by several tabloids describing efforts to revive the teenager, was denied bail.

Travolta's lawyers filed a complaint of attempted extortion after learning that Lightbourne had allegedly claimed to be "in possession of a document that, if released, would prove damaging to the Travoltas", said Marvin Dames, senior assistant police commissioner.

The information was allegedly communicated to the family by Bridgewater, Mr Dames said.

Lightbourne was arrested after police issued an alert that he was wanted for attempted extortion and was considered dangerous.

Another parliamentarian, Obie Wilchcombe, was detained on Friday, questioned and released pending further investigation. He has not been charged and Mr Dames said on Monday police had nothing "at this stage of our investigation to implicate him".

Wilchcombe has described himself as a friend of Travolta who was with the actor shortly after his son died following a seizure at the family's holiday home on Grand Bahama.

He said he first alerted the star's lawyers to the alleged plot after Bridgewater told him "someone was doing something untoward" after the boy's death.

"She (Bridgewater) knew I was close to the Travoltas. She wanted to bring something to my attention," Wilchcombe told Us magazine in an interview published Saturday. "I did a noble thing." Pulp Fiction and Grease star Travolta and his wife, Kelly Preston flew home to Florida with the ashes of their son shortly after his death.

Man arrested, allegedly pushed EMT who was helping dad

Police said an intoxicated 32-year-old man was arrested Wednesday night after pushing a paramedic who was trying to help the man's intoxicated father, who was found lying in a snowbank.

Robert A. Nelson was tentatively charged with disorderly conduct and resisting an officer following the incident, which occurred about 11:30 p.m. Tuesday in the 4800 block of Ellestad Drive on the city's southeast side, near the intersection of the Beltline and Stoughton Road.

Madison police said the 911 communications center received a call from a man saying he couldn't breathe, was drunk and had been trying to walk home.

According to police:

Paramedics and police were helping the unidentified father when Robert Nelson arrived on the scene, demanding to know what was happening. He was told to step back from the paramedics but reportedly didn't comply and pushed one of the EMTs.

While officers were attempting to handcuff Nelson, he resisted arrest, but was eventually taken to the public safety building's jail, police said.

His father didn't need medical attention and was taken home.

Paramedic Arthur (Art) M. DeLisle fatally injured

City staff is saddened by the passing of Edmonds

Firefighter/Paramedic Arthur (Art) M. DeLisle. Art was fatally injured on January 16 while mountain climbing on Mt. Aconcagua.

Art, 51, was climbing alone when he was struck by falling rocks, the US State Department indicated when they notified the Fire Department the day of the accident. Mt. Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas located in the Andes range in Argentina.

Before joining the Edmonds Fire Department in 2003, DeLisle worked ten years as a Paramedic

with Medic 7, the former South Snohomish County emergency medical response agency. He received his medic training at St. Vincent’s School of Emergency Medicine in New York City and spent several years there working as a Paramedic out of New York hospitals. Prior to his medical training he served as a Sergeant in the US Marine Corp.

“Known as a gifted ‘combat Medic,’ Art excelled when the patient was in critical condition and most in need of immediate and aggressive care,” said Edmonds Fire Chief Thomas J. Tomberg. “His huge smile and gifts as a medical trainer and emergency caregiver will be greatly missed by all who worked with him and who felt his healing touch.”

DeLisle’s family and members of IAFF Fire Fighters Local 1828 will go to Argentina to retrieve his remains. He is survived by his wife and stepson. Services are pending.

The Art DeLisle Memorial Fund has been established at Wells Fargo, 9727 Edmonds Way,

Edmonds, WA 98020, to benefit his stepson’s education.

The City extends its heartfelt condolences to Art’s family and friends.

http://www.edmondsfire.org/DeLisle.pdf

Fake paramedic admits he was an imposter

DENVER - Todd Teel could go to jail for 18 months, which is nearly the same length of time he spent posing as a paramedic.

Teel pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal impersonation in Denver District Court this week. A judge could sentence him to up to a year and a half in prison and up to $100,000 in fines when he appears in court in March.

Teel was never a paramedic, but he played one in real life for 17 months treating patients in American Medical Response ambulances.

The Colorado Attorney General's Office filed charges against Teel in October, five months after he was first exposed in a 9NEWS report.

Teel faced multiple felony charges for allegedly forging his national paramedic certification card and impersonating a paramedic. He also faced a misdemeanor charge for the unauthorized practice of medicine.

Teel worked as a certified paramedic for American Medical Response (AMR) and was caught in December 2007 with a forged license. Court documents indicate he worked on calls to Denver and Longmont along with Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Jefferson Counties.

Teel was placed on leave when AMR discovered he was uncertified. He then resigned. AMR did not report the situation to police or prosecutors, who began investigating after 9NEWS uncovered Teel's actions.

"The practice of emergency medicine by uncertified individuals puts the sick and injured of Colorado at serious risk," said Attorney General John Suthers in a written statement at the time that charges were filed.

The AG's office only had jurisdiction over Teel's work that involved Medicaid. Eighty-five such patient care cases were investigated. AMR reimbursed Medicaid for Teel's work that was billed to taxpayers.

Investigators did not find any evidence in those select cases that Teel injured or killed a patient in his care.

AMR said it investigated all patient records involving Teel, but did not say if problems were found. The company has repeatedly refused to say if it would notify patients treated by the uncertified paramedic.

The Colorado Department of Health says Greenwood Village-based AMR should have checked Teel's documentation against state or national records, both of which are available online and would have revealed the forgery.

NREMT says Teel had an expired certification as an emergency medical technician (EMT), but never even took the test to become a paramedic.

Teel's attorney declined comment on the criminal case when charges were originally filed.

Fake Paramedic Admits Forging Certificate

DENVER -- A man who worked for American Medical Response pleaded guilty
Wednesday to falsifying his credential as a paramedic.

Todd Teel, 41, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of criminal impersonation.

Teel, who was not a state-certified paramedic, provided American Medical
Response of Denver with a falsified certificate attesting to his paramedic
status, the attorney general's office said.

The complaint, which was filed last October, alleged that Teel operated in
AMR ambulances as a paramedic between June 2006 and December 2007.

Teel could face a prison term of up to 1.5 years, and a maximum $100,000
fine, when he is sentenced on March 6.

Teel left AMR in December 2007 and currently is living in Wyoming. He is
free on a $5,000 bond.

The Attorney General's Office said it is not aware of any patients who were
harmed by Teel's lack of certification as a paramedic. The case was
investigated by the Attorney General's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit, which
probes allegations of fraud and patient abuse in federally-funded health
care programs. AMR Ambulance cooperated fully with the investigation, the
attorney general's office said.

http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/18483335/detail.html

BAD MEDS TOO HOT TO HAND OUT

By GINGER ADAMS OTIS

January 11, 2009

A piping-hot radiator placed next to a locker full of drugs in a Harlem

EMS station made a state health inspector's blood run cold last week.

The ambulance unit's entire narcotic supply - 20 vials each of morphine,

Valium and midazolam - was tossed after it was discovered that

temperatures inside Station 16 had reached a steamy 92 degrees and were

likely higher inside the metal locker, sources said.

The narcotics start to lose their potency - and run the risk of altering

their chemical compositions - when temperatures top 86 degrees, according

to the manufacturers' guidelines.

When a drug's chemical compound alters, "severe allergic reactions could

occur," a Manhattan doctor told The Post.

"Heat changes the composition, and you don't know who's going to have a

bad response," said Dr. Tom Bolte, a Midtown physician.

"It could be life-threatening for some patients."

Medics told The Post they've been complaining for years about the ancient

heating system at Station 16 in Harlem Hospital and how it routinely bakes

the facility - and the lock box - during the winter.

All Station 16 ambulances were taken out of service Thursday morning and

sent to a neighboring EMS house to switch out their potentially tainted

meds with new ones, sources said.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/01112009/news/regionalnews/manhattan/bad_meds_to

o_hot_to_hand_out_149604.htm

Paramedics Get Muscle Cars

Healing force to drive Chargers

Michael Biesecker The Times Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) 2009 Jan 5

RALEIGH -- Have a serious heart attack in Wake County and a paramedic in a growling muscle car might speed to your aid.

Wake's Emergency Medical Services Department launches a new program today that will bolster its fleet of ambulance crews with 14 specially trained paramedics deployed in souped-up Dodge Chargers.

EMS Chief Skip Kirkwood said at a news conference Monday that the program is the first of its kind in the nation. The new advanced practice paramedics will be dispatched to treat the sickest patients and help prevent emergencies among high-risk groups such as the elderly through education and outreach.

The police-package Chargers, which feature a brutish 5.7-liter HEMI V8 engine with the power of 368 horses, offer the combination of speed, handling and cargo space needed for the new paramedics to respond quickly. Plain-wrapper versions of the Charger are named for a popular Dodge speedster from the 1960s and '70s and are aimed at male boomers nostalgic for that era's fast movers.

The Wake commissioners approved $1.5 million in new spending for the pilot program over the next year. The five cars cost about $50,900 each outfitted with emergency lights, computers and medical supplies. Compare that with a customized ambulance at $145,000.

County officials know that some taxpayers might see the sporty sedans as overkill, especially in lean economic times. They distributed a fact sheet to reporters Monday that began: "Why a Dodge Charger? The right vehicle for the job."

EMS District Chief Jeffrey Hammerstein said the department comparison-shopped before settling on the Chargers, which are similar to those recently purchased by the N.C. Highway Patrol.

Why the Charger?

They are cheaper and more fuel-efficient than the Chevrolet Suburbans and other SUVs issued to EMS supervisors, as well as comparable police interceptors such as Ford's Crown Victoria. Their resale value, he added, should be higher when it comes time to sell them as surplus vehicles. "We didn't choose this vehicle because it has a powerful engine or a fast start or something like that," said Hammerstein, who said he has not yet driven one of the Chargers. "Sure, we don't want to buy something with such a small, four-cylinder engine you can't make it go. It's a safer vehicle altogether because it is prepared for an emergency response."

Dodge does offer the police Charger with a less-robust V6, but Hammerstein said the more powerful version features better brakes and more responsive steering.

With their target-sight grilles, menacing headlamps and humped rear quarter panels, the Chargers have become the darling of law enforcement officers across the country. They will accelerate from a dead stop to 60 mph in less than 6 seconds.

Several videos are posted on the Internet site YouTube touting its Mustang-whuppin' prowess and documenting its ability to smoke and shred tires.

Advanced training

EMSworkers in other places, including Orange County, already use Chargers. What sets Wake apart is the advanced training of its paramedics and their varied mission, Hammerstein said.

The 14 paramedics added through the new program are to work staggered shifts to provide at least five additional staff members across Wake County through the busiest parts of the day.

Two more will be on duty to supplement existing EMS staffing at night.

The goal is to ensure that at least one additional, experienced paramedic is assigned to each high-risk EMS call, which often requires time-sensitive procedures. If a patient's heart has stopped, for example, the paramedics might insert a breathing tube, attach cardiac monitors, use a defibrillator and inject chilled IV fluids to lower body temperature and protect brain function.

In the past, dispatchers sometimes sent two ambulances to provide enough paramedics. The new program will allow many patients to be treated while the second ambulance remains in service. "We have a shortage of paramedics, both nationally and in the state of North Carolina," said Dr. Brent Myers, medical director of Wake County EMS. "This program allows us to make more efficient use of the paramedics."

The paramedics will also evaluate, educate and provide preventive care for senior citizens prone to fall or people with a history of substance abuse.

DODGE CHARGER

(POLICE VERSION)

BASE PRICE: $20,900

TOTAL COST INCLUDING MEDICAL EQUIPMENT: $50,900

POWER PLANT: 5.7-liter HEMI V8 with 368 horsepower

GAS MILEAGE: 16 city, 25 highway

0 TO 60: less than 6 seconds

TOP SPEED: more than 150 mph

SOURCES: WAKE COUNTY EMS AND CHRYSLER

Fixing D.C.'s dangerous ambulance service

By Harry Jaffe Examiner Columnist

A frigid wind blew hard across the RFK Auxiliary Field on Saturday, Nov. 22,
when girls' soccer teams from Wilson High and School Without Walls met in
the city championship game. Running and stretching, 22 girls peeled down to
their soccer shorts and did battle.

The score was tied at 1 at the end of the first half. About 12 minutes into
the second half, Wilson's Aleesha Woodson and SWW's defender Kony Serrano
both jumped high in the air to head a ball. They collided, heads knocking
with the sound of two coconuts, and fell to the hard ground. Woodson got up;
Serrano did not.

Parents and coaches covered Serrano with blankets. We could see her legs
twitching. I called 911 and walked to the field's entrance on Oklahoma
Avenue to make sure the ambulance could find the obscure field.

I waited. Five minutes passed. Five more. A cop car cruised slowly to the
scene. I heard one siren, then two. Twelve minutes after I called, an
ambulance and a firetruck arrived. Emergency technicians from the ambulance
stabilized Serrano, strapped her head to a stretcher, loaded her into the
vehicle and drove to George Washington Hospital, all the way across town.
She suffered a concussion and has recovered well.

I was left with two questions: Why did it take so long to arrive, when the
Engine 8 Firehouse is 10 blocks away? And why bring a fire engine to help a
soccer player with a concussion?

Let's say the ambulance was busy, or it got caught in traffic, which might
explain the 12-minute trip. Fine. But why waste gas and manpower and time to
send a firetruck?

The simple - and equally bad - answer is that in D.C., the emergency medical
services is part of the fire department. The investigation into the horribly
botched treatment of New York Times reporter David Rosenbaum, which
contributed to his death after a mugging, pointed out problems of having
ambulances merged with fire services. D.C. Federation of Citizens
Associations and other activists have called for separating the two. Yet
Adrian Fenty has decided to continue the disastrous marriage.

Kony Serrano's injury turned out well, but minutes seemed like hours as we
watched her legs twitch and it looked as if she was having a seizure. No
doubt an ambulance alone would have gotten to the scene faster.

Two years ago, when Fenty first took office, he gave hope to reformers and
activists who implored him to liberate EMS.

"Rather than trying to resole an old shoe," Citizens Association Vice
President Ann Renshaw testified, "D.C. EMS should, once and for all, be
reorganized as a separate agency."

Fenty likes to say he wants D.C. to run like a "big city." Most major cities
- and Bethesda - have separate ambulance and fire departments.
It's time for him to make EMS its own agency, before we have another
Rosenbaum debacle, or a soccer player's minor injury turns major.

http://www.dcexaminer.com/opinion/columns/HarryJaffe/010408-Fixing_DCs_dange
rous_ambulance_service.html