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This Week in EMS: A Recap for June 9 - 15, 2007
This week's exclusive coverage on EMSResponder.com follows the efforts to create a permanent memorial site for EMS personnel killed in the line of duty.
Such monuments exist for firefighters and police officers, but EMS personnel have only had a temporary display that is erected during the annual EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, VA. Now, the committee for the EMS Memorial Project is reviewing proposals for memorial locations and designs, and hopes to make selections by July 31.
So far there are four states under consideration, and the committee is calling for final submissions. To read more and find out how to get involved, visit the article by EMSResponder.com senior reporter Susan Nicol Kyle, Location, Designs Sought for Permanent EMS Memorial Site.
In a serious ambulance accident this week, a Houston ambulance rolled over while traveling on Interstate 10. Luckily there was no patient aboard and the two ambulance rescue personnel were not seriously injured. For more visit Houston Ambulance Rolls Over on Freeway.
In another major ambulance accident this week, a Chicago ambulance collided with a bus Tuesday afternoon resulting in injuries to seven people. For more visit 7 Injured in Downtown Chicago Bus, Ambulance Collision.
This week also saw negative emergency medical care news reports in several cities.
In Los Angeles, newly released 911 tapes revealed a breakdown in patient care at an inner city ER. The hospital is under threat of closure after a woman died while waiting for treatment as she lay bleeding for 45 minutes on the ER floor. The woman's boyfriend and another bystander in the ER made separate 911 calls asking for paramedics, but were refused.
For more on the incident, visit 911 Calls Fail to Help Woman Dying in Los Angeles ER.
For more on the aftermath at the hospital, visit LA Hospital Faces New Threat of Closure after ER Death.
In Chicago, a videotape was released this week of an alleged attack by a Chicago paramedic on a patient two years ago.
The tape is reported to show the patient being tossed out of the ambulance and onto the ground in a parking lot, and later, on the ground outside the emergency room as the paramedic repeatedly hits his face.
The paramedic was fired in 2005 and has since died, but the tape was released as a result of the patient's current lawsuit against the city, paramedics and hospital.
Part of the tape is shown in a local TV news report. To read the article and see the news video, visit Videotape Released in Alleged Attack by Chicago Paramedic.
Two updates came out this week on EMS personnel in trouble in California and Washington.
In California, following intense media scrutiny, Solano County and San Francisco Fire Department officials found ways to sideline a firefighter/EMT with a history of stalking women and arrests for alleged child sexual abuse, indecent exposure, spouse battering and vandalism.
Prior to the news reports, officials said loopholes in the law prevented them from taking action against the responder. However, he has since been reassigned to a desk job to limit his contact with the public until his criminal cases are over, and was asked to surrender his EMT certification card or have it suspended.
Read the full article, California EMT Accused of Crimes Sidelined.
In Washington, officials are pursing felony charges against a paramedic who allegedly stole drugs from a medic vehicle and was found unconscious from a possible drug overdose while on duty.
For more visit Felony Charges Pursued in Alleged WA Paramedic Overdose.
Reader Feedback Request
Thinking Outside the MCI Box
Has your agency made special plans or taken unique steps to prepare for major multicasualty events in your jurisdiction? If so, we invite you to tell us about it. EMS Magazine will profile the best examples of extraordinary planning/preparedness measures in a feature story appearing in our September issue. Help us share your hard-earned insights and outside-the-box approaches with others who may benefit from them. E-mail john.erich@cygnusb2b.com with thoughts, ideas, suggestions and examples, or call 800/547-7377, x. 1106. Your fellow responders - and the citizens they serve - will thank you.
Reminders:
Next week, June June 17-23, is the International Fire Fighter and EMS Safety Stand Down, sponsored by the IAFC and the IAFF, to encourage responders to suspend all non-emergency activity and instead focus entirely on safety.
Whether or not your agency is participating in this program, a safety review is always a great idea for all EMS responders, to keep yourself and your crew in good health. This timing also coincides with EMS Magazine's focus on vehicle safety in the June issue.
We hope you'll take some time over the next week to review a compilation of some of the top safety and wellness resources published in the pages of EMS Magazine and online at EMSResponder.com. These links are available at Safety Resources Offered for the Fire and EMS Safety Stand Down, June 17-23.
June is also Home Safety Month, sponsored by the Home Safety Council. This year's theme is "Hands on Home Safety," which asks the public to take some simple hands-on steps to create a safer home environment from hazards as falls, fires and burns, and poisonings. Read more on EMSResponder.com or visit the program website for materials.
Awards
Nominations are being accepted for EMS Magazine's 22nd Annual EMT/Paramedic of the Year Award, sponsored by Braun Industries and ZOLL Medical Corporation. Nominations must be received by July 2, 2007. For full contest rules and instructions please visit www.emsresponder.com/paramedic.
EMS Magazine is also accepting nominations for the 2007 EMS Magazine/National Association of EMTs Gold Service Award. For contest rules and to submit nominations, go to www.emsresponder.com/goldaward. Nominations must be received by August 1, 2007.
EMSResponder.com Poll
This week's poll asks, "What do you spend the most time doing between calls?"
Visit the poll on the lower right side of EMSResponder.com to participate.
Other top headlines this week on EMSResponder.com:
