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Must See: Paramedic, Troopers Scuffle in Oklahoma
DAVE STATTER
Courtesy STATter911.com
This incident happened Sunday on Highway 62 near Paden, Oklahoma. A trooper with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over a Creek Nation ambulance as it was heading to the hospital with a patient. TV station KWTV-TV broke this story.
KWTV-TV's Dave Jordan reports there is also dash cam video that apparently includes the alleged assault by the paramedic. That video has not been released.
STATter911.com has been in contact with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Health System, the operators of the ambulance. Spokesman Thompson Gouge says the matter is under investigation. He could not confirm the current status of the EMS crew, but on Wednesday evening passed along the statements of Critical Care Paramedic Maurice White Jr, who was treating the patient, and EMT-B Paul Franks, who was driving the unit. Click the link above to read their accounts of the incident.
Some details earlier today from our sister station WFMY-TV's website:
A scuffle between first responders in Oklahoma is caught on tape. Highway Patrol troopers and a paramedic nearly come to blows while a patient waits to be taken to the hospital. The encounter was caught on a cell phone came by Kenyada Davis, the son of the patient in the ambulance.
The incident started when the ambulance failed to yield to state troopers en route to a call. Davis say the ambulance driver was trying to avoid hitting a car that slowed down and wasn't aware that troopers were nearby until it was too late
After the troopers finished their official business, they pulled the ambulance over. A struggle ensued as they tried to arrest the driver.
According to Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the paramedics assaulted the trooper just before the fight broke out.
The Okfuskee County District Attorney's office is reviewing footage and could file criminal charges against the paramedic by the end of the week.
Courtesy STATter911.com
This incident happened Sunday on Highway 62 near Paden, Oklahoma. A trooper with the Oklahoma Highway Patrol pulled over a Creek Nation ambulance as it was heading to the hospital with a patient. TV station KWTV-TV broke this story.
KWTV-TV's Dave Jordan reports there is also dash cam video that apparently includes the alleged assault by the paramedic. That video has not been released.
NEW: Read reports written by Critical Care Paramedic Maurice White Jr. and EMT-B Paul Franks
Watch the original story from KWTV-TV including interview with witnesses
STATter911.com has been in contact with the Muscogee (Creek) Nation Health System, the operators of the ambulance. Spokesman Thompson Gouge says the matter is under investigation. He could not confirm the current status of the EMS crew, but on Wednesday evening passed along the statements of Critical Care Paramedic Maurice White Jr, who was treating the patient, and EMT-B Paul Franks, who was driving the unit. Click the link above to read their accounts of the incident.
Some details earlier today from our sister station WFMY-TV's website:
A scuffle between first responders in Oklahoma is caught on tape. Highway Patrol troopers and a paramedic nearly come to blows while a patient waits to be taken to the hospital. The encounter was caught on a cell phone came by Kenyada Davis, the son of the patient in the ambulance.
The incident started when the ambulance failed to yield to state troopers en route to a call. Davis say the ambulance driver was trying to avoid hitting a car that slowed down and wasn't aware that troopers were nearby until it was too late
After the troopers finished their official business, they pulled the ambulance over. A struggle ensued as they tried to arrest the driver.
According to Oklahoma Highway Patrol, the paramedics assaulted the trooper just before the fight broke out.
The Okfuskee County District Attorney's office is reviewing footage and could file criminal charges against the paramedic by the end of the week.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Cody W. Nelson on
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I am a Paramedic/Firefighter and I don't hate COPS. I don't hate them either, at least I hope not. I have 2 brothers that are police officers. If I hated them, Thanksgiving and Christmas would be tense.
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Permalink Reply by truckeewads on
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I think I would take the medic over the cop in a fair fight. Sad to see something like this however. Priorities are just a little out of wack here.
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Permalink Reply by Darian Stevens on
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Cops with bad attitudes and "get out of my way syndrome cause I'm a cop." F**K that cop....Bet if it was his mother in the back that box nothing would have been ever done.....Hell he would have been in front of the box leading to the hospital....Just shows the 3/4 of LEO'S (law enforcement) have horrible attitudes.....Dont get me wrong....I have LE friends but they would have NEVER acted like that......If that cop grab me by throat he would have been spittin out teeth like popcorn!!! How bout some freakin PROFESSIONAL COURTESY! If I was that family I would be finding a nasty lawyer to nail that useless trooper on a power trip and the state to the wall....
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Permalink Reply by chele on
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http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=10440200
"The Creek Nation admits the ambulance did not have on its lights and sirens, while the trooper had on his lights, but no sirens.
The News On 6 couldn't find anything that gives one emergency vehicle the right of way over another, but we did find one state law that says: "Every person who willfully delays...an emergency medical technician...in the performance of...care and treatment...is guilty of a misdemeanor." "
My assumption is that the patient was not considered in critical condition, hence, no lights. Without lights/siren an ambulance is just another vehicle on the road, bound by all the traffic laws, including yielding to emergency vehicles. Even WITH lights/sirens on we are not excluded from obeying all traffic laws, but the lights are a REQUEST for yielding by other vehicles to assist us in expediting our patient to the hospital. Unless a patient is critical/urgent we do not run our lights; most of us (on EMS here in my town) feel that the lights actually cause potential for unpredictable driving by other motorists!
I don't understand why the HiPo was so enraged; his behavior concerns me and I would like to see him receive a psych eval, possibly some time off - but not necessarily fired - pending results of his psych eval. I think he may need help managing his anger or maybe this behavior is a gross exception to a normally very placid guy, either way his behavior was inappropriate.
I don't understand why the EMS crew allowed the situation to escalate. Since they were not running "hot" I'll assume their patient was not in immediate danger of dying during the short delay of receiving a ticket. When pulled over I have found "killing them with politeness" really pays and would have done whatever it took to keep my patient from being stressed by the situation.
The tech in back thought the female passenger needed medical assistance (as per his statement.) But - by removing himself from the back of the ambulance he abandoned his patient - a huge mistake, one that could cost him his Paramedic license. I would have waited until the HiPo requested assistance and the EMT (driver) could have attended to the HiPo's patient if she indeed had needed medical attention.
In my opinion absolutely everything was done wrong by all professionals involved.
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Permalink Reply by Steven on
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We all get along very well together. First off, our department is both fire AND EMS and the majority of our calls year to year (over 90% as I recall) are EMS. We also get along well with the local career ambulance service, partly because many of our volunteer members work in the ambulance service.
We also have retired police officers from our police department as active members of the fire department.
We get along well because we have to work together. Sometimes someone doesn't recognize that coming in either as PD, paid ambulance, or fire/EMS, but they learn quickly that a call can be cleared much faster if everyone works together and does their respective jobs.
This video is an example of what happens when people don't work together and choose, instead, to let their own egos get in the way of their job, protecting life and property.
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Permalink Reply by Denton W. Ervin on
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I dont know about anybody else but here we are trained as long as we have a patient in the back of the rig you do not stop for anyone. We were told that whatever they have to say they can say at the hospital. The next thing is this trooper maid them stop because they did not pull over for him. I can tell you he would run out of tickets and be hoarse from all of his yelling here in my area for pulling over who do not pull over for emergency vehicles. Did this guy even ask if the driver heard or saw him before he went to chewing his butt in front of the rig. Seems to me the right thing to do for the trooper would have been to follow the rig to the hospital take down the rig number and the medics names and what time this happened and turn it into the head ems office instead of acting like a spoiled brat and turning this into a racial incident and making everyone look like krap.
I may be wrong. The troopers say that they have the paramedic assaulting the officer. To me that does not sound right i do not see a 15 plus year paramedic doing something like that. At least i think that was his years of service. Also putting his hands around his throat and wrestling him in front of the patient and her family and on video, BIG MISTAKE Who looks like krap here????? Another thing who would have gotten the blame if they had arested the paramedic and the patient had died or something. Who would have been charged with abandonment?
I just dont know what these troopers were thinking. If that was his supervisor WHAT the hell was he thinking???
I believe all this situation does is to make life harder on all of us.
I do not think race had anything to do with this but it is being blown up into be that. If that was why this trooper acted the way he did he definitely has to go BIG TIME!!!
This is just really bad and should not ever have happened.
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Did you read the Paramedics own statement? Please read it. The paramedic stated he exited the box because he thought the HiPo's passenger needed medical attention. His exiting may have been seen as an act of aggression. I'm not defending what the HiPo did, I'm trying to understand how what should have been a trivial issue (lights, failure to yeild, flipping the bird or not) could have escalated to such a rediculous level.
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It DOES matter if the box did not have lights on, as I said, without lights it's just another vehicle that failed to yeild. I'm not saying that explains or excuses the behavior of the HiPo. I'm also not excusing the behavior of the techs involved.
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Permalink Reply by Josh Watkins on
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As a fellow First Responder from Oklahoma I would like to point out that this is not something that happens everywhere in Oklahoma. We have a great relationship with PD, Fire, and EMS and we all work together. Most Troopers are down to Earth people and are there for the same reasons we are, But I will say that Troopers fresh out of the Academy have this problem of letting the badge and gun get to their head. Apparently they have never been on the scene of a Major wreck and had to rely on EMS and Fire, or needed their help when they were on the side of the road after a deadly encounter. I know we are very appreciatative of PD and the Troopers when we need their help. In this case I think EMS had every right to proceed to the hospital and ignore these foolish Troopers until their job was done, but in Oklahoma they do have the highest Authority and if this would have happened to me, I would have explained to the Trooper how if he wanted me to discontinue care to the patient that the responsibily of the patient well-being was on his shoulders and he would be tried solely if the patient was harmed or prevented from recieving needed care. That usually will get them thinking in the right direction. Overall this should have never ever happened.
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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From what I understand, there was a 3rd EMT in the back of the ambulance, therefore the patient was never "abandoned". And you're right, the EMT came out of the ambulance because he thought that the trooper's passenger needed medical attention.
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Obviously in your opinion I don't get it. I obviously disagree with you. There isn't going to be a resolution to that.
I stand by my opinion that all professionals were in the wrong. The Paramedic did not need to leave the box, he did so of his own free will per his own written statement. The HiPo's behavior was inappropriate. Even the hands off the wheel gesture that the EMT driver admitted to was inappropriate; who takes both hands off the wheel when driving an ambulance? Not me, I also don't argue with the LEO when being pulled over, and I don't leave my patient on a gurney unattended.
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