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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 Tim Wood on
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Now thats good PR caught on tape i hate seeing this stuff caught on tape(cellphone) its bad enough it happened in the first place
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Permalink Reply by Me'Licia on
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From what i saw on the tape, the EMT didn't assualt the trooper. If my mother would have been on that ambulance and died b/c of the troopers clear STUPIDITY.. i would sue in a heartbeat for holding up her treatment... I truely hate dirty cops. And also to state.. that if ambulance is doin what it is supposed to and use siren/whelps at intersections, if cops comin up behind runnin coded.. ambulance couldnt hear it.
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Permalink Reply by Robin Inman on
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It's such a sad day when you see or hear of this kind of thing happening.....it's like you just want to say "Hey, now cooler heads need to preveil. They are both in the same line of work, they are both in jobs to protect and serve and save lives. That needs to be their number one priority. For the trooper to say they didn't yield after hearing the paramedic say they had to slow down for a driver who wasn't yielding should have been explaination enough. We all know how hard it is to get people to pull over for any kind of emergency vehicle. This is just a bad case of some troopers with bad attitudes and a little to ready to get into a scuffle. I'm definetly not a law suit happy person, but in this case if it was my Mom.....I would really be calling an attorney. Because this state agency needs to get a little better control of their troopers and sometimes bad attitudes won't or don't change until extreme measures are take. At this point I just pray that the EMS patient ended up being ok.
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Permalink Reply by russ allen on
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this all could have been handled by the troopers after patient drop off. stopping and making a specticle was dumb. The trooper could have just as easily followed the ambulance to the house/hospital and confronted only after they saw the paramedics mission was completed. Same team, same job and how about professional courtesy? Gee whiz, this is a media nightmare, who ever is at fault, the troopers come off as gestapo.
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Permalink Reply by Mike Cocker Jr. on
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2 things I hate at the same time, Cops and EMS.. It sounds like to me the cop got his pride broken when the ambulance didn't pull over, and after they stopped the Medic, the crew was pissed they'd be stupid enough to that with someone in patient care. What happens when Egos and idiots with badges collide..
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Permalink Reply by wayne frary on
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Having watched the video, It only reinforces the fact that you guys in the USA are living in a police state. I can not believe there are idiots like officer 606 allowed out in public with guns. That is truly frightning. I hope the officer/s involved get sacked. Unbelievable.
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Permalink Reply by Mick Shelley on
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Flat Out, The cop should be brought up on charges.
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Permalink Reply by Steven on
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Is it me or did both EMS personnel abandon their patient at some point?
It's an extraordinary circumstance, but I'm pretty sure there was a point where both crew were outside of the rig while the patient was still inside.
There should be enough on a record (radio transmission of the officer on an EMS frequency, video footage from the patrol car(s), dispatch records, etc.) to sort out what happened.
From what I saw, it looks like both the officer who initiated the stop and the EMS crew have some explaining to do to their supervisors at the very least.
I'm running the scenario through my head wondering what I would do if caught in a similar situation (fortunately, our law enforcement here is a little more level headed) and I guess I would remain in the rig, call dispatch for another rig as we (having been pulled over by the police) are no longer in service as it were and ask for our supervisor to respond as well. At no point would the patient not have an EMS provider beside him/her and we would have to try hard to explain our duty under the law to our patient to the officers.
Glad I don't live any where near Oklahoma right now....
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Permalink Reply by Brian Dumser on
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I predict the Oklahoma Highway Patrol will have a couple of positions opening up soon! What a disgrace. I just read the paramedic's partner's side of the story on firefighterclosecalls.com !
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Permalink Reply by T on
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So many things are wrong with this.
To me this just doesn't stem from this one incident. Seems there may be some tension and previous incidents between EMS and OHP. Just happened it broke open in public. It will be real interesting to see the OHP dash cam video if it is ever released. We don't know what the paramedic did before the current released video.
Besides that - The troopers should have followed the ambulance to the hospital or called dispatch to have them find out the destination. Then handled it after the call was finished. Would an officer want us to stop treating a bleeding civilian to tell him he didn't do direct pressure correctly? NO. Do it after the call.
Appearently in this video the officers have lost the emotional detachment that is required for all emergency workers to perform their jobs and function appropriately on scenes. And the paramedic shouldn't have left the patient compartment(leaving the pt without medical supervision).
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Permalink Reply by Oldman on
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Well I wouldn't want to say that ALL OHP troopers are this way, however, I have traveled through OK and have on several occasions had to interact with them at accident scenes. My experiences tell me it probably isn't racial as has been suggested, but probably a Gestapo type tactic that is taught in the academy. Of course, they may be anal orifices naturally.
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