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Two New Bedford paramedics are facing disciplinary action by the city and the state for not performing CPR on an unresponsive infant at a home in December, authorities said. The child was later pronounced dead.
Mayor Scott W. Lang said yesterday that he will hold a disciplinary hearing tomorrow for the two city employees and will also inquire into the operations of the city's Emergency Medical Services agency.
"By and large, I think it provides a very high quality of service," Lang said of the ambulance service. "What we have here is a situation where we have an incident that makes everyone take a look and to make sure that we are following through on appropriate mandates."
The move by Lang is being made after an April conclusion by the state Department of Public Health that two paramedics violated protocols when they did not perform CPR on the infant. The state suspended them for 30 days. WBZ-TV reported that the infant was a 1-month-old boy.
The health department identified the paramedics as Rosemary Nunes and Ivan Brody. They could not be reached for comment yesterday.
In a five-page report, the health department said public safety officials responded to an unidentified New Bedford home around 3:14 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2008, for "a baby not breathing."
A family member began CPR, and a New Bedford police officer had taken over the task before paramedics arrived. The infant was handed over to Nunes and Brody, and neither continued the CPR, the health department said.
Brody told city officials and the health department that he thought the child was deceased and transported the infant to the hospital so the parents would not have the baby in their home while the death was investigated.
But the health department said neither paramedic performed the required medical analysis on the child.
The paramedics needed to check for rigor mortis, body temperature, lung sounds, and reaction to light, the report stated.
"There is no evidence that this patient met the criteria for [paramedics] to withhold or cease CPR efforts," the health department concluded. "There was . . . no trauma inconsistent with survival and no body condition clearly indicating death."
Brody was also cited for filing an inaccurate report.
The health department report does not conclude whether CPR would have saved the child. But in a phone interview yesterday, Lang said it was his understanding that "no one has indicated to me that the outcome would have changed in any way." The parents are not identified in the report.
Health fair held in memory of EMT
By Crystal Bozek
cbozek@eagletribune.com
NORTH ANDOVER — Linda Latta hopes to see many people at the health fair and blood drive she's planning for Saturday at North Andover High School. She wants to make her son proud.
Michael Latta, a North Andover High graduate, died in April 2007 after suffering an apparent heart attack when the ambulance he was driving crashed into a barn in Dunstable.
"He would like something like this," his mother said. "I wanted to do something different than the typical fundraiser, and fit in the health care profession, which he truly loved."
Michael Latta was only 21 when he died. He was working as an emergency medical technician and was excited about starting paramedic school.
"He never complained about going to work. It was his passion," she said. "He had been in a car accident once and had to go to the hospital by ambulance. He looked at his dad and said, 'This is cool. This is what I want to do.'"
His mother has invited the Police and Fire departments to offer car-seat checks and fire-safety demonstrations. Also due to attend are martial arts groups, rehabilitation centers and fitness centers.
There will also be an auction and raffle to raise money for a scholarship fund. People can win anything from Red Sox tickets to two weeks at Brooks day camp.
Curves, a fitness center for women, will calculate people's body mass index, the Visiting Nurses Association will conduct blood pressure checks, and Advanced Health and Wellness will provide spinal screenings and massage therapy.
There will be people on hand to speak about becoming an EMT.
Linda Latta hopes to make this an annual event.
High-pressure job saves lives
When Steve Dyson decided to look for a new career, an event from his adolescence helped steer him to becoming a paramedic.
“When I was about 14, we were riding in the car with my mom,” Dyson said. “When we got close to the house, we saw a wreck where someone had gone off into a ravine.”
Dyson’s mother got out to help the driver and instructed her children to stay in the car.
“So we were looking out the windows watching everything that was going on,” he said.
Dyson’s mother helped bring the driver up the road while she waited for paramedics to arrive.
“That was something I always remembered,” he said. “We always tried to help people when we could.”
Years later, Dyson was working at the Rusken box plant and decided he wanted to do something different. He thought about becoming a paramedic, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to handle the pressure.
“One day, a friend of mine at the plant got his foot caught between a cog and a chain,” Dyson said. “We were all trying to help him get unstuck. I was able to keep my cool and get him out.”
Dyson decided he would be able to handle the job and joined his local volunteer fire department, the Loretto Fire Department, and started taking classes to become a first responder. He spent about a year and a half working as a dispatcher taking calls and making occasional ride alongs in the truck.
He started back to school taking EMT classes. The EMT classes are divided into three levels – basic, intermediate and paramedic. Dyson got to the intermediate level and got a job in Blount County, where he stayed for two years.
“I went back to school to get my paramedic. By then I was working two full-time jobs and going to school,” he said. “It was hard. I didn’t get to see much of my wife and kids at the time.”
During this time, Dyson worked a few times at American Ambulance Service.
“I just kept coming back here,” he said. “They sort of raised me. I learned a lot of trade secrets here. I learned how to be quicker. You’re trying to do so much in the back of a truck riding down the road. When you can learn how to be quicker, all the better.”
He is now a nationally registered EMT paramedic.
At American Ambulance, Dyson makes mostly nursing home runs. They have several patients who need ambulance transport to the doctor’s office or hospital. Occasionally, American Ambulance serves as a back up service to Cullman EMS for 911 calls.
Dyson enjoys helping patients and being able to contribute to their lives even if he doesn’t get to see them again.
“One year, we had a guy who coded two days before Christmas,” he said. “We were able to get him back. About nine or 10 months later, we got called back to his house for someone else. It was really nice to see him again. We spend 10 minutes to an hour with a patient. To know you made enough of an impact on someone is very gratifying.”
Although he enjoyed his job, he started to think about getting out of the EMT business. The 24-hour shifts can take their toll.
“I was looking for a Monday through Friday job,” he said. “But I never got any response back to the applications I put out. Then all the plants started laying people off. It was a blessing to not get one of those plant jobs. This is where God wanted me to be. I’ve met so many people who’ve allowed me to be a part of their lives. I’m finding more pleasure and satisfaction in my job.”
One of Dyson’s favorite stories is that of a 102-year-old patient he helped transport to the hospital for the first time.
“She was 102 and living at the nursing home,” he said. “She did everything for herself and even helped the other residents. It was her first time to go to the hospital. She was a great patient.”
In 2006, Dyson served as a civilian paramedic in Iraq.
“Originally, I planned to stay there 12 to 18 months,” he said. “I was there 22 months instead.” Dyson left for Kuwait in August 2006. He spent two months in Kuwait before going to Iraq. He returned home in June 2008.
Dyson said his wife, Jessica, wasn’t keen on him going into a war zone.
“But we ran the numbers,” he said. “If I went overseas, I would only be away from the family three days a month more than I had been in the past year.”
Previously, when he was off work, Dyson said he usually spent his time trying to recover and prepare for the next shift. With the vacation package offered by working overseas, he would have two weeks at a time off work.
“I was able to spend time with my family when the kids were off school,” he said. His sons Eli, 7, and Sam, 12, were happy to have him home for those longer periods of time.
While there, Dyson met and made friends from around the world, many of whom he still keeps in touch with. The experience was a great one, he said, but he happy to be back home.
“Being gone was a blessing,” he said. “It made me appreciate things once I got home ever more.”
Firefighter, EMT crisis looms in Essex County
Essex County sees dramatic drop in number of volunteers
ELIZABETHTOWN — Intensified training requirements may be driving a sharp decline in the number of volunteer firefighters and emergency-medical technicians in Essex County.
County Emergency Services Director Donald Jaquish said Monday that the number of active volunteer firefighters has dropped from 1,400 to about 1,000 in the last few years.
"This could become a crisis."
The county's rural nature means it has many small fire departments that cover large areas, and recruitment pools are smaller.
Jaquish is also an assistant chief for Moriah Fire Department.
"We had one new member in 2008 and one new member so far in 2009," he said. "That can't continue."
The state's basic Firefighter I course is more than 80 hours of training, and many potential volunteers have family responsibilities that don't allow so much time away from home, he said.
"People are not coming forward and joining the fire service. It may be because of the number of hours of training."
In addition, a college-scholarship program for new firefighters has been dropped from the state budget, he said, removing one incentive for young people to join local fire companies.
The County Board of Supervisors is asking Gov. David Paterson to restore the firefighter scholarships.
The state and federal governments continue to pile on instruction requirements, Jaquish said.
"What they don't understand is people have other lives. The training — OSHA training, firefighter training — has gotten too large. They have to reduce the amount of time it takes to train."
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration requires 15 hours of annual training for all firefighters and quarterly training for firefighters who will enter structures.
Supervisor Ronald Jackson (R-Essex), an emergency-medical technician, said the schooling is too much at once for new volunteers.
"They have to go through the whole thing at one time. It's too big a chunk."
More must be done to accommodate rookie volunteers, he said, such as allowing a longer period for the instruction.
Supervisor Randy Preston (I-Wilmington) is an assistant fire chief in Wilmington.
"What the (State) Department of Health has done for requirements for EMTs is really over the top," Preston said. "Very few people in the county are going to be taking EMT anymore. Someone in Albany dreams it up, and they put it out here."
New EMTs need more than 100 hours of schooling, so fewer people are volunteering.
"I guarantee in my lifetime everybody in this county will have paid ambulances," Preston said. "It's going to affect everybody because of the volunteers we're losing."
Fire and ambulance companies in her area are having trouble recruiting new people, Supervisor Joyce Morency (R-St. Armand) said.
"You can't get them (volunteers). They have families, they have children."
She said many classes are held on weekday evenings, when people have responsibilities at home.
Supervisor Daniel Connell (D-Westport) said a volunteer's first year requires completing a lot of training.
"For an EMT, it's critical. In Westport, I don't know how long we're going to be able to run a volunteer EMT squad."
He suggested home courses or Internet-based instruction be implemented whenever possible.
"We're all going to be going to paid departments, and how can we afford that?" Connell said.
Some ambulance squads in the county, like Newcomb, have already gone to paid EMTs for daytime shifts.
WATERTOWN, N.Y. -- There were few dry eyes at Saturday's memorial at Jefferson Community College for slain paramedic student Mark Davis. The 25 year old was shot while responding to a call on January 31st by the person he was trying to help.
Mark Davis, an EMT, a brother, a friend, and a hero.
"He had a big heart, and he put everybody at ease. You can do the job, and you can learn the stuff, but it takes a lot to be able to put your patients at ease. And we was able to do that, and it was just a natural thing," said Erika Nappier, Emergency Medical Services Club President.
"He loved EMS and fire fighting. That was what his life consisted of. It didn't matter if he was volunteering or getting paid," said Maricia Dickinson, Mark Davis' Sister.
"He was a kind person and really just wanted to help people," said Eva Fremaint, Paramedic Student.
"He was the class clown, pep squad leader, an encouraging word for all of us," said Jeannine Gomiela, Jefferson Paramedic Program Coordinator.
Davis was murdered while responding to a call in Cape Vincent the night of January thirty first. He was shot to death with a rifle by the man he was trying to help, Christopher Burke.
Davis was a first-year student in Jefferson Community College's paramedic program. And those in classes with him say Saturday's memorial important for Davis' JCC family to honor their fallen classmate.
"Cape Vincent and his family were able to do their thing. This is our chance to do out thing for him," said Nappier. "It gives the students a chance at closure. It's not just the EMS club, it's the entire campus."
"He was really the life of our class, and I'm just glad that everyone come the chance to come and honor him at JCC," said Fremaint.
To keep Mark Davis' memory alive, JCC has set up a scholarship in his name.
"Through this scholarship, Mark's memorial will be here long after we have all graduated and become paramedics," said Nappier.
"Twenty, 30 years from now, there will still be people talking about who Mark was, why this scholarship was formed. And the student who receives the funds, I know will feel very special for having been selected," said Carole McCoy, Jefferson Community College President}
The scholarship will go to a second year paramedic student. JCC's Emergency Medical Service club is selling t-shirts to raise money for the scholarship in Mark Davis' name. The goal is to raise$10,500 to make it an endowed scholarship.
And Mark's classmates say he would want them to continue their work as paramedics and EMTs, and not let what happened to him stop them from doing the job they love.
