[pXMzR2A]

> After a long and complicated trial, the jury agreed that my client was not at fault.

The client EMS is as much at fault as the police officer.

He let someone whom he knew in his medical opinion to be having a serious medical problem go to jail because he was intimidated.

If he's not at fault, no medic ever is at fault for anything, even those who are present and supervise torture and police brutality, because "oh I'm sorry I was intimidated."

[JshWright]

Did you read the article? The patient did not go to jail. There was a 10 minute delay in care, until the patient became unresponsive and was transported to the hospital.

Do you really see no difference in culpability between someone standing by and allowing torture to happen, vs someone who attempts to argue with, but eventually concedes to a guy carrying a gun?

[pXMzR2A]

> Did you read the article?

Yes.

> The patient did not go to jail.

The patient was almost taken to jail. The EMS left him there to be transported to jail.

> There was a 10 minute delay in care, until the patient became unresponsive and was transported to the hospital.

Please don't be apologetic for other people's screw ups. We have enough of that everywhere already.

"Oh it was just 10 minutes more of stroking and stuff. No biggie." It's a stroke, you die in that 10 minutes.

> Do you really see no difference in culpability between someone standing by and allowing torture to happen, vs someone who attempts to argue with, but eventually concedes to a guy carrying a gun?

No.

We are talking about the legal system, where such cases can be used as precedents.

When you are an EMS or physician otherwise, you were at fault, and it is pardoned because "I was so very much intimidated oh my," it will be pardoned as long as you can prove you were "intimidated."

"Oh judge it was a CIA agent, I was intimidated so I stayed and supervised it."

I find it disturbing and disgusting that (1) the defense attorney is using that as an excuse, and (2) the EMS allows his defense attorney to do that.

And where is the lawsuit against the cop for intimidation (civil) and misconduct (criminal)?

[JshWright]

I'm not excusing a 10 minute delay. I am just describing what happened, and that the patient did not, in fact, go to jail. In the case of a stroke every second matters. "Time is brain" as the saying goes...

The paramedic absolutely screwed up. He should have called his supervisor, or his medical control physician. He was inexperienced and let himself get pushed around and eventually backed down when he should have stood up for his patient. I still don't see how you can remotely compare that to being a willing participant in a crime.

[LordKano]

The police officer is 100% at fault here. The paramedic has medical equipment. The cop has weapons.

[pXMzR2A]

> The police officer is 100% at fault here. The paramedic has medical equipment. The cop has weapons.

This is not a zero-sum game. They can be (and, I think, are) 100% at fault.

The paramedic has a medical responsibility to ensure the medical safety of the patient. He abandoned his job because he got afraid / didn't know better. These are not valid excuses.

[PebblesHD]

You talk like you'd have any chance at standing up to an _ARMED MAN_ when you have little other than a stethoscope. I doubt you've ever had any interaction with the police but I can assure you they are some of the least pleasant times of my life, and they can be _VERY_ intimidating, especially if you disagree with them. In this situation, the medic was opposing a trained, armed person who could not be convinced he was wrong, if he had not backed down the officer may have become violent endangering both the patient and the medic.

[LordKano]

Precisely.

I suspect the previous commenter has never encountered such a police officer. I have seen how they behave when their authority is challenged.

Right, wrong or otherwise; police officers won't admit to being wrong unless ordered to do so by a superior.