Tennessee EMT Charged in Use of Defibrillator

[rescuecpt]

Tennessee EMT Charged in Use of Defibrillator



Updated: 06-10-2005 03:44:21 PM
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ELISSA BURNELL
Courtesy of TriCities.com


Emergency medical technicians save lives all across the Tri-Cities.

But now...one has been charged with involuntary manslaughter...for causing the death of a co-worker.

24-year-old Joshua Martin of Bristol was arrested and charged on Saturday...just a few hours after 23-year-old Courtney Hilton died from injuries sustained in a June first accident.

"Someone that's supposed to save your life and that happens to them...i don't know."

Teens Kelli Nuckles and her friend Sara Taylor were having lunch at the Stone Cellar in downtown Lebanon...still shocked that someone so close to their age could have died.

Adds Taylor, "she had two kids, I think that was kind of bad. To be 22 and have two kids and knowing that she won't be home from work, cause of, just of something that quick."

Courtney Hilton was an EMS worker here at Highlands Ambulance Service in town. And while police won't say exactly what happened in one of these ambulances last Wednesday. They are saying Joshua Martin's alleged negligent use of a defibrillator is what stopped Hilton's heart. She was revived but died on Saturday from injuries suffered.

According to Lebanon Police Chief Mark Mitchell, "it's not your typical kind of criminal act where you have a vicious and malicious thought in the thing."

Full text at Firehouse.com

I wonder what the heck happened?

[ECC]

That is strange, I know of one Paramedic who successfully zapped himself, and another who survived 5 tries...thats right... FIVE!

[TTLWHKR]

Originally posted by ECC@Jun 10 2005, 03:57 PM
I know of one Paramedic who successfully zapped himself

On purpose?

I've gotten whacked by having my leg against the mount that locks the cot in place. It put me on my ass, I had to sit for a few minutes and get a grasp on what happened. Nobody said clear.. We weren't planning on shocking. HS2K malfunctioned, when it got a shockable rythmn.. it shocked. warning siren didn't sound, nothing.. ZAP. And it hurts. My leg hurt bad at first, then my hands hurt, then a little chest pain. Little O2 and it all went away. But that S-AED was removed from the rig.. we broke it severely.. and then replaced it w/ a new LP5 from central supply. That way they couldn't fix it.

They asked what happened to it? We dropped it.. From a ten story building? We accidently ran over it? WHAT?!?!HOW?!?! Don't worry about it.

[ECC]

The one zapped imself accidentally...the fiver apparantly is just stupid, his motives are not germain.

[Jon]

I know my instructors ALWAYS go nuts if ANYONE touches paddles.. gotta run.. call

[Stevo]

It’s uncommon for people with normal heartbeats to die after being shocked with a defibrillator, said Dr. Bruce Gibbon, an emergency room doctor at Bristol Regional.

Someone with a normal heart rhythm might feel a tingling sensation and some pain but usually would not suffer any ill effects, he said.

"Normally, you would yell and curse but your heart would beat normally," he said. "It seems she was unfortunate."

well i can vouch, being an electrician....i get zapped now and then when i get a tad cavelier , or am just going to fast...

i've cursed in languages i don't even know....

~Stevo

[SafetyPro2]

Unfortunately, its not unknown to have "horseplay" accidents with defibs, though you'd hope a couple of EMTs would know better. The last one I remember hearing about (couple years ago) was two hospital maintenance workers who decided to try the defib out on each other with the same results as this case.

[MMiz]

I feel sorry for all involved.

I think anyone that has been in EMS long enough has been zapped on some level. All my instructors have, usually being in contact with the metal cot.