EMT Gets Prison After Defibrillator Prank Kills Co-Worker

I wondered that, too. I don't know much about defibrillation (been a long time since nursing school and we don't use it much in the NICU) but I would think that if he shocked her into an arrhythmia, couldn't they have tried to shock her back to sinus? Or use meds, something?

I agree that 1 year is way too easy. Why was four years suspended? I just don't understand why judges do that - if you sentance five years, give them five years! What the heck is with this suspended stuff????????? A woman DIED because he fooled around with something he shouldn't have. He had to have taken a class to be an EMT, and in class they talk about defibrillation. True, he might not have been inserviced on the particular type that they use in that ambulence, but a defib is a defib. Especially since she told him not to touch her with them - he acted like an immature teenaged boy! It sounds like something my brother would have done to me growing up.

At least he'll never again be able to get a job in the medical field where he could harm someone else.

When the article about this situation was first posted several Medics replied. Of all the people who responded they were the most outraged by the situation. Goes to show you how criminal the young mans actions were.

There was also speculation about the drivers actions when this was first posted. The drivers actions may well have been reviewed during the investigation of this incident, at least I would hope so. Unfortunately in regards to this issue, there is probably a lot we don't know.

Me, I'd have crucified him.

I agree that he should have not been playing around with the defibrillator but it is possible that he didn't know that would happen. I am a nursing student but also am a basic EMT. In my class we learned how to use AED's, not a manual defibrillator and they didn't stress what would happen if we shocked a anyone with a pulse. From the article I read, it sounded like he was just to immature to be an EMT but just like nurses, EMTs are needed and it really is a pretty easy class to pass. I am sorry for the family's loss and sorry for the kid who killed her.

This guy needs to be locked up for a loooooong time. As an EMT Basic, a certification he no doubt holds, he has no business even touching a defibrillator unless specifically trained. The defibrillators that EMT Basics use are "hands off"...or semi-automatic, because EMT basics lack the expertise to diagnose rhythms. This way the machine does it for them and advises if a shock is necessary.
This guy gets 100 hours (that's it) of training and goes to play with a piece of equipment he has no business touching, much less turning on.
In Virginia, as in other places across the country, EMT-Basics staff EMS ambulances that have ALS or MICU capability, and can call paramedics if advanced care is necessary. In Virginia as in other parts of the country, there is a shortage of qualified medics to be on trucks like these.

My heart goes out to the family of the young lady. There are so many ways to [i]safely[i] play a practical joke...short sheeting the bed, Allcare soap fights, but what he did? Criminally stupid.

Lock him up.


vamedic4

I agree that it sucks that he will be paying for a long time, for a brief moment of stupidity. Not just the jail time, but he will have to live with the fact that he took another person's life. However, he had no business pulling off this "prank." There are many tools, medications, etc that I am unfamiliar with, but I don't go around using them. I don't need someone to tell me that I could potentially hurt somebody, in order for me not to go around experimenting. I have never been trained in inhaled anesthetics, but I wouldn't go "gas" someone just for fun. It's all about common sense, self-control and respect.

Exactly.

ahhh! i am an EMT and one of the first thing they teach you is defib. the first thing they say is "this is not a toy". he is 25 too, im sure even little kids know not to do something like that.

also, my EMT Basic class only covered AED really, and that won't shock unless it reads an irregular rhythm, what was he touching paddles for!

I remember reading that he, the idiot, told the male EMT that he thought it would be funny to shock the female EMT while she was driving. The male EMT told him explictly that it was an extremely dangerous thing and not a joke and do not touch the defibrillator. A few minutes later, while the male EMT had his head turned he did it anyway.

I think he got off way too easy. The woman was a single mother with one or two small children. I would consider that since he had been told that it was extremely dangerous and not to touch the defibrillator; that he committed first-degree murder. It may not have been premeditated for very long but he definately had time to plan it while the EMT's head was turned.

I don't feel sympathy for the "kid" in the least. Besides he was no "kid" he was an adult. Sad, so very sad.