Two paramedics have been arrested and charged for a mistake that led to a man's death. The man was intoxicated and delusional. The paramedics put him on a stretcher to transport him into the ambulance, but put him on the stretcher face-down. While in the ambulance, the paramedics allegedly put the patient on a paramedic stretcher while he was positioned face-down and restrained him. An autopsy determined the patient's cause of death was asphyxia and had been caused by being restrained with straps across his back while face down on the stretcher. Illinois paramedics charged with 1st-degree murder appear in court as wrongful death lawsuit announced - ABC News, January 19, 2023 Two Springfield EMS workers charged with first-degree murder (wcia.com) , Danny Connolly, Theodora Koulouvaris, January 10, 2023 One reason they perhaps might have put him face-down is they were afraid that if he vomited, he might choke on his own vomit. This issue can sometimes cause intoxicated people to die. Is it really fair to have arrested the paramedics for this? Yes, what they did ended up causing a death, but it was a very simple mistake to make, the chance that what they did would cause death was small. And they may have even had some justifiable reason to do what they did, even if it was still overall a mistake. One factor that may be prejudicing the authorities is that paramedics treated the drunk patient with disrespect and seeming indifference; the paramedics were white, the patient was black. Apparently police were already on the scene before the paramedics and had been called due to the patient's drunken behavior. The paramedics are also facing a lawsuit now, by the patient's family for wrongful death, and a civil rights lawyer is involved. (this fact further hints that there may be a racial factor at play) Keep in mind the court system can sometimes "coerce" defendants to plead guilty or agree to pay out in lawsuits even if they do not believe they are guilty. If they don't agree, the defendant risks something even worse happening to them, more prison time or having to pay more money.
The judge also set the bail of the paramedics at $1 million each. They are still sitting in prison. Excessively high bail is another way to pressure guilty pleas out of defendants. They will likely be sitting in prison for a year and a half before the trial anyway, so being offered a plea bargain of, say, only having to serve two years in prison would probably seem like a good option, having the certainty that they would not risk spending a longer time in prison.
It doesn't seem like a 'mistake' to me. Cause of death was described by the county Coroner as “compressional and positional asphyxia due to prone face-down restraint on a paramedic transportation cot/stretcher by tightened straps across the back". The man required medical help because he was suffering from withdrawal symptoms from alcohol. If they were afraid he was going to vomit, they should have placed him on his side in the 'recovery' position. If that wasn't possible, they should have placed him lying down on his back and if he had vomited, they could have rolled him over on his side. There was no medical reason to place him face down. From one of the articles: "In a video, one of the EMT's was recorded saying: "Sit up," she says. "You know what, I am not playing. Sit up. Quit acting stupid. Sit up. Sit up now. I am not playing with you tonight." "You’re gonna have to walk cause we ain’t carrying you," she adds. This man died in their care. They were verbally abusive towards him. They would not help him get to the stretcher. They directly caused his death by placing him in a position that caused him to asphyxiate. It wasn’t just a simple mistake. As paramedics, they knew better than to tightly strap a person in the prone position. They should have been monitoring his breathing as well because that's their job. Not a mistake. What kind of punishment does this behaviour deserve? Gross negligence is not a 'mistake'.
It may have been likely that the man was being extremely unruly, acting erratic and crazy, and perhaps they did not feel safe or comfortable being so close next to him in the ambulance without him being restrained. You have to think about why they restrained him. Why do you think the police had been called? Maybe he was spitting or screaming at them. That would be an understandable reason why they might have positioned him face-down.
You can't blame them for a death because they were being verbally abusive. This is from the coroner's report: "The unclothed body is that of an adult, well-developed and well-nourished male, weighting 184 points..." Sounds like the patient had a strong muscular build and was fairly heavy. Helps explain why they may have been reluctant to want to have to carry him in the stretcher, and why they may have had some reason to be concerned about their own safety or ability to control the patient. The coroner's report found high levels of alcohol and marijuana in the body. The report also said that the cause of death was "in the setting of lethargy and chronic alcoholism", suggesting that the patient likely would not have died in that situation if it had not been for the effects of the alcohol on the body.
They could have restrained him lying on his back, stop making excuses for their unprofessional and dangerous behaviour. It's almost like your speculations are for the reason of excusing their gross negligence. There was a video of this incidence nobody mentioned that the man was spitting or screaming at them. The police were there, they could have helped get him on the gurney lying on his back. I wasn't blaming them for the death because they were verbally abusing him. That was to exemplify the unprofessional behaviour they were engaging in. It doesn't matter how big he was. The police had to help him because the EMT refused. Nothing in the video shows that the EMT's couldn't help him from the various reports. These words: "Sit up," she says. "You know what, I am not playing. Sit up. Quit acting stupid. Sit up. Sit up now. I am not playing with you tonight." "You’re gonna have to walk cause we ain’t carrying you," she adds." indicate that he was lying on the ground. She didn't say stop yelling, stop spitting etc etc. There is not one indication that he was being violent. And seriously, are you kidding, you are excusing the wilful and obvious negligence of two supposed professionals because the man was an alcoholic. He died because two morons placed him on his stomach, restrained him too tightly, and obviously didn't even monitor to see if he was breathing properly. In a compassionate world, medics are supposed to treat people with respect no matter their life circumstances.
