Protecting Paramedics.......from the OHP?

[patric]

Last week Gov. Brad Henry signed legislation to protect medical personnel from assaults, creating a felony charge against anyone who assaults an emergency medical care provider or emergency medical technician who is performing medical care duties.
The penalty would be up to two years in prison under the new law.

So was it just jealousy or irony that the first ones to assault paramedics under the new law would be members of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol?

OHP Trooper Scuffle Caught On Videotape
Posted: May 27, 2009 7:11 AM CDT Updated: May 27, 2009 10:46 AM CDT
http://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=10428746

BOLEY, OK -- Oklahoma Highway Patrol troopers get into a fight with a paramedic and it is all caught on videotape.

The incident happened near Boley in Okfuskee County.
In the video, you see OHP troopers pushing the paramedic and grabbing his neck.

The fight happened during an emergency call when a patient waiting to be taken to the local hospital was in the back of the ambulance.

Officials say OHP troopers became upset after the paramedic failed to yield while the troopers were rushing to a call of their own.
The troopers claim the paramedic assaulted one of them before the camera started rolling.

The video was shot by the patient's son. He says he continually asked the troopers to stop, so his mom could be taken to the hospital.
"We're like telling this dude. 'Man, my mom is in the back.' My step-dad was like 'man my wife is in the back, can we do this at the hospital,'" said Kenyada Davis.

KTUL adds this:
"This highway patrolman pulled over my mom's ambulance because he was mad we didn't pull over and he's trying to arrest the EMT from taking my mother to the hospital," Davis is seen saying on the recording.

Davis continues to record as first, one trooper can be seen talking to one of the paramedics. A couple of minutes later, another trooper is seen confronting another paramedic and attempting to arrest him. The paramedic can be seen shoving the trooper at which time the scuffle breaks out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCw0XjHNzZ4

[custosnox]

What get's me is OHP is pissed off because they didn't yeild since OHP was heading to a call, however, the call seemed to be less important then the ambulance yielding.

I hope they get the full sentence.  Set an example for once.

[patric]

What get's me is OHP is pissed off because they didn't yeild since OHP was heading to a call, however, the call seemed to be less important then the ambulance yielding.

Apparently the OHP's call was so urgent that they forgot all about it to pick a fight with the paramedics.
To be fair, though, this is the sort of inflated sense of self-importance you get with any patronage job.

[cannon_fodder]

The troopers claim the paramedic assaulted one of them before the camera started rolling.

Oh, cool.  Choke away man.

This is the excuse most often given by children.

[patric]

[patric]

The paramedics incident report:

http://www.fox23.com/media/news/b/4/4/b4451728-7467-47c5-b259-3ebd3e9b0e10/Ambulance_Incident_Reports.pdf

Most alarming about this is that trooper Daniel Martin stated that he "determined in his mind to escalate to pulling his service revolver and using deadly force" on the ambulance crew.

Wow, just wow.

[rwarn17588]

If the OHP is in the wrong, I find it deeply ironic that the incident of a white cop choking a black man occurred in the town of Boley, a town that was established for blacks escaping the oppression of the Jim Crow South after the Civil War.

[Conan71]

Oh, cool.  Choke away man.

This is the excuse most often given by children.

Of course assault is as simple as calling someone an A-hole, not taking a swing at them.  Anyone care to chime in on what the pecking order is for emergency vehicles running hot?  This is truly weird and I think the troopers effed up big-time.

I see a $$$ettlement($) coming.

[guido911]

Of course assault is as simple as calling someone an A-hole, not taking a swing at them.  Anyone care to chime in on what the pecking order is for emergency vehicles running hot?  This is truly weird and I think the troopers effed up big-time.

I see a $$$ettlement($) coming.

Any word on the ambulance chasers chasing this ambulance worker?

[custosnox]

Of course assault is as simple as calling someone an A-hole, not taking a swing at them.  Anyone care to chime in on what the pecking order is for emergency vehicles running hot?  This is truly weird and I think the troopers effed up big-time.

I see a $$$ettlement($) coming.

I haven't seen anything that says the ambulance was running hot, just that they had someone in the back.  Did I miss that?

[patric]

Of course assault is as simple as calling someone an A-hole, not taking a swing at them.  Anyone care to chime in on what the pecking order is for emergency vehicles running hot?  This is truly weird and I think the troopers effed up big-time.

I see a $$$ettlement($) coming.

And I see the taxpayers having to pick up the tab for OHP again.

Kotv is reporting that the OHP claims the paramedic stepped out of the ambulance, assaulted Trooper Daniel Martin and then stepped back in again, and that this is all on OHP's dashcam tape.

Now dont most people who "assault" OHP end up cuffed face down in asphalt with their teeth kicked out and their ribs being broken?  But this guy just walks away?  Sorry, not buying it.

My bet is that OHP brass is plotting on how they can arrest the paramedics and witnesses for perjury like they have done in the past, and that the video shot on publicy-owned equipment by publicly-funded state employees will never be public record (at least in an unadulterated form).

[buckeye]

Unbelievable.

[dbacks fan]

I haven't seen anything that says the ambulance was running hot, just that they had someone in the back.  Did I miss that?

I have been wondering the same thing. If the ambulance is running hot I would think it would have the right of way over a law enforcement vehicle. If not I think it would be the other way around.

[cannon_fodder]

I agree on the assessment of right of way. What important call was OHP on that they had time to stop an ambulance on the way and harass them anyway?  But, it is a non-issue. 

When the trooper was informed that the ambulance had a patient in the back the proper course of action would be to take down the information and call the paramedic supervisor and handle the problem.  The course of action they chose resolved nothing and endangered everyone on the scene (including a person in the back of the ambulance) as well as sucking a ton of public resources (and further endangering the public or whomever was calling the OHP).

Even if it was a citizen the proper course of action would NOT have been to choke the person up against his vehicle.

I do not believe the OHP's story about an assault on the officer.  My guess is they are claiming the near collision as an assault.  Show me the video or face up to the assault charges that should be filed against these OHP officers.

Thank the gods for citizens with cameras. Now, OHP, show some integrity and face up to this cluster.  Or circle the wagons and pretend it never happened . . .

[Townsend]

Now, OHP, show some integrity and face up to this cluster.  Or circle the wagons and pretend it never happened . . .

Hmmm, let me gaze into my crystal ball...