LODD in Suburban Philly

[spenac]

I am looking forward to getting more details on this. Based on the story, we have no idea what happened.

What is does show is that this is a veteran, trained as a Tactical Medic, so he should be fully aware of potential hazards. Clearly he was caught totally off guard by whatever happened to him.

Despite experience and training, sometimes we can get complacent, so it does serve as notice that we ALWAYS need to be vigilant.

Many tactical medic programs are less inclusive than the joe blow concealed carry class. There are only a couple of programs in the USA that should be truly called a Tactical Medic course. Plus as a tactical medic he more than anyone else should have known you do not go up against someone alone which is what he did. He should have waited for backup to arrive then become part of the team to take this mentally unstable person down. Experienced providers know going to as this was dispatched to a mental call that the patient will be unpredictable and thus more dangerous than most people.

Sadly it still seems he got tunnel vision or a super man complex and tried to do what should have been left to the cops.

Lets all learn not to get tunnel vision and to think safety above all else.

[Chief1C]

http://www.phillyfirenews.com/content/homepage Edited March 8, 2010 by 4c6

[Richard B the EMT]

4C6 posted a link to more recent information, which now shows he had a heart attack. Other links there show he suffered a head injury. Did he hit his head, falling from the heart attack, or what?

I'll wait for further information, but I do extend condolences to his wife and 2 kids, and the extended family of the agencies he worked with.

[FireMedic65]

So terrible to hear about things like this... RIP!

[Chief1C]

http://connect.jems.com/forum/topics/pennsylvania-paramedic

News Reporting Fail.

[brentoli]

I am all about discussing incidents in order to grow ourselves. Monday morning QB'ing is the best way to learn mistakes not to make. However, when death is involved, like it was yesterday maybe sometimes it is best to wait. Just a little bit.

Imagine being this medic's wife, or mother, and coming across our board talking about how wrong he was in his choices. We need to learn from others mistakes, yes, but we also should show compassion in doing so. This is a great example of how you can't trust the media either. First report was a stabbing, then a confrontation, then head injuries, now an MI.

Just some things to think about, ya'll.

[FireMedic65]

I definitely agree. How else can we learn from our mistakes, or others for that matter. Regardless of the situation, this can/could happen to any one of us. Still a very sad thing to hear. Maybe a bit "too soon" to discuss in regards to his friends and loved ones, but the sooner we, the others in the profession discuss this the better. We need to be more aware of our situations, both personal health and environment in the work place. Really sucks though that we have to learn from this kind of example though.

[spenac]

If we do not discuss while fresh sadly his death will be forgotten and no one will benefit from it. Regardless of what killed him the simple fact is he was exceeding his job in that he was pursuing a known mental patient when hes stabbed, or hit, or just collapsed. Why was he doing the police job when he was at the EMS job at the time?

[brentoli]

Ill say it again like a broken record....

We need a journal that follows up and commissions ems lodd reports like niosh does for the fire service. So much more coujld be learned that way.