Here We Go Again

January 28, 2006

I admit that I have very little EMS experience, but I am having

trouble understanding these squabbles. Why are the cities (La Porte,

and now Texas City) putting the medics themselves in the middle of

these squabbles?

If the cities want to set an example, which is clearly what they were

doing here, why don't they fine the providers heavily?

This seems to be getting ridiculous.

Chris

EMS driver arrested for violating ordinance

By TJ Aulds

The Daily News

Published January 28, 2006

TEXAS CITY — Ambulance driver Ricky picked up an elderly

patient at Mainland Medical Center on Friday and took her home to

Ashton Parke Care Center.

An hour later, the 22-year-old nursing student was in handcuffs.

, an emergency medical technician for Windsor EMS, was charged

with violating Texas City's controversial ambulance provider

ordinance.

After dropped off his patient, he was approached by Texas City

EMS Director Matt , who had followed him from the hospital, and

Fire Marshal Rothrock, the city's public safety code

enforcement officer.

They told him he was going to be cited for violating the ordinance.

The decade-old ordinance was created to regulate ambulance and

Emergency Medical Services in the city.

It provides that only authorized or contracted firms can provide

medical transports within the city limits.

refused to sign the citation, which was actually a hand-written

note from the fire marshal on a fire prevention bureau inspection

sheet.

The resulting argument ended with Rothrock calling for ' arrest.

" I'm in shock — this is entirely ridiculous, " said shortly

after his parents paid a $256 fine to spring him from the city

jail. " I am about helping my patients and treating my patients. Now I

have an arrest on my record. "

said he refused to sign the form from Rothrock because he said

it was written in such a way that he would be admitting guilt. He

also said his bosses encouraged him not to sign.

said he plans to fight the charges in court.

Rothrock said left her no options when he refused to sign the

citation.

" He was on the phone with his boss and basically told me that he was

told not to sign it and `just take me to jail,' " said Rothrock.

said he begged to sign the citation, which would not

have resulted in a fine.

" I didn't want to see anyone arrested — that was not our intent, " he

said.

' boss Lynn said his company, which operates out of an

office on state Highway 3 just north of Dickinson, said the ambulance

was sent because a member of the hospital staff requested a medical

transport.

Mainland Medical Center spokesman Harold Fattig confirmed a " brand

new " staff member had called Windsor requesting the medical

transport. Fattig said the employee was unaware that such a request

had to be routed through the county ambulance service dispatch.

Fattig said no one at Windsor informed the nurse that the company was

restricted from providing the service.

" We only found out about this Thursday, " Fattig said. " We have 800

people we have been trying to inform of the process. It is going to

take a while. "

The old ordinance was loosely enforced for the better part of 10

years. Fire Chief Gerald Grimm admitted that enforcement in the past

was limited to letters being sent to firms threatening citations.

That all changed last week when a new EMS system was instituted.

Texas City, La Marque, Dickinson, Hitchcock and the county have

collaborated to form a cooperative ambulance service.

A letter from Grimm to private ambulance operators warned that unless

called on by the new EMS program, they were not allowed to provide

medical transports in the city.

Medical transports are generally nonemergency transfers between

hospitals and nursing homes that require an ambulance.

Medical transports are considered the money-making end of the

ambulance business.

Lynn joined a chorus of ambulance company officials and nursing home

operators during a meeting with Grimm on Thursday criticizing the

program as unfair and undercutting free enterprise.

Friday's incident prompted Grimm to accuse Windsor EMS and of

orchestrating his arrest " by refusing to cooperate with a peace

officer in the performance of her duties after witnessing a violation

of law, following several warnings previously issued to the company. "

Lynn called Grimm's accusation " ludicrous " and said his company would

not risk its reputation or employee's welfare by forcing the issue.

January 28, 2006

No, we must thank our city fathers for protecting our citizens from those evil

profit seeking, money grubbing private ambulance services and the mouth

breathing, knuckle dragging minions that work for them.

(For those that don't recognize it, orange level sarcasm mode on. )

Larry RN EMT-P

Houston

" The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but

because he loves what is behind him. " - GK Chesterton

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January 28, 2006

No, we must thank our city fathers for protecting our citizens from those evil

profit seeking, money grubbing private ambulance services and the mouth

breathing, knuckle dragging minions that work for them.

(For those that don't recognize it, orange level sarcasm mode on. )

Larry RN EMT-P

Houston

" The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but

because he loves what is behind him. " - GK Chesterton

---------------------------------

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used cars.

January 28, 2006

It's all boils down to MONEY

January 28, 2006

It's all boils down to MONEY

January 28, 2006

It's all boils down to MONEY

January 28, 2006

> Windsor EMS had received 4 warnings prior to this incident.

> I personnaly was on scene, requesting the EMT to sign a document

> which was only a warning. The signature purly said, " Copy Received

> by:_______________ " and he was advised by his employer not to sign

> the document.

> I spent over an hour and a half trying to get the EMT to

> sign the document but if you commit a crime, and fail to cooperate

> with law enforcement, you must suffer the consequences.

So here's an interesting question: if law enforcement was only

attempting to issue a warning (for which no signature can be required

because a warning isn't a promise to do any particular thing, like

signing a citation is a promise to appear)... what was the medic

actually arrested for? If for Violation of City Ordinance, one could

posit that the VCO arrest was in fact retailatory for refusing to sign

the warning... and could further posit that a person acting in the

capacity of EMS Director was using undue influence or even official

oppression to get the medic to sign a document that shouldn't require

a signature, then arresting the medic for a crime for which a warning

was going to be given in the first place.

Right or wrong, were I the employee of Windsor EMS I'd be hiring a

good attorney to go after the company for putting me in that situation

and providing a false approval number, and after Texas City PD, EMS,

Fire, etc. for their actions as law enforcement and in their official

positions.

If you're going to give a warning, give a warning.

If you're going to give a citation, give a citation.

If you're going to make an arrest, make an arrest.

If you want the deep pockets, cite the company... not the individual

medics. Why on earth these folks are even BOTHERING to go after the

individual medics I have no idea... although if I *WERE* going to go

after the medics, I'd do it with the clear and plain intent of

arresting BOTH of them so that I could impound the ambulance secondary

to arrest. But that's just me...

Mike

January 28, 2006

Matt -

Was the warning being issued on an official warning document? Or was

it, as the article said, a handwritten document on plain paper?

Inquiring minds want to know.

I'm sure you're facing challenges down there being the new

(relatively) service and all, and it sounds like you handled this

better than your neighbors - waiting until the call was complete and

the patient secure at their destination before challenging the

smuggler-EMS service... is there a link to the actual ordinance so we

could take a read and see how yours is structured?

Mike

> it boils down to providing cost effective EMS to the Citizens we are

> paid to provide service for. You don't get to choose the laws you

> have to obey, you just have to obey them. If you don't like the

> speed limit being 65, do you get to just do what you want and drive

> as fast as you want? If you get stopped by DPS, do you get to

> ignore his warnings? If you get beligerent with the officer, are

> you going to jail?

> Matt

>

> >

> > It's all boils down to MONEY

> >

January 28, 2006

I am just curious....What was the medic arrested for? What was the actual

charge? If it was only a warning, he has the right of refusal to sign it. When

you sign a traffic citation all you are doing is signing a " Promise to Appear "

before a magistrate for a court date. If you refuse to sign the promise to

appear then the officer's next course of action is to take you before the

magistrate..ie: arrest you!!!

Secondly, if it was a city ordinance, it could only be a finable offense which

means by taking him to jail, you may have opened yourself up for a serious legal

battle. Now, mind you, if he got belligerent and was acting out to the point of

being disorderly then I can see a disorderly conduct charge. But just refusing

to sign a " warning " is not a criminal act.

And finally, taking a civil matter like this out on a medic who's only concern

is the health and well-being of the citizen he was caring for is just wrong. The

medic couldn't care less about the politics of the company he works for or for

the politics of the cities involved here. He is just trying to do right by the

patient. The company and the city don't care about the patient. All they care

about is who gets the check that medicare will cut to pay for the ride. So why

even mess with the medic that is trying to do what he is trained to do so he can

make his $12 per hour so he can scratch out his living. And now because you and

the company put him in the middle, he might lose his license due to an

unnecessary arrest record. If you were gonna go after anyone you should have had

the company fined for operating without the proper license/permits.

Jim Higginbotham

TX EMT-B/LEO

mpmedics wrote:

it boils down to providing cost effective EMS to the Citizens we are

paid to provide service for. You don't get to choose the laws you

have to obey, you just have to obey them. If you don't like the

speed limit being 65, do you get to just do what you want and drive

as fast as you want? If you get stopped by DPS, do you get to

ignore his warnings? If you get beligerent with the officer, are

you going to jail?

Matt

>

> It's all boils down to MONEY

>

January 28, 2006