Fwd: [TEXAS_EMS] Please take a moment and read...

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Can y'all effing believe this post?

Sob. I'm all teary eyed. My fingers are slipping off the keys from the

tears that have fallen upon them from my very own eyes, my personal ones.

They're gittin all pruny too (water follows salt, tears are salty, et cetera).

Let's saddle up and ride boys, rope that goddam DA and hang her from the

nearest Cottonwood tree. Same with that High Shurf. Ak-see-dent Investigator

my ass! Wants a promotion, that's all.

Now, lessee here. Number one, thishere boy was adoin his best to save the

lives of them non-injured patients in that little fender bender. That's whut

we DO, AIN'T IT? This is our mission! Now, ya got to git there 'fore ya kin

save them lives, so put the pedel to the metal, and git there. People that

cain't hear that sireen and see them twinklees deserve whut they git, in my

very humble Boy Scout opinion.

Number Two, all them assholes talkin on their cellphones and drivin Mercedes

(gold, yet) are just askin for it. Don't make no difference to them whether

there's a amlance commin or a PO-lice car or Fahr truck. They don't pay no

tension, so bygod teach em a lesson.

Now, this here's a little bit of a problem, but not much. OK, so the

company says IT'S OK TO GO 15-20 MPH through a red lite. Now, everbody knows

that the average person speeds jist a leetle bit. See, them speed limits don't

AKSHUALLY mean to drive that speed. Everbody's got a GOD GIVEN RIGHT to add

a little to the speed limit. I don't fer a minnit thank that 60 mph into an

intersection is at all wrong. That's only 3 times the company's SUGGESTED

limit, and I do emphasize SUGGESTED! Work rules are suggestions. Just like

stop signs in Mexico. Hell, ALTO really means YIELD if YOU ABSOLUTELY HAVE

TO, and ALTO TOTAL means, ok, stop if it seems like the thang to do at the time

and you cain't beat everbody else through the intersection.

Now us amlance drivers have the extreme welfahr of all citizens here in our

shirt pockets right over our hearts. Those of us who wuz Boy Scouts have a

whole lot of it. And those of us who have wanted to be amlance drivers all our

lives frum age 3 on up ought to have a bunch of " get out of jail free " cards

in our pockets. Cuz we have the BEST INTENSHUNS IN THE WORLD! We're GOOD

PEOPLE.

This boy ain't never gonna be able to drive a amlance agin, jist becaws he

wiped out a GOMER talkin on a CELLPHONE in a MERCEDES who happened to think that

becaws he had the green light he had the unmitigated right to turn into a

lane that was open goin in his direction. SHEEiiiiT. Whut is this world

acomin to? Snif. Sorry. My E-Motions done overcome me.

This boy needs all the hep he kin git. Everbody write his little lawyerette

and tell her how we drive way over the speed limit ever day and blow thru

interesections against the red lite to save them uninjured folks. Now, her

point is that the configuration of the roadway would not permit her client to

have

been doin 60 mph an instant before impact. GREAT POINT! Pleeze write her

and tell her that on straight roadways there's NO WAY that anybody can drive

a amlance on it at 60 mph because of " configuration. " Now that'll have a lot

of weight with the idiots who cain't git off the jury.

And also pleeze write her and tell her that, hell, even if he wuzn't agoin

exactly 60, 35-40 through the intersection is well within the limits uv good

amlance drivin. Let her know that y'all have, whenever possible, shot thru

intersections at 100 mph, but only if yer amlance had a Federal Q2, which is GUA

R-anteed to stop all traffic.

This boy deserves our best efforts to keep his non-repentent ass out of jail.

We need to write as many bogus justifications for drivin through

intersections against red lights at highway speeds as we kin manufacture.

If he goes down, thank what it means fer the rest uv us! No more shootin

through intersections at ramming speed; no more wild rides in opposing lanes; no

more..........oh gosh, forgive me, I cain't go on...... the emotion of it has

overcame me.

'Scuze me. I need to throw up.

Gene Gandy, JD, LP

Resident Crying Towel Wrangler

Department of Rationalization

Republic of Fruits and Nuts

>

>

> Dear EMS Friends:

>

> By now many people have asking about all the details regarding my

> accident and are now aware of the severity of the situation. If you

> have no clue as to what I am talking about, please take a moment to

> read the front page article at www.ocregister.com and search for Matt

> Swan, [This was the worst day of my life] article.  If there is a

> problem I have attached it as a word document.

>

> I wanted to write and thank everyone from all over the country that

> have been calling me and offering support; it really means a lot to

> me.  Some of you I have not spoken to in years and others it was just

> yesterday; it really means so much to me.

>

> For some of you I can imagine what a shock it was for you reading that

> for the first time.  Those of you that were aware of the details, I

> thank you for your assistance in writing character reference letters

> for my autobiography.  It has been completed and presented to the

> District Attorney.

>

> With everyone's continued thoughts and prayers I am hopeful that this

> ordeal will soon pass.  Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your

> thoughts and prayers.  Your support means so much to me.

>

> Now that everything has been made public, we are hoping that the

> District Attorney overseeing this will make an offer to possibly

> dismiss or at least lower the charges.  Between the community's

> support and opinion articles that have been written to the paper since

> Sunday's article, this may inspire the DA to do something.  This is a

> terribly unfortunate situation for everyone involved and I truly feel

> for everyone that has been affected by this. 

>

> If I could, please, ask each and everyone one of you a favor.  Some of

> you may not have been in contact with me for some time whereas for

> others, we talk daily.  This e-mail is being sent to Arrowmen,

> friends, family and citizens all over the country to humbly ask for

> you support by writing a paragraph or just a brief comment about your

> feelings after reading the article.  It does not need to be lengthy,

> but just some brief comments expressing your feelings.  My attorney

> has suggested that it can only help the case if we were to receive

> many responses.  I would appreciate any effort made on my behalf

> during this very difficult time.

>

> If you could send these to the attorney's handling my case,

> Keller at jkeller@... and Crawford at

> denisecrawford@..., with a copy to me.  This would be greatly

> appreciated.  If you have some time to do it right now, please, just

> take a minute to respond - in the end this could make a huge

> difference.  All e-mails we receive will be given to the District

> Attorney and Judge handling the case.

>

> My attorney has commented that this case could have statewide

> implications and some people who have responded are offering their

> support to get this issue further publicized.  The attorney's are

> looking into this.  Feel free to forward this to as many people as

> possible; a friend of yours is a friend of mine.  Again, the more

> responses we get, the better this will be.  There has been a

> tremendous amount of support from everyone so far, and if you could

> just go one step further I would truly appreciate your help.

>

> Friends, Family, Loved Ones, Scouts and Scouters, Arrowmen, and

> everyone that I have met over the years,

>

> Thank you!

>

> Yours in Service,

>

> T. Swan

> Dana Point, CA 92629

> swnby@...

>

>

> **PLEASE FORWARD TO OTHER PEOPLE WHO YOU FEEL MIGHT WRITE A RESPONSE

> TO THIS.

>

> -----------------------------------------------

>

> Sunday, December 12, 2004

> 'That was the worst day of my life'

> Ambulance driver's sudden decision leaves two Dana Point families

> forever changed.

> By LARRY WELBORN

> The Orange County Register

> With siren blaring and red lights flashing, ambulance driver

> Swan sped north up Pacific Coast Highway on a Code 3 call: injury

> accident near the Festival of Arts in Laguna Beach.

> The 20-year-old driver came upon a red light and a traffic jam at

> Monarch Bay Plaza and made a split-second decision. He crossed over a

> double yellow line and into a lane used by oncoming cars.

> In less time than it takes to scream, Swan went from Eagle Scout and

> life-saver to life-taker and criminal defendant.

> Because at the same time Swan decided to take the merge lane, retired

> banker Ralph Earl Bellville made the same decision to enter the lane

> on a green light - from the opposite direction.

> Swan's ambulance and Bellville's near-new Mercedes Benz collided in

> the middle of the intersection in a thundering crash. The momentum of

> the four-ton ambulance tore into the driver's side door of the

> Mercedes with ferocity in what accident reconstruction experts call

> the point of maximum engagement.

> It means that all the crumpling and crushing of metal that was going

> to happen had happened.

> But the wreckage to the lives of the drivers and their families was

> only beginning.

> Bellville, who had been married to the love of his life for 49 years,

> was killed instantly. And his death at age 77 would lead to an even

> more heart- breaking tragedy for his family in the days to come.

> Swan, who was on the fast track for a career in emergency medicine,

> survived, but his back was severely injured. That condition will

> prevent him from working with patients in the future. And the decision

> he made on March 23, 2003, could lead to an even more devastating blow

> to his future.

> On March 11, 2004 - almost a year after the fatal crash - the Orange

> County District Attorney's Office charged Swan with felony vehicular

> manslaughter with gross negligence - the first driver of an emergency

> vehicle ever charged in Orange County Superior Court with a crime for

> an accident in the line of duty. A pre-trial hearing on his case

> scheduled for Friday was postponed until January. If convicted, Swan

> would face a maximum of 12 years in prison.

> Deputy District Attorney Yvette Patko contended that Swan was

> negligent, reckless and careless when he drove the ambulance at a high

> rate of speed into opposing traffic.

> " It's hard not to think about the accident, " Swan said in a recent

> interview.

> 'i just want to help'

> When Swan was 5 years old, he rolled his bike out of a

> neighbor's driveway and was struck by a car driven by a 16-year-old

> neighbor. He spent several days in the hospital but recovered from his

> injuries.

> It was that incident that spawned his interest in emergency medicine

> as a career.

> While his younger brother excelled in team sports, became

> interested - or more like dedicated - to individual achievements

> through the Scouting program. He earned more than 60 merit badges. He

> accomplished the Arrow of Light, Cub Scouting's highest honor.

> And then he achieved his goal of becoming an Eagle Scout - the top Boy

> Scout honor - before he entered high school.

> As part of his project to become an Eagle Scout, Swan wrote about his

> ambition: " There are many things I would like to do in my life, " the

> straight-A student wrote. " I do not want to be wealthy. ... I just

> want to help other people at all times. "

> At Dana Hills High School, Swan ran track, played clarinet in the

> honor band, played the piano, and continued active participation in

> Scouting.

> He was one of those teens who never gave his parents a reason to

> worry. When he was out until 2 a.m. on weekends, it was because he was

> giving free rides to his classmates who partied too much, recalls Jeff

> Swan, his father.

> Swan also volunteered to work in the emergency room at South

> Coast Hospital, where he sometimes put in 18 to 20 hours a weekend.

> And when he applied for a job with Doctors Ambulance Service, he was

> hired on the spot. A year later, Swan's life intersected with

> Ralph Bellville's.

> " That was the worst day of my life, " Swan said recently. " Really, my

> life stopped on that day. "

> He underwent physical therapy for more than a year trying to recover

> from the back injuries that he sustained in the crash. He will live

> the rest of his life with three bulging discs that prevent him from

> lifting patients or other strenuous physical activity.

> He is undergoing counseling with a psychiatrist for depression and

> post-traumatic stress.

> He split up with his girlfriend of six years and now spends most of

> his time alone.

> Although he is suffering from depression, Swan is still interested in

> pursuing a career helping others in medicine. He has enrolled in the

> School of Allied Health Professionals at Loma University, and he

> hopes to have a career as a hospital administrator or a teacher.

> " He has not lost his passion for a career in the health and medicine

> field, " his father wrote. " We are thankful for that because we know he

> has much more to contribute. "

> always together

> Ralph Bellville was serving his stint in the Army in the early 1950s

> when he met Krista Ranftl, a brown-haired beauty who became the love

> of his life.

> Bloss, 63, of Westlake Village, said her mother met her future

> husband when she was taking English lessons in her native Austria at

> the same small language school where Bellville was taking German

> lessons. Both achieved their goals, although her mom always spoke

> English with a thick accent while her future stepfather learned to

> speak German flawlessly.

> " My mother told me that she had noticed this handsome man and she

> approached him, and they suggested they go out for coffee, " Bloss said.

> Soon the couple were in love. In 1954, they married. " It was unusual

> for a man to marry a woman with two young children, " Bloss said. " But

> he didn't mind. "

> The new family lived in Austria for a while, then Spain, then Chicago,

> where her stepfather was a bank executive, and finally Los Angeles. In

> 1989 or 1990, Ralph and Krista Bellville retired to Dana Point. The

> couple also spent six months a year in Krista's native Austria.

> " They really didn't need anyone else, " Bloss said. " They never went

> anyplace alone. Whenever he went some place, she would go also. "

> When Krista Bellville had a doctor's appointment, Ralph would go along

> too, for moral support, Bloss said. On the rare occasions when

> Bellville went to a business meeting as a banking consultant, her

> mother made it a ritual to walk outside with him and wave goodbye as

> he drove off.

> In 1985, Bellville wrote a message to his fellow graduates in the

> Class of 1950 from Harvard University, where he said he was fortunate

> to have had a career that was more than satisfying, and " a wife who

> has made marriage all that it was ever meant to be. "

> " They were really in love, " Bloss said.

> So it was unusual that Ralph would be alone in his new Mercedes-Benz

> on a run for errands on the day he died.

> " My stepfather wanted to go out to buy some vitamins for their trip

> back to Austria, but my mom wasn't ready to go yet, " Bloss said. " So

> Ralph went alone. "

> Her mother, she said, was so busy with the dishes that she didn't even

> make it outside to wave her customary goodbye to her husband.

> Although his trip was only supposed to take a few minutes - time

> enough to drop off a roll of film, buy some chicken for dinner and the

> vitamins - Ralph still called home on his cell phone to assure his

> wife that he would be home soon.

> " They were always in touch, " Bloss said. He called at 3:30 and said he

> had the vitamins and was on his way.

> But at 3:42 p.m., Ralph Bellville was dead.

> 'broken heart'

> Klaus Griletz, 65, of Buffalo Grove, Ill., flew to Orange County to

> pay his respects at the funeral of Ralph Bellville, his stepfather,

> and to comfort his mother, Krista Bellville, and his younger sister,

> Bloss.

> " My mother was telling me, 'I can't live without Ralph; I miss him so

> much,' " Griletz remembered. " I said, 'Mom, come on, live on. You have

> your daughter and you have me.' "

> A few days later, Bloss drove her older brother to the airport

> for his return trip to Chicago after Ralph's funeral.

> When Bloss returned to the Dana Point home that her mother had shared

> with her stepfather for so many years, she found Krista Bellville dead

> on the kitchen floor. Her mother, 85, had suffered a massive heart attack.

> " She couldn't handle life without him, " Bloss said. " She died of a

> broken heart. "

> Griletz learned about his mother's sudden death when he landed at

> O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. He got on another plane the

> next day and flew back to Orange County - this time for his mother's

> funeral.

> opposing views

> On March 23, 2003, Shane Cantola of Dana Point had a front-row seat

> for the collision between the ambulance and the Mercedes.

> He was behind the wheel of his classic 1976 Ford Ranchero pickup

> sitting at a red light in the southbound lane waiting to turn left

> into the Monarch Beach shopping center.

> Cantola testified that he stopped on a yellow light because he saw the

> ambulance coming at him and he didn't want to race it through the

> intersection. And then he was mortified to see an elderly driver

> entering the intersection from his left in a gold Mercedes Benz.

> The elderly driver had his windows rolled up, and he was talking into

> a cell phone and looking to his right - away from the oncoming

> ambulance, Cantola testified.

> " I saw the ambulance coming up the hill, flashing lights, " Cantola

> said. " I already knew what was going to happen. The ambulance was

> coming fairly fast. The guy (Bellville) is going to pull right out in

> front of the ambulance ... and it is going to be all over. "

> Cantola said he desperately tried to get Bellville's attention by

> beeping his horn and pointing at the oncoming ambulance. " But he just

> looked beyond me, " Cantola said.

> " I knew by the time he turned that the ambulance was going to hit him.

> And I knew I was going to be impacted, " Cantola said. " All I heard was

> a crash. I was part of that crash. "

> The Mercedes-Benz was knocked 145 feet down the road by the force of

> the impact. It rammed into Cantola's Ranchero and kept spinning down

> the road.

> Cantola suffered serious head injuries.

> " I don't like cell-phone drivers, " Cantola said. " But at the time I

> thought it was the Mercedes' fault because the sirens were going and

> the lights were flashing and he should have been able to see it. "

> Orange County Deputy Sheriff Kent Boots disagrees.

> Boots, a sheriff's deputy for more than 18 years, has completed more

> than 1,000 hours of accident investigation and reconstruction training.

> He testified in September at Swan's preliminary hearing that he did

> damage profiles of both vehicles, measured skid marks and gouge marks,

> and took an inventory of debris at the accident site.

> Boots testified that after compiling that data, he determined that a

> millisecond before the point of maximum engagement, Swan was driving

> the ambulance at a speed in excess of 60 mph.

> Any ambulance driver racing through the intersection on a red light at

> that speed was not showing proper legal concern for the safety of

> other drivers, Boots testified.

> Keller, Swan's attorney, said Boot's conclusion is erroneous.

> It would have been impossible for Matt to be going 60 mph under those

> circumstances because of the configuration of the road, Keller insists.

> Other witnesses, she added, guessed his speed at 40 to 45 miles per

> hour before the intersection, and then he slowed down even further as

> he came upon the traffic.

> " He slowed way down, looked carefully at the intersection, thought it

> was clear, and then he gunned it, " Keller said, " And then almost

> instantaneously, he saw the Mercedes and it was too late. "

> Swan, she said, " was doing what ambulance drivers do. When they come

> up on a wall of cars, they slow down and go around the wall as best as

> they can, so they can get down the road and save someone's life. "

> She argued in September at Swan's preliminary hearing that Bellville

> didn't hear the sirens or see the flashing lights because he was

> driving with his windows rolled up while talking on his cell phone.

> " He was preoccupied, " Keller told Judge Everett Dickey. " That's what

> caused the accident. "

> Keller declined to let Swan talk about the accident while his criminal

> case is pending. But he told sheriff's deputies on the day of the

> accident that it was his understanding that Doctors Ambulance company

> policy permitted him to go through an intersection against a red light

> at 15 to 20 mph as long as it was safe. And he admitted that he might

> have been going faster than that - perhaps 30 to 35 mph when he first

> saw Bellville's Mercedes coming at him.

> But he still insisted that he was driving safely, with regard to

> fellow drivers on Pacific Coast Highway.

> Garden Grove Fire Marshal Bertka, a 25-year veteran firefighter,

> said no one in his department can remember any other incident where an

> emergency driver was accused of a crime.

> " I feel for the kid, " Bertka said. " He was trying to get to somebody

> in the ambulance to render aid and he has this horrible accident. But

> even though you want to hurry to be able save someone's life, you

> still have to abide by the safety precautions, and you still have to

> use common sense. "

> Ambulance drivers - like firefighters, police and paramedics - are

> given an exemption to traffic laws when they are on legitimate

> emergency calls. They are permitted to drive faster than the speed

> limit, for example, when it is safe to do so.

> Intersections are the tricky parts for emergency vehicles, especially

> when the light is red and traffic is backed up, Bertka said.

> " We require our drivers to come to a stop or at least a near stop, "

> the fire marshal said. " They are supposed to look both ways, and they

> should try to make eye contact with any other drivers before proceeding. "

> And then the driver is supposed to inch into the intersection cautiously.

> Emergency drivers are also allowed to cross into opposing traffic to

> get around traffic, " but only when it is safe, " Bertka said.

> " We can only request the right-of-way, not demand it, " he said. " If a

> pass cannot be made safely, we shut down. We do not want to force

> other drivers into the intersection so we can get through. We do not

> want other drivers to get hurt. "

> The medical aid call that Swan was rushing to with sirens blaring and

> lights flashing on Laguna Canyon Road turned out to be a non-injury

> fender bender.

> So in that minor collision on Laguna Canyon Road, the drivers

> exchanged insurance information and went on their way.

> But six miles down the road on Pacific Coast Highway, Bellville was

> taken away in a coroner's van.

> In Dana Point, Swan studies emergency medicine and hospital

> procedures and worries about his future. But he does not think he

> should be facing criminal charges.

> " I was just doing my job, going on an emergency call, and we were

> involved in an accident, " he said. " I am just so very sorry that this

> situation occurred. I send my apologies and condolences to Mr.

> Bellville's family. "

> In Westlake Village, Bloss still mourns her mother and stepfather.

> She believes that it is right that Swan is being prosecuted. " He was

> going way too fast, " she said. " He was careless. "

> But in Buffalo Grove, Ill., her brother feels differently. Klaus

> Griletz does not think Swan should face a jury.

> " No, no, I don't blame him for speeding. He was trying to help

> somebody else, " Griletz said. " Accidents happen. Unfortunately this

> one happened to us. "

>

> Please just take a moment to write your fellings about this!

>

> Thank you!!

>

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