Trooper, Paramedic Fight Caught on Tape

[ghurty]

I'm a medic, so of course I am biased, but I am wondering what the LE take on this is.
In my opinion, even with the video, we don't know everything that happened.

EDIT: Here is a thread about it on EMTCity http://www.emtcity.com/index.php?showtopic=15288
http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=10427244

PADEN, Oklahoma -- An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper and a paramedic were caught on tape scuffling Sunday while a patient was being taken to the hospital.

The fight happened on Highway 62, near Paden, after a OHP and first responders argued over a close call on the road.

OHP alleges that one of the paramedics on the video assaulted the trooper, but the assault was not caught on tape.

"We're like trying to tell the guy, 'Dude, my mom is in the back,' and my stepdad was like, 'My wife is in the back. Can we do this at the hospital?'" said Kenyada Davis.

Kenyada Davis' mother was the woman in the back of the ambulance being treated for heat exhaustion.

He was able to shoot the altercation with his cell phone's camera.

Davis said it all started because the ambulance failed to yield to OHP troopers, who were en route to a call along highway 62 in Paden.

Davis said the driver of the ambulance was trying to avoid hitting a car that slowed down and wasn't aware of troopers nearby until it was too late.

"He slowed down, and as the car was getting over, that's when he passed us," Davis said. "I didn't hear him."

But after OHP troopers finished their official business, they pulled the Creek Nation ambulance over. One of the troopers chided Paul for failing to yield.

Once the ambulance was pulled over, Davis pulled out his phone and shot video of the scene.

Watch the full video of the altercation between the trooper and first responders.

According to the OHP, the paramedics assaulted the trooper just before the fight broke out.

"It didn't look like it was being handled very well, at least form the tape I saw from the troopers' standpoint," said NEWS 9 Legal Analyst Irven Box.

The entire scene, including the alleged assault was captured on dash cam video and has not been released.

The Okfuskee County District Attorney's office is reviewing all of the footage and could file criminal charges against the paramedic by the end of the week.

[wirefire2]

Let's see how long it takes for the race card to get pulled on this cluster.

[unsworninpa104]

oh man, looks like hairy situation because they were transporting a patient.

"OHP alleges that one of the paramedics on the video assaulted the trooper, but the assault was not caught on tape."

Uhhhhh, it was definitely caught on tape because I saw it on the video posted on their website.

Just remember that what anyone says here is is speculation. That's what anyone that discusses this incident's statements are going to be unless they have intimate knowledge of the situation through being there or being apart of either of the involved departments. I just hope you didn't post this to get a knee jerk reaction against the medics so you could bash police. I'm going to assume you didn't because of the way your post is worded but still...anything said here is going to be speculation and probably slightly biased towards the side they associate with.

That being said I'm and EMT and academy graduate. I'm sure there are people here that are EMT's and Police officers so they will have a better viewpoint on this than I will considering I'm not a police officer...

On one side I don't see how you could really justify pulling an ambulance over with a patient in route to the hospital and pulling out the EMTs or Medics for questioning. Way too many things can go wrong both with the health of the patient and with the legal ramifications of interfering with the duties of the medics/EMTs that have a patient in their care. Plus, it can always wait until they transported the patient off at the ER. But as I said above this is speculation but I really can't think of a reason. I wasn't there so I can't say for sure. Plus I don't even know if the troopers pulled the guys over or out of the rig at all because it isn't on video.

On the other side from what is shown on the video the ambulance actually pulled over...that right there shows that the patient wasn't in bad condition. If I'm driving an ambulance and I see red and blues in the mirrors with a patient in bad condition the last thing I'm going to do is pull over. Honestly I would assume they wanted to either get by or clear traffic so we could get to the ER faster. The one medic/EMT was obviously being aggressive and was physically combative after he was told he was under arrest. But most of all the troopers did not arrest the medic/EMT right away. To me, that shows that they knew exactly what the boundaries of their authority were when it came to arresting a medic/EMT that had a patient in their care. You ever see a police officer tell somebody they were under arrest, have them be physically combative, then let them get back in a car and be on their way? No. My guess is that they had an on going problem and did their research to make sure they didn't make any mistakes when they arrested the guy.

All in all it's a bad situation. People in the emergency response field, for the most part, are friends because they see the same things and experience (mostly) the same hardships. I hope this works out well for all parties involved but from my seat it looks like a difficult situation.

[E3CSHARP]

LOL hot headedness is something........ when will it end.

Very unfortunate situation though.

[Deputy2B4Life]

it appeared that the paramedic elbowed one of the troopers as well.. i would have waited to talk to them about it too.. not a roadside brawl..

[pujolsfan146]

No win situation for both parties involved.

[pujolsfan146]

No win situation for both parties involved.

[ford123]

Originally Posted by Deputy2B4Life

it appeared that the paramedic elbowed one of the troopers as well.. i would have waited to talk to them about it too.. not a roadside brawl..

That is what I see as well.

As far as everything else, who knows?

[dualpurpose684]

This whole situation seems like it should have, and could have been avoided.

As a medic, we covered this situation in my field training, and I just assumed it would be the same for other places too.

If I were signaled to pull over by a trooper, I would contact our local state police post via radio, let them know that I acknowledge the trooper behind me, and then tell them what hospital I was going to, what I had on board, and would speak with the trooper after my patient was accepted at the facility. I would then ask my supervisor to come to the hospital as well. I would not however stop my ambulance while running lights/sirens for a traffic contact, if it requires me to run lights/sirens to the hospital, we are not going to be wasting any time getting there. Fortunately we have an excellent working relationship with the police and troopers around here... no matter what we wear on our belts, we're all on the same team!!!

[nobodyjr]

No matter who was right or wrong, I'd make sure if I was a cop in that county, to have a really really good first aid kit.

[Rasmblack]

Originally Posted by nobodyjr

No matter who was right or wrong, I'd make sure if I was a cop in that county, to have a really really good first aid kit.

You are not lying.
+1

[mtxpro752]

I'm sorry but who pulls over an ambulance... then who keeps the paramedics there once realizing that they are transporting a patient. I see getting a little upset they didn't get out of the way of the code response but seriously, how many friggin people do that everyday.

The medic was out of line to but none of it should have happened in the first place.

[GWBJR]

Originally Posted by wirefire2

Let's see how long it takes for the race card to get pulled on this cluster.

About as long as it took you to pull it

[irishdep]

The medic was told he was under arrest and failed to comply, he resisted the troopers and what was on that tape was an assault on the trooper as well as resisting and obstructing( in Michigan).

I think all parties involved will be missing a piece of their rear end when this is over.

Hopefully it doesn't turn into a war between Leo and EMS in that county.

[ISPY4U2]

I saw this on the news earlier yesterday, and it raised a question in my mind: Assuming both are performing their emergency duties and running with lights and sirens, who DOES have the right of way when an ambulance and police cars come across one another like they say happened here? I would assume the police do, but it was a question that came up.

I don't know about the legal ramifications of pulling over an ambulance with a patient, etc etc, but I do know that the ambulance driver took an aggressive step toward the officers, pointing, and then elbowed one while trying to break their grip. Both no-no's. I understand that his adrenaline was probably up too, and he had a patient in the back, but when confronted with angry LEOs, my hands stay at my side unless instructed to do otherwise, and I am NOT going to step toward them unless they tell me to.

[Nobody]

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[NHwedge]

This is said to be the medics reports of the incident

http://www.fox23.com/media/news/b/4/...nt_Reports.pdf

[ZGXtreme]

The ambulance was not running hot. It was a non-emergency transport. Thus, the priority went to OHP as they responded to assist county deputies.

[dbphotos]

Looks like enough unprofessionalism to go around. This confrontation should have happend in the parking lot of the ER after the patient was dropped off.

Can't we all just get along?

[texaschickeee]

this is what happen...

and one or both will hear.....

[bigcop97]

Originally Posted by ISPY4U2

I saw this on the news earlier yesterday, and it raised a question in my mind: Assuming both are performing their emergency duties and running with lights and sirens, who DOES have the right of way when an ambulance and police cars come across one another like they say happened here? I would assume the police do, but it was a question that came up.

I don't know about the legal ramifications of pulling over an ambulance with a patient, etc etc, but I do know that the ambulance driver took an aggressive step toward the officers, pointing, and then elbowed one while trying to break their grip. Both no-no's. I understand that his adrenaline was probably up too, and he had a patient in the back, but when confronted with angry LEOs, my hands stay at my side unless instructed to do otherwise, and I am NOT going to step toward them unless they tell me to.

I always give Fire and Ambulance the right of way during emergency runs... I figure my car is faster and it takes longer for the other vehicles to stop and accelerate and get back up to speed.

I am never going so fast at an intersection that I cant promptly stop when needed... and its only a few seconds difference in my response, that is worth it for safety

[willowdared]

So, lets hear the details on the call OHP was running code to...were they even running code? Seems it was handled pretty quick if they could pull over the ambulance afterwards?

People can die from heat exhaustion.

**edit**

I'm also rather curious about the neck hold?

[ZGXtreme]

Originally Posted by willowdared

So, lets hear the details on the call OHP was running code to...were they even running code? Seems it was handled pretty quick if they could pull over the ambulance afterwards?

Word around here is (as of now) that a deputy was on a contact with two subjects and it had escalated into a physical confrontation and was requesting help.

[exdrip]

same team same team same team!

[Nobody]

[quote=NHwedge;1829395]This is said to be the medics reports of the incident

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