Tuesday, March 15, 2011

** Hawaii man charged after punching female paramedic in face

** Winnipeg EMS to begin charging hospitals for detaining medics at ERs

UNITED STATES NEWS

** A Honolulu man has been charged with second degree assault after he punched a female paramedic attempting to aid him. The Honolulu Star Advertiser (March 11) said the last Wednesday incident played out in the hallway of an apartment complex where the man was lying. When EMS approached the 64-year-old, he let loose a string of obscenities before hauling off and clocking the woman in the face. Transported to Queen Medical Center, the man was not treated for any medical condition;he was deemed, however, to be intoxicated. The paramedic, meanwhile, declined treatment for her injury. Herlip Nowell’s bail has been set at $11,000.

CANADA NEWS

** In an effort to reduce the amount of time medics are tied up in hospital ERs, the city’s EMS chief has decided to charge hospitals for delays longer than 30 minutes. That is the word from the Winnipeg Free Press (Jen Skerritt/March 12) which quoted Jim Brennan as saying the ultimatum to facilities will be issued in April 2012. According to the newspaper, the late fee is similar to one introduced by British Columbia which was able to then cut turnaround times by some 30 per cent. Current average wait times for Winnipeg EMS crews are about 62 minutes.