Thursday, January 19, 2012

** Illinois EMT spared jail in drunk driving crash

** Italian EMS personnel in Giglio called to treat cruise ship rescuer suffering from exhaustion

UNITED STATES NEWS

** He may have been fired from his job, but an Illinois EMT escaped jail on drunk driving tags with a two month conditional discharge Wednesday. That is the word from the Chicago Sun Times (Jon Seidel/January 18) which said Thomas A. Gatz, 45, was handed the sentence in Will County. According to the newspaper, Gatz told the judge the prescription sleeping drug Ambien prompted him to get behind the wheel in July 2010. He hit two cars during his trip. One of the passengers suffered a broken arm, while Gatz himself sustained a concussion, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. His blood alcohol level tested at between 0.103 and 0.107. Terminated from his job after the incident, he is not expected to work EMS again.

ITALY NEWS

** Ambulance personnel in Giglio were called to the site of the stricken cruise ship Costa Concordia yesterday after a rescue worker collapsed from exhaustion. The Telegraph (January 18) said the emergency team member was identified as a tug boat captain. According to the newspaper, personnel are racing against time trying to free anyone still trapped inside before the ship falls from its rock shelf into a 130 metre underwater depression. Currently, it is sitting in 20 metres of water. The Costa Concordia ran aground Friday. Eleven people have so far died in the disaster, with a further 21 still missing.(Daily Mail/January 18)