Monday, August 27, 2012

** UK medic facing ban from profession after declining to treat female patient he said was already dead

** Toronto report on fire/EMS amalgamation expected this fall

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** September 5th has been set as the date on which a Clayhall paramedic, who declined to treat an elderly collapsed patient, will learn whether he can continue to practice EMS. The Redbridge News (Melanie Attlesey/August 23) said the Health Professions Council will meet next month to render its judgment after finding Alan Clark, 63, guilty of misconduct at a June hearing. According to the newspaper, Clark was hailed on Christmas Day 2010 to treat a 93-year-old woman who had become ill at an area care home. Despite heart activity being still present, he declined for 10 minutes to defibrillate the woman because he said she was already dead. He told the hearing he was unnerved by the presence of the woman’s family. An EMS practitioner for 30 years, he was also a warden at an area church. The female patient, meanwhile, died shortly after the EMS call.

CANADA NEWS

** A report on whether or not Toronto’s fire and EMS services should merge will be ready for presentation this fall. That is the word from the National Post (Nathalie Alcoba/August 24) which said a city manager is preparing the tome. According to the newspaper, the investigation follows the finding of a group of consultants hired by the city who said amalgamation would save money. Although he remains relatively tight lipped on the subject, Fire Chief Jim Sales did not discount it out of hand. At a media event late last week, Sales said he is open at looking at different ways of building a better emergency model with potentially fewer staff. Sales, who is a native of northern Alberta, previously worked as fire chief in both Edmonton and Markham, Ontario.