Monday, September 10, 2012

** UK paramedic who refused to defibrillate patient suspended for 12 months

** Funeral services held for New York paramedic killed in on-the-job MVA

UNITED KINGDOM NEWS

** Twelve months suspension has been set as the punishment for a Clayhall paramedic who refused to defibrillate an elderly female patient because he said she was already dead. That is the word from The Guardian (Melanie Attlesey/September 6) which said the sentence was handed down by the Health Professions Council late last week. According to the newspaper, Alan Clark, who was found guilty of misconduct in June, did eventually attempt to resuscitate the 93-year-old on Christmas Day 2010, but she died shortly afterwards. Originally telling the HPC that following protocols was not his style, he indicated upon sentencing that he would now adhere to them scrupulously. Clark has been on restricted duties since his conviction three months ago. He has worked EMS for 27 years.

UNITED STATES NEWS

** Funeral services were held Friday in New York for a former FDNY paramedic killed late last month in an on-the-job MVA. The Staten Island Advance (Mark D. Stein/September 5) said the commemoration for David Restuccio, 58, who died August 27, took place at Willowbrook’s Matthew Funeral Home. Restuccio, who had retired from the fire department after 25 years of service, was practicing EMS with the Staten Island University Hospital at the time of his death. A 9/11 responder, he had recently become engaged to be married. Colleagues remembered him as a man who had an uncanny ability to make friends.