** Female North Carolina paramedic arrested for allegedly stealing ambulance drugs
** Ornge air ambulance testing night vision goggles in Ontario
UNITED STATES NEWS
** Police in Benson, North Carolina have arrested a paramedic for allegedly stealing medications
from her ambulance service. That is the word from ABC11 (Mickey Lamm/December 31) which said
Melissa Jo Beasley, 27, turned herself in to Johnson County police Thursday. According to the news
site, Beasley has been charged with larceny by an employee and practicing medicine without a licence.
The latter pertains to the accusation that Beasley administered stolen asthma medicine from her
service to her child. Along with Beasley, her boyfriend, Colin William Wilson, 26, was also arrested.
He has been charged with felony conspiracy. Both are now out on bail. Beasley remains under
investigation by Selma police for a similar theft from the EMS service there.
CANADA NEWS
** Ornge air ambulance pilots in Ontario are about to begin testing with night vision goggles.
The Hamilton Spectator (Bruce Campion-Smith/January 4) said the devices are being trialed to
aid in maintaining situational awareness and to prevent disorientation caused by darkness.
According to the newspaper, 11 Sudbury based pilots are currently undergoing training with the
goggles and related equipment. Once the instruction is complete, the trial will last 2-3 months.
A spotlight was put on night operational safety after a fatal 2013 air ambulance accident near
Moosonee. In that instance, the Ornge chopper crashed shortly after takeoff, killing two pilots and
two paramedics. A post-crash assessment by Transport Canada and Human Resources and
Skills Development Canada found that Ornge did not provide proper means to the pilots to permit
them to maintain visual reference during the northern flight. A report by the Transportation Safety
Board of Canada has not yet been released.
