** UK medic suspended from practicing after bizarre detour
** Memphis, Tennessee ambulance patient killed after jumping from ambulance, hit by car
UNITED KINGDOM NEWS
** A former East Midlands paramedic has been suspended from practicing for 12 months after inexplicably stopping three times while transporting a 21-year-old seizure patient to the wrong hospital. That is the word from The Burton Mail (A Musgrove/October 14) which said Shane Kennedy was handed the decision late last week after a 30 minute tribunal. Evidence given at hearing found Kennedy made two four minutes stops and one lasting 26 minutes. Kennedy was unable to explain this or why he only turned his EMS unit’s sirens on three minutes before arriving at the wrong hospital. His actions have also come under scrutiny by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) in regards to a call involving a 74-year-old woman. In that instance, Kennedy allegedly failed to attend on the female seizure/diabetic patient, preferring instead to talk football with the woman’s husband. He also discussed his own medical maladies. An HCPC spokesman said Kennedy’s suspension period would give him time to reflect on his actions. He left the employ of the East Midlands Ambulance Service in July of 2015.
UNITED STATES NEWS
** A Tennessee man from Memphis is dead after a Saturday incident in which he jumped from a moving ambulance and then was swiftly hit by a car. That is the word from Fox 13 (October 16) which said the unidentified 37-year-old died around 8:45 p.m. on the I-240 where it meets with Highway 385. According to the news service, the driver of the vehicle that struck the man has been taken into custody. Although there is no definitive word on whether or not he will be charged in relation to the accident, Warren Ricks, 39, was nabbed on outstanding felony warrant DUI charges.
