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** Tennessee ambulance crew in Nashville suspended for declaring live patient dead

** Ornge air ambulance in Ontario fined for improperly training pilots

** Six EMS responders in Nashville, Tennessee have been suspended after mistakenly declaring a live patient dead Wednesday. That is the word from KZTV (August 14) which said the 3 a.m. call played out with the gunshot wound victim being left at the scene untreated. According to the news site, the 30-year-old suicide patient had shot himself in the head. Once there, medics hailed a doctor via phone for permission to cease efforts as they said there were no life signs. Forty-eight minutes later, crews left. Two hours afterwards, however, police hailed a second ambulance because the patient was still breathing. As a result of the foul-up, an EMS district chief, a paramedic, and an EMT have all been placed on administrative leave. Three other firefighters have also been benched. As of Thursday morning, the patient remained alive in hospital.

** Ornge air ambulance in Ontario has been fined $8,000 for failing to properly train its pilots. That is the word from The Spectator (Bruce Campion-Smith/August 14) which said the Transport Canada levied penalty resulted from two breaches of Canadian Aviation Regulations. According to the newspaper, one of the failures involved allowing a pilot to fly a Sikorsky S76A chopper without completing controlled flight into terrain avoidance training (CFIT). In the second instance, the pilot in question had not received certification in technical ground training on the aircraft. A spokesman for the company said the fine has been paid and the training deficits remedied. An electronic system has also now been put into place to monitor pilot training and certifications. The tags come just months after the company was accused of 17 health and safety charges in relation to a May 2013 fatal chopper crash. Allegations included improper pilot training and inexperience in night operations.