mahabreta

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news.../0925crash.html. Paramedics punished for not treating crash victim Texas State student was passenger in 2007 wreck in San Antonio. ASSOCIATED PRESS Thursday, September 25, 2008 SAN ANTONIO — The certifications of three San Antonio paramedics who responded to a traffic collision in which a severely wounded woman went untreated for hours have been suspended for six months. The victim, 23-year-old Erica Smith of Austin, was eventually taken to a hospital, where she died. The Texas Department of State Health Services suspended the certifications of Mike Gardner, William Bullock and Jeremy Huntsman beginning Sept. 13, the San Antonio Express-News reported in its Wednesday online editions. After the six-month suspension, they will have a probation period of six months. The agency had considered suspending the paramedics' certifications for one year but reassessed after meeting with them and discussing the fatal crash. The agency also withdrew a proposed reprimand of a fourth paramedic, Michael Collins. "There's just nothing anybody can do to bring Erica back," her mother, Lisa Smith, said. She declined to comment further and referred calls to the family's attorney, Greg Turman of Corpus Christi. Turman couldn't be reached. Carrie Williams, a spokeswoman for the agency, said that the paramedics were cooperative and had no previous disciplinary records. "The medics understand their mistakes and are determined to learn from them," Williams said. Early on Dec. 16, 2007, a Pontiac GS driven by Jenny Ann Ybarra of Seguin veered into oncoming traffic on Loop 410 and collided with a Honda Accord in which Smith, who attended Texas State University-San Marcos, was the front-seat passenger. The Accord driver and a passenger in the back seat both had minor injuries. Ybarra was indicted in June on charges of intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault; the Accord driver was charged with driving while intoxicated. Smith, her brain exposed, was presumed dead by the medics and left untreated in the Accord. The state agency in part accused Gardner of failing to check her for vital signs after he saw her move. Collins and Gardner left the scene. Bullock and Huntsman returned after a medical examiner's investigator noticed that Smith still was breathing. The state agency in part accused Huntsman and Bullock of not checking Smith's vital signs. After the accident, the San Antonio Fire Department permanently barred Gardner from working as a paramedic in the city and transferred him to the firefighting division. It also temporarily deauthorized Huntsman, Bullock and Collins as San Antonio paramedics and transferred them to the firefighting division — a condition that still stands, said fire union President Chris Steele. Gardner can never work as a paramedic in San Antonio again and is barred from working as a paramedic anywhere in the state for the next six months. Additional material from staff writer Tony Plohetski. Does this seem excessive to anyone else?

I'm 40 and am on a ton of meds because of a non Q-wave MI 7 years ago. If you're responding to a 911 call and I'm unconscious, is it best to have my list of meds in my wallet or do I need a LifeAlert/MedicAlert bracelet? (The main one I'm concerned about for emergency responders is the Plavix) (meds are Plavix, Seroquel, Lisinopril, Nexium, Tricor, Lipitor, Zetia, Lexapro, Cardizem, Wellbutrin and Vistaril)