Another Thief

[Dustdevil]

What an idiot. This is why IQ testing should be a prerequisite for EMT school acceptance.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/josh-white/former-ambulance-driver-pleads.html

Former ambulance driver pleads guilty to stealing heart monitors

A former ambulance driver who briefly worked at Children's National Medical Center and the Washington Hospital Center in the District pleaded guilty Monday to stealing two expensive heart monitors out of ambulances and trying to sell them to a company in New York.

Kyle Walcott, 31, of Baltimore, was accused of stealing two Lifepak 12 Defibrillator/Monitors from parked ambulances at Children's hospital and at a V Street, Northeast facility belonging to Lifestar Response, the company for which Walcott worked. Walcott worked for Lifestar for just more than two weeks in November 2008.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, Walcott stole the monitors in mid-November 2008 and then shipped them to a company in upstate New York from a Baltimore UPS store. The monitors, which are critical pieces of equipment in an ambulance, are worth approximately $15,000 each when new.

The New York company, which had purchased used medical equipment from Walcott in the past, became suspicious upon receiving the nearly new, high-end equipment he had sent. The company then traced the serial numbers back to Lifestar and learned they had been stolen.

Walcott, officials said, admitted his guilt in interviews with investigators. He entered a guilty plea before U.S. Magistrate Judge Alan Kay in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia on Monday. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 4 and faces a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in jail, but sentencing guidelines likely will result in a sentence of no more than six months in jail and a fine of between $1,000 and $10,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.

-- Josh White

[EMS49393]

Good luck with the IQ testing thing, they won't even do that for paramedic entrance exams.

Lifestar is a private ambulance company, based in Baltimore, with an office in DC. They had what was the MedStar contracts in the DC area, however I don't believe those hospitals are MedStar hospitals anymore. Like most private ambulances in that area, they'll hire anyone with a card and a pulse.

[Dustdevil]

I renew my call to shut down each and every service that uses the word "star" in their name. It's getting ridiculous.

The fact that so many administrators have so little imagination that they can't come up with a more original name pretty well explains why they also can't come up with a decent service.

[HERBIE1]

Like any business, sadly, morons do slip through the cracks. We'll always get our share of thieves, junkies, and psychos- and those are just the managers...

[Dustdevil]

Like any business, sadly, morons do slip through the cracks. We'll always get our share of thieves, junkies, and psychos- and those are just the managers...

LOL! Hunter S. Thompson would be proud!

[FireMedic65]

Around these parts, you will have several different ambulance services at the same hospital at any given time. Both providers enter the hospital and may not come back outside for any period of time depending on the patient or how busy the ED is.

That being said, most people don't turn off their ambulance or lock the doors like they should. It would be easy for ANYONE to walk by and grab something. Could have very easily even when on scene. Not that it being "easy" to steal makes it right in anyway. Just people need to lock up their shit more.

or just tell the person driving that you can't stop here... its bat country.

[Chief1C]

Used to lock our compartments all the time.

Ambulance Captain: "Why is that door duct taped shut?"

Driver: It was locked and we lost the key.

Me: Good thing we had a halligan behind the seat!

Steal it, please. But you better total it, if not, set it on fire.

[scubanurse]

haha I did my medic ride-alongs with them during my I class out of MedStar at WHC... not too bad... I only rode with other graduates of the same program though so they were pretty decent medics...

[joesph]

I renew my call to shut down each and every service that uses the word "star" in their name. It's getting ridiculous.

The fact that so many administrators have so little imagination that they can't come up with a more original name pretty well explains why they also can't come up with a decent service.

How about Joes mortuary and ambulance service 'You stab em we grab em, you kill em we chill em'

[Richard B the EMT]

How about Joes mortuary and ambulance service 'You stab em we grab em, you kill em we chill em'

Variation on a theme: You stab them, we "slab" them.

As for "Star" overuse, what about "Life" overuse in company names?