EMS

In this episode, Bill Maccarone and Curt discuss last week's headlines, including an FLSA lawsuit out of Tulsa, OK; the settlement of a race discrimination suit out of Everett, WA; the dismissal of the federal claims against Miami-Dade Fire Rescue over an EMS run; a Massachusetts Civil Service ruling overturning the termination of a deputy chief, but demoting him to firefighter; and the filing of a COVID-related wrongful death suit against an Oregon fire department.

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A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Miami-Dade Fire Rescue has been remanded back to state court by the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida after the federal claims were dismissed. The lawsuit was filed last year by the family of Gustavo Beaz, who died in 2019.

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The family of an Oregon woman who died of COVID in 2020, has filed suit against the fire department and several firefighters claiming their refusal to treat and transport the victim led to her death. Teresa Vaughn died on December 26, 2020, hours after firefighters from the Klamath County Fire District No. 1 suggested her domestic partner drive her to the hospital.

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A US magistrate judge has recommended that a lawsuit against the West Metro Fire District and several firefighters be dismissed. The lawsuit brought by Jeremiah Axtell claimed that firefighters and police officers violated his rights by restraining him, and later injecting him with ketamine.

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An Oregon firefighter who is already facing state and federal charges for stealing drugs and using them to sexually assault unsuspecting women, has been sued by one of his victims. Eugene-Springfield firefighter Edward Augustus Blake, 44, is facing charges of rape, sodomy, and strangulation in addition to drug related offenses.

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A Nevada man who suffered respiratory arrest after medics administered ketamine to him in 2020, is suing the fire department, two medics and two police officers involved in the incident. Marc Galli filed suit last September against the city of Henderson, the medics and the police officers. The suit was removed to US District Court yesterday.

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In this week’s edition of Fire Law Roundup, Curt and Bill discuss some of the headline cases from last week, including a lawsuit out of Chicago on health care benefits to retirees, St. Paul, MN vaccine mandate decision, a sexual harassment suit out of Orange County, a suit alleging medics failed to inform a hospital of a patient’s mental state, and an Ohio fire scene search and seizure case.

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A man who was struck by a vehicle in Louisiana shortly after being released from a hospital, has filed suit against the St. Tammany Parish Fire Protection District No. 4 claiming paramedics failed to promptly inform hospital staff of his mental health status and need for monitoring.

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The Rialto Fire Department is investigating allegations that two of its medics refused to enter a medical facility to treat and transport a man in cardiac arrest. The incident occurred on November 17, 2021, and some of it was captured on the body-cam of a local police officer.

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A Washington man who was arrested for shoplifting has filed suit against jail officials as well as the local fire department who he claims failed to provide appropriate treatment and transportation when he suffered a series of strokes associated with atrial fibrillation while in custody.

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The widow of a Texas man who died after a stretcher-related injury in 2019 has filed suit against a fire department, six firefighter-EMTs, a local hospital and an ER doctor. Jacqueline Veals filed suit yesterday in Dallas County District Court in her capacity as personal representative for Fred Douglas Veal, Jr.

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A wrongful death lawsuit filed against Polk County Fire Rescue and the Winterhaven Fire Department for a 2014 heart attack response, has been dismissed. John Hamilton suffered a heart attack in May 2014 to which both departments responded.

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A Colorado man who was arrested following a traffic stop in 2019, has filed suit against a fire department medic and several police officers for their roles in his arrest. Steven Reycraft filed suit today in US District Court naming the Manitou Springs Fire Department, Paramedic Ashley Wardell, four Manitou Springs police officers, the City of Manitou Springs, and a doctor/medical director.

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The family of a man who died in 2019 has filed suit against Miami-Dade Fire Rescue and three firefighter-paramedics accusing them of negligence and deliberate-indifference arising out of their slow response and failure to initiate medical treatment. Diana Cluff and Jacqueline Beaz filed suit accusing the medics of delaying their response, falsifying reports, and failing to attempt to resuscitate their father, Gustavo Beaz.

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