# Medic dies at scene responding to suicide call in Bensalem, PA



## MMiz (Mar 7, 2010)

*Medic dies at scene responding to suicide call in Bensalem*

According to the Bensalem Police Department, Bensalem Rescue and police responded to a call regarding a person who may be suffering from mental illness on the 2600 block of Kiansas Street around 7:00 p.m.

Upon arrival, a medic approached the subject and was injured.  He was taken to Aria where he was pronounced dead. 

*Read more*


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## Jersey (Mar 7, 2010)

Hey Guys,

This is my neighboring department and it appears to have been a combination of an assault and a medical event. I will provide updates as soon as I get them and any information about how to help. Please stay safe and maintain constant suspicion.

Once again, stay safe.


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## nomofica (Mar 7, 2010)

I wish more details had been made available. "He approached the patient, and then he was dead" is pretty much all that's being said. I'm rather curious as to the situation. GSW? Stabbing?

Thoughts are with the family of the medic.


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## Jersey (Mar 7, 2010)

I'll post the information when it becomes available through the official channels, I don't want to jump the gun.

However, lets please keep from speculating.


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## ExpatMedic0 (Mar 7, 2010)

man that sucks, some real dirt bags out there. You just never know when a scene is going to become unsafe.


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## LucidResq (Mar 8, 2010)

According to JEMS it was a stabbing. Very sad. Thoughts go out to the family, as they were apparently married with two daughters.


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## reaper (Mar 8, 2010)

http://www.ems1.com/ems-news/768314-pa-paramedic-killed-in-attack-by-edp/

According to this one, they were first on scene and chased the pt, who had fled. The medic was stabbed in an altercation.

It is sad for his family, to lose their husband and daddy.

But, why was he chasing a pt? This is why scene safety must be strictly enforced and not try to play LEO along with medic.


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## Jersey (Mar 8, 2010)

Please do not start speculating and passing judgement. Initial reports have been widly varied and inaccurate. Please refrain from judging the crews actions less than four hours after his death.


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## TransportJockey (Mar 8, 2010)

Either way, whatever happened, we had another LODD.
RIP.


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## hreeves877 (Mar 8, 2010)

Again, please let's not all jump to conclusions and cloud this tragedy with more of the EMS rumor mill.  As has been said, initial reports have been wide and mostly inaccurate.  I have worked with this medic and BEMS, and I would really appreciate it if people just would pray for the family and brothers and sisters in EMS.  That is what we should be focusing on, not the how or the why.  Bottom line, we all lost a great medic and man.  Let the information come out as it does.  Nobody close enough to the situation is even thinking of telling the whole world how this happened.  It happened, that should be enough for right now, considering it hasn't even been 12 hours.


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## hreeves877 (Mar 8, 2010)

Let me just sum it up real fast here.  "Remember them not for how they died, but for how they lived."


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## hreeves877 (Mar 8, 2010)

Fine, let it be discussed.  But how about we actually wait until ALL of the information is made public instead of concocking our own stories about what happened.  And how about we let an amazing man and fantastic paramedic be laid to rest before we go make a training video about his death?  Did he make a mistake?  Maybe, maybe not.  I knew this man personally, and let me tell you something.  If he did do something "wrong" he had a damn good reason for doing it.  So again, all I am asking for is a little respect.  You want to talk about what he did wrong and how we can all learn from it, make sure you are using the correct scenario to do so and now the news media's version of what happened.


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## EMTinNEPA (Mar 8, 2010)

Hreeves877...

My condolences on the passing of your friend and colleague.  As requested, I will not comment on the circumstances until it has been made public.

Our thoughts are with you.

EMTinNEPA
MICU61, Medic 1
Bloomsburg, PA


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## akflightmedic (Mar 8, 2010)

Meh, I will be the @ss hole who takes a hit.

A man was killed, I feel for his family left behind as that is always a tragedy. Everyone is a saint after they die so regardless whether or not he was a great man is immaterial to me. What is important is his family, cause no matter who or what you are, they always love you, especially the children. They will survive but it will be a difficult journey.

I wish them a speedy recovery in every sense of the word and hope much happiness finds them one day, especially when they recall the memories they created with their dad/husband.

As for the actual tragedy, if he did indeed chase the man...this simply goes against everything we are trained on. As we say overseas, heroes go home in boxes and this holds true either in a war zone or on the homeland. The moment I choose to enter an unsafe scene first, as soon as the initial circumstances change (man running) I must reevaluate as it is no longer the same scenario upon which I made my initial decision to enter. When someone runs, the situation is still THEIR emergency, not mine...therefore, I do not chase. I have been there and NOT done that.

There will be many lessons learned from this situation, it is sad the surviving family has to pay the tuition for all of us to learn this lesson. Newbies and old dogs alike, pay attention and be safe out there.


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## Jon (Mar 8, 2010)

Ok folks.

This hits VERY close to home for me - Although I did not know the provider who died, I have some friends and former co-workers that have worked there. 

I'm going to quote the Admin, Steve Skipton, from Phillyfirenews.com, as he was quoted on JEMS's website this AM:



> We ( JD and I) have removed the Paramedic's name from the forum, I know it was posted here but the Public Safety Director is requesting it not be released at this time, 37 year old married male with 2 daughters is all they will release so we (PFN) will respect that until the morning, thos that know me understand I take this hard due to the fact that I have been an EMS worker for a better part of 20 years and have many friends in the EMS world.. sometimes you just don't know what is going to happen, you know I teach new EMT's and preach scene safety on EVERY response well this brings that point home that no calls are "routine"  be safe
> Steve


http://pafirenews.net/messageboard/index.php?topic=3823.msg28362;topicseen#new

As the request has been to withold the name until officially released by Bensalem EMS, I ask everyone to do the same.

Further, now is NOT the time for speculating on the possibilities of what happened. I have trimmed and edited the thread right now. I feel it that it is VERY important to learn from what has happened... but lets wait until AFTER the funeral and we actually have the full story before we start questioning what happened. Right now we need to be positive and think of the hell that Bensalem EMS and this provider's family is going through, and try to be supportive.

If nothing else, this is a reminder that there are dangers that we do face on the streets, and no call is a "typical" call. Be careful, and watch your partner's back.

I will post more information as we hear about it.


Jon
EMTLife.com Community Leader


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## hreeves877 (Mar 8, 2010)

Jon said:


> Ok folks.
> 
> This hits VERY close to home for me - Although I did not know the provider who died, I have some friends and former co-workers that have worked there.
> 
> ...





Jon-

I appreciate all of this.  I believe that more information has been released about the medic.  It can be found at 6abc.com on the top stories.  All I ask is that everybody remembers that this could have been them, thier partner, their tutor.  It could have been any one of us.  And please, keep the family and all of Bucks Co in your thoughts and prayers.  This medic was one of the good ones.  Everybody in the county knew him and he knew everyone.  He will never be forgotten.  God must have needed one hell of a paramedic up there with him...


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## akflightmedic (Mar 8, 2010)

From the link above...


a 13-year veteran paramedic for the Bensalem Rescue Squad, leaves behind his wife and two daughters, ages 1 and 5. He was also a Tactical Medic for the Bucks County South SWAT Team and was recently hired as a part-time police officer for Hulmeville Boro.


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## Aidey (Mar 8, 2010)

His name was released in the news link posted in the OP.


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## TransportJockey (Mar 8, 2010)

akflightmedic said:


> From the link above...
> 
> 
> a 13-year veteran paramedic for the Bensalem Rescue Squad, leaves behind his wife and two daughters, ages 1 and 5. He was also a Tactical Medic for the Bucks County South SWAT Team and was recently hired as a part-time police officer for Hulmeville Boro.



Maybe forgetting what job he was doing at the time?


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## akflightmedic (Mar 8, 2010)

http://www.jems.com/news_and_articl...vania_paramedic_attacked_by_patient_dies.html

So now he had a heart attack while chasing after the patient...


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## medic417 (Mar 8, 2010)

akflightmedic said:


> http://www.jems.com/news_and_articl...vania_paramedic_attacked_by_patient_dies.html
> 
> So now he had a heart attack while chasing after the patient...



Again why was he chasing?  That is the police job.  Safety first.


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## akflightmedic (Mar 8, 2010)

I agree 100%...was letting other people draw more of their own conclusions.


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## eynonqrs (Mar 8, 2010)

What a terrible shame. My prayers go out to the family and the co-workers. I have heard many stories about crews walking into a bad situation when it seemed to be a routine call. I hope that person who commited this horrible act gets put through the wringer. It's such a shame that it's getting more dangerous every day for us out there. 

Be safe everyone out there.


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## akflightmedic (Mar 8, 2010)

eynonqrs said:


> What a terrible shame. My prayers go out to the family and the co-workers. I have heard many stories about crews walking into a bad situation when it seemed to be a routine call. I hope that person who commited this horrible act gets put through the wringer. It's such a shame that it's getting more dangerous every day for us out there.
> 
> Be safe everyone out there.



What horrible act?? Me thinks you did not read all posts...


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## hreeves877 (Mar 8, 2010)

There was a question of a cardiac issue since the beginning last night.  It just wasnt reported in the news because all they care about is getting a good and interesting story.  A medic getting attacked and dying as a result is much more interesting for the 11:00 news that just a simple heart attack.  The fact remains....it is a LODD.  I should hope that nobody loses any respect for him just because he died of natural causes.  Maybe I am too close to this situation to be involved in these conversations, but I just want him to be remembered with respect.  An MI can happen any time, we all know this much.  But maybe, just maybe, if he wasn't chasing somebody, it wouldn't have been so sudden, so untreatable.  Maybe he would have had symptoms and had time to get treatment, get cathed.  All the what ifs start now, and this next week is seriously going to suck.  I apologize for anybody offended by my earlier posts....just trying to protect a brother's memory.


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## LucidResq (Mar 8, 2010)

hreeves877 said:


> There was a question of a cardiac issue since the beginning last night.  It just wasnt reported in the news because all they care about is getting a good and interesting story.  A medic getting attacked and dying as a result is much more interesting for the 11:00 news that just a simple heart attack.  The fact remains....it is a LODD.  I should hope that nobody loses any respect for him just because he died of natural causes.  Maybe I am too close to this situation to be involved in these conversations, but I just want him to be remembered with respect.  An MI can happen any time, we all know this much.  But maybe, just maybe, if he wasn't chasing somebody, it wouldn't have been so sudden, so untreatable.  Maybe he would have had symptoms and had time to get treatment, get cathed.  All the what ifs start now, and this next week is seriously going to suck.  I apologize for anybody offended by my earlier posts....just trying to protect a brother's memory.



I completely understand, and this is a damn shame. Period.  I don't care if he was stabbed or had a heart attack or what. The fact remains, a husband, father and paramedic's life was swept away way too soon. My heart goes out to his family, friends and coworkers. Truly.


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## VentMedic (Mar 8, 2010)

hreeves877 said:


> There was a question of a cardiac issue since the beginning last night. It just wasnt reported in the news because all they care about is getting a good and interesting story.


 
This makes sound like his EMS agency wanted to get the headlines with the best story.   I would imagine there was plenty of speculation at his EMS agency when this first happened just as there have been on this forum. 



hreeves877 said:


> .just trying to protect a brother's memory.


 
If you want to protect a memory, use it as a reminder that everyone should be mindful of their own health and risk factors.  We have had several threads about EMS providers being overweight, smoking and addicted to energy drinks.  It is also no secret that heart disease kills more in the line of duty for EMS/FD than guns, knives or collapsing buildings from fire. Going down with an MI or CVA is not how most would like to be remembered. 

Again, my condolences to the family of this Paramedic.


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## karaya (Mar 9, 2010)

hreeves877 said:


> There was a question of a cardiac issue since the beginning last night. It just wasnt reported in the news because all they care about is getting a good and interesting story. A medic getting attacked and dying as a result is much more interesting for the 11:00 news that just a simple heart attack.


 
Is this a fact or just your speculation about the media's intent?  You just asked in an earlier thread for everyone to refrain from "concocking our own stories" and yet your comment about the media seems just that... con-cocking.


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## hreeves877 (Mar 9, 2010)

VentMedic said:


> If you want to protect a memory, use it as a reminder that everyone should be mindful of their own health and risk factors.  We have had several threads about EMS providers being overweight, smoking and addicted to energy drinks.  It is also no secret that heart disease kills more in the line of duty for EMS/FD than guns, knives or collapsing buildings from fire. Going down with an MI or CVA is not how most would like to be remembered.
> 
> Again, my condolences to the family of this Paramedic.



This particular medic had very recently passed a police physical when he was hired as part time at one of the depts in the area.  Being a health care professional, I would assume you would understand that everything is detectable and/or preventable.


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## ExpatMedic0 (Mar 9, 2010)

Yeah it said he was a tactical medic on the swat team part time. I am not sure what the physical standards are like for that in his area, but I can tell you here they are like the Army. 
My friend is in his late 20's and has been in great physical shape all his life, he did 4 years in the Marine Corp and is currently in the Army, but he has really high cholesterol and takes meds for it. Bad things can happen to anyone sometimes, not just people who do not take good care of there body's.


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## hreeves877 (Mar 9, 2010)

My final thoughts on this thread.  You guys and gals can think whatever you like about why, how, what, etc happened.  I know for a fact one thing is for sure.  A great paramedic died far to young.  Many people were affected by him, be it directly or indirectly, as a patient, co worker, family member, student, etc.  The entire EMS community is one less.  How it happened, why it happened, none of that is really important in the grand scheme.  Can we learn from this?  Maybe one day.  Many of us can start learning now, as many people did not have the good luck I did to know this man directly.  But some of us are going to just have to wait.  We can not even possibly begin to think about learning anything or looking at this in any other way than we already are.  And that is through our tears, our anger, and our total disbelief.  One day maybe most of us will be able to look back and say "I wish he had done this" or "Maybe if we do this differently from now on..."  But not today.  Not tomorrow.  Not next week, next month, maybe even not next year.  Eventually though, we will be able to look back and laugh at memories and learn from past mistakes.  But please guys, let that come in its own time.  It will come, you just have to let us wrap our heads around all this.  For many of us, its not real yet.  I know personally I am still waiting for him to jump off the MICU for mutal aid on an MVC or fire call.  In my head I know this won't happen, but its a tough thing to get used to.  I still feel like I am just having a bad dream (even though I haven't slept since), or I want to hit the back button on my life browser.  He will be missed greatly by all who knew him or ever came into contact with him throughout his life.  My final comment on this whole thread is borrowed from a dear friend's facebook status from last night.  God must have needed one hell of a paramedic up there, because thats the only sensible reason I can come up with that you are gone.  Rest easy Danny Mac, and God speed.


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## VentMedic (Mar 9, 2010)

hreeves877 said:


> This particular medic had very recently passed a police physical when he was hired as part time at one of the depts in the area. Being a health care professional, I would assume you would understand that everything is detectable and/or preventable.


 
I hope you understand the differences between appearing physically fit and all the factors that determine ones health. Unfortunately physical requirements do vary from department to department in all fields. Passing one physical does not necessarily mean one is healthy or still does not have factors that can adversely affect one's health. As well, passing one physical can give one a sense of false security that leads to denial. BTW, there are some things that can be preventable and you should remember these from a CPR class. There are also some commonsense things that one should know. If one gets into shape for one physical but ignored fitness for the many years before or forgets about it after passing the physical, it may also be meaningless. Weekend warriors who try to make up for what they didn't do during the week also discover this and sometimes the hard way. 

Also, not many agencies do a physical exam that stresses the body to see its response. Some will just do a little lab work and see if the person can bend or squat. A resting ECG may also tell very little.

You  seem to have some strong mourning to do and I sincerely hope you have people around you other than this anonymous forum to express your feelings with for your own health.


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## jgmedic (Mar 9, 2010)

karaya said:


> Is this a fact or just your speculation about the media's intent?  You just asked in an earlier thread for everyone to refrain from "concocking our own stories" and yet your comment about the media seems just that... con-cocking.



First, RIP to this medic and my condolences to his family, whatever happened.
Second, it's CONCOCT, not CON-COCK, seriously.


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## akflightmedic (Mar 9, 2010)

jgmedic said:


> First, RIP to this medic and my condolences to his family, whatever happened.
> Second, it's CONCOCT, not CON-COCK, seriously.



I got karayas sarcasm...hoping you did too, except you did not quote the original con cock perp....


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## jgmedic (Mar 9, 2010)

akflightmedic said:


> I got karayas sarcasm...hoping you did too, except you did not quote the original con cock perp....



Yeah, I should have quoted the other guy.


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