Another cop stops a speeding car on the way to the ER with a dying patient thread

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bstone

bstone

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If it truly is an emergency, and you're not less than a mile from the hospital, there is NO reason not to call 911 for an ambulance. Period.
 
Linuss said:
If it truly is an emergency, and you're not less than a mile from the hospital, there is NO reason not to call 911 for an ambulance. Period.
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I don't have an explanation for why they didn't call 911, but it's pretty egregious for the cop to not escort them to the ER and then write his precious tickets after.

Don't you agree?
 
No, I don't.



Infact, at 16:36 the officer even goes back to the pickup and tells the passenger "I have an ambulance coming for you". He did all that I expect him to do.


Also, the ambulance leaves without the patient, so it obviously wasn't that bad (even if he DID refuse, they could have stayed longer to try to convince), AND they bypassed a closer hospital.
 
A patient can choose to refuse ambulance transport and make their own way to a hospital. Refusing an ambulance does not mean it's not a true emergency. Clearly, the cop was canned for this stunt he pulled, so it's obviously not policy to prevent the sick and injured from getting to a hospital.

Bravo to the higher ups who qucikly canned this corrupt cop.
 
Corrupt my butt. He made a judgement call, and just because you disagree with it doesn't make it wrong. Heck, he wasn't fired, he resigned... whether it was due to pressure from higher-ups is unknown and as such silly to say, especially since the city manager said that following an investigation, the officer did many things correctly. And, he even stated to the news that he would have helped them to the hospital had the immediately stopped in the first place.



Yes, I know patients can refuse, but the EMS crew was in and out of the scene very quickly. I don't know about you, or how you handle refusals, but I can spend as much as 20+ minutes trying to convince a patient to go if I think they need to go, even if they gave me an adamant "NO!" Their "NO" can't make me leave and there is no law in this land that says I can't talk to people. Especially since the stated reason he refused was because he "couldn't afford it".
 
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree. :)

At least there is one less corrupt cop off the streets.
 
Corrupt or not aside... he didn't lose his TCLEOSE, he'll most likely get a job at another PD in the state.


He wins.
 
I'm with Linnus on this one. Sorry people, but there are rules for a reason. When it comes down to it, I don't really care why you were speeding. The officer has no way of knowing that ahead of time. The other issue is that if the officer does go "oh, ok, well carry on then", and the driver continues to speed or drive recklessly and is in an collision, guess who is going to get sued? The police.

If you are pulled over for breaking traffic laws and you have someone who needs medical attention in the vehicle, you should be appropriately detained and PD should request EMS. If you choose not to take the ambulance, and instead wait with the detained party that is your own problem. I'm pretty sure that if you absolutely don't want anything to do with the ambulance, the officer would call you a taxi instead.


Also, what insurance won't cover an ambulance ride to the closest hospital? I know there are some pretty crappy insurance companies out there, but even Medicare/Medicaid cover to the closest hospital.
 
Linuss said:
I don't know about you, or how you handle refusals, but I can spend as much as 20+ minutes trying to convince a patient to go if I think they need to go, even if they gave me an adamant "NO!" Their "NO" can't make me leave and there is no law in this land that says I can't talk to people. Especially since the stated reason he refused was because he "couldn't afford it".
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To me it depends on how the patient is when we walk up. If I walk up and say "Hi, I'm a paramedic with the ambulance, what is going on today?" and the patient yells "F*ck Off B*tch" and I reply "I'm just here to help" and he spits at me, I'm not going to spend a lot of my time discussing the matter.
 
If someone refuses after getting a clear explanation then I will not use every psychological trick in the book (aka intense pressure) to make them go to the hospital in an ER.
 
Aidey said:
To me it depends on how the patient is when we walk up. If I walk up and say "Hi, I'm a paramedic with the ambulance, what is going on today?" and the patient yells "F*ck Off B*tch" and I reply "I'm just here to help" and he spits at me, I'm not going to spend a lot of my time discussing the matter.
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Shoot, they spit on me, and they get tackled and I get some Valium on board (Either on the patient, or for myself :O )

Gotta love it being a felony to assault a Paramedic in Texas :P
 
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I think in these situations you have to look at the area and probable EMS response times. If the response time for a real emergency call is less than 10 minutes, why would you ever want to drive yourself? If you live five minutes from the hospital then sure, drive with traffic and you'll be there before ems could even get to you.

The only time I could see this being justified is in a more rural community where the ambulance is 30 minutes away and the hospital is 30 minutes away. If its a real emergency, im not waiting, and ill drive as safely as possible at whatever speed I deem safe. Ill also probably call 911 so the cops know what im up to. But thats ok, because its a rural area and Sheriff Joe's son plays baseball with my kids, so he'll just as likely give me an escort as anything.

These people should also know you can just not pay an ems bill as easily as you can not pay a hospital bill. Dont do something stupid just because you don't want to pay for ems.
 
I read as much as I could, I couldnt view the video. I agree just because YOUR having a medical emergency it doesnt give you the right to risk everyone else's life in pursuit of care.

Smashing the windshield and holding them at gunpoint seems a little excessive to me.

And as far as notifying 911 that you will be speeding around and putting every other driver on the road in jeopardy because your friend needs emergency care doesnt eliminate you from responsability.
 
CAOX3 said:
Smashing the windshield and holding them at gunpoint seems a little excessive to me.
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Fleeing from a LEO is a felony. He conducted a felony stop. He was well within his right, as he had NO idea why the vehicle was speeding and refused to stop. For all he knew.. it could have been a carjacking situation with a hostage.

He was also lenient with the driver by cutting him loose. I dont know about the traffic code in texas, but in some states 20 over and higher is a misdemeanor, which makes it an arrestable offense. He also wrote him for disobey of a police officer vs fleeing and eluding which is a felony, So the old man was VERY lucky to not take a trip to jail, and have to deal with his car being impounded and towed.

Long story short, there are EMT's and Paramedics for a reason. Next time call them instead of playing hero and risking the safety of the general public.
 
bstone said:
I don't have an explanation for why they didn't call 911, but it's pretty egregious for the cop to not escort them to the ER and then write his precious tickets after.

Don't you agree?
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No I don't. Can you imagine the LEO "escorting" them to the hospital when they get T-boned? Can you say lawsuit? No LEO agencies around here would escort a POV to the hospital (to my knowledge). Call for EMS.
 
I wonder if bstone would allow the ambulance that was on scene to escort the car, as well...
 
What d*$k cop, I guess they don't teach you how to turn off your siren in the acdemy, the very least he should have gave a warning and tell them to slow it down, or the ambulance alternative, I guess you don't have to hit the tredmill to be a cop for this PD as well.:rolleyes:
 
I guess you don't have to pass 5th grade English composition to be a Paramedic in LA.




See? It works BOTH ways.
 
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