was justice served?

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nlbossman

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Here is a story from last year. I know it was closed after people started throwing insults rather than discussing the situation. I read all the past post from last year and both sides of the debate were correct, and not so correct. Let me say I DO NOT drink at anytime. With that said.. I do believe the whole accident would have happened reguardless of this EMT having a drink or not. It was a matter of not being in control of her rig at all times. I have a friend that always says on the scene of a motor vehicle accident that their speed outran their talent. I don't believe for one minute that alcohol was a factor in her blowing through a red light. I believe she had probably done that many times. I am sure a lot of us here have. We all know she should have slowed to an almost stop before getting to the red light then proceeding when it was safe to. That is where her problem BEGAN. The rest is all history(which has been beaten to death) and she now has to live with her bad choice/choices. One more thing about this post that does bother me tho is the fact that so many providers have the same mind set as Joe Public.... Since when does DNR mean do not treat? Perhaps they were taking her to the hospital with an ailment that was very much fixable. The no reason to go L/S theory should never be discussed. That is between the medic and partner. The fact is that we should ALWAYS be in control of our vehicle. Then again, thats why they are called accidents. This one just happens to have a lot more consequences than others.. Anyhow, here is the story....


**story removed**
 
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the question I wanna know is, if alcohol wasn't involved, would she be charged?
 
probably so. Failure to operate 'with due regard' for the safety of others. All other issues aside, her first responsibility is for the safety of herself, the crew, and the patient (not to mention the two folks she crashed into). Blowing through an intersection at speed doesn't fulfill that responsibility.
 
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running a red light... I would have to guess there would have to be charges.I might be wrong tho.. I think I was once before...B)
 
She is actually very lucky she was driving an ambulance. Any other Joe Public driving like that, with alcohol or not, would not have had any defense at all and would have been looking at very serious prison time.

quote by nlbossman
Then again, thats why they are called accidents.
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BTW, accident is no longer a correct term for most purposes. MVA is replaced by MVC in many areas and occupations.
 
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Everything else aside, there is no reason to drive 68mph through an intersection. That is just asking for trouble. Even if her light was green she should not go that fast.
 
this was a very disturbing and tragic story when i found out about it. I can not imagine any provider who would find it ok to have a drink and then go get behind the wheel of a ambulance, after all we have seen, and how we are trained about the effects of alcohol on one's ability to drive. Did the alcohol effect her decision making process when she chose to blow thru that intersection? I do not know. But I do know that 1) she did not belong on that truck in any capacity and 2) you must STOP at all intersections regardless of who has the right of way.

What is even more disturbing about this is, the Pa. Dept. of Health still has this provider listed as being an active provider with no disiplanary action taken against her EMT cert. I guess that will happen soon.

My heart goes out to all involved.
 
Plain and simple.. she was under the influence while at work, she blew thru an intersection way to fast, and without sirens. She got away really easy. If she was just any old regular person she would have been charged with a lot more than she did.

It's not okay to be under the influence at all while at work. If you are a volley and you have been drinking do not respond to the call! If you are at work, and you have been drinking you deserve to get fired. This isn't okay at all.
 
i don't know all the laws, but there is no reason to be going through an intersection at anything greater than 40-45 mph. Strike 1.

Lights and No sirens off of the highway? Strike 2.

Not stopping at a red light even with L&S? Strike 3.

Drinking before showing up to work? Game Forfeited.

I think the plea deal is a little bit on the light side, but she made a lot of mistakes in quick succession. I'm a firm believer in the fact that accidents are rare even though people make stupid decisions because so many things have to go wrong at once. But when you make multiple stupid decisions in quick succession, all of the thigns that have to go wrong for the accident to happen WILL go wrong!
 
Plain and simple, from day one we are taught to have regard to others (life & property) and are only asking for a right away. We all know that it is illegal and immoral to have alcohol and any substance that might impede our reaction time (albeit prescribed or OTC).

Sorry, this tragic event occurred but guilty is guilty, and alike what Vent described she is lucky she is not having more of a sentence.
 
At the university here, a professor is currently running a study about alcohol and vision impairment. The preliminary results are very startling, people's vision is affected well under the 0.08 limit. So regardless of her being under or over the limit, she was still impaired. Alcohol consumption/influence while on duty should not be tolerated at all. Just another problem to make the EMS crowd look like incompetent fools. Also, the fact that she had lights and sirens on (albeit only 2.5 seconds or whatever it was before the intersection) still does not give her permission to completely blow a red light. Rule #1 when driving, people are idiots. They assume the green light they have means it is good for them to go. They're not always going to see/hear an ambulance, fire engine, squad car coming. That said, in my opinion, she should be in jail for the full sentence, have her licenses to practice revoked, possibly her driver's license suspended and he company should fire her. Like I stated earlier, being under the influence of alcohol while on duty should never be tolerated. I'm not bashing alcohol, I'm 21 and I like to go have a few drinks with friends, but never will I let it hinder my performance at any job I may have. It's just unprofessional and obviously dangerous.
 
And that is why it is still possible to get arrested and charged with a DUI even if you are under the legal limit (in many states anyway). Alcohol effects everyone a little differently (in regards to how much it takes to have an effect and what that effect will be); the .08 is really just an arbitrary number based on OLD OLD data that more than likely never really was accurately checked. I know that personally, it can take upwards of 10 shots of liquor in a couple of hours to get me to just above a .08, and that I can pass all field sobriety tests with flying colors (no, not what you're thinking :P). But I also know that at that point, even with a just barely illegal BAC there is no way in hell I should have been behind the wheel.

Bottom line: any alcohol in her system was to much, and she deserved everything she got.
 
triemal04 said:
And that is why it is still possible to get arrested and charged with a DUI even if you are under the legal limit (in many states anyway).
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It's usually a different violation and lesser offense. In California, you can be cited for what they call a "wet reckless" where you had a BAC under the legal limit.
 
nlbossman said:
Traveling between 64 and 68 mph on Route 19 in Marshall, she ran a red light and struck a Chevrolet Cavalier driven by Douglas Stitt, 38, of Mercer. Mr. Stitt and a passenger, Phillip Bacon, 32, of Sharpsville, Mercer County, were pronounced dead at the scene.
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My first thought was "JEEBUS, SHE BLEW A LIGHT GOING 60+ MPH?!?!?!...." then I thought about how we have many "secondary highways" where the speed limit is 55-60 and there may be an occasional stoplight RIGHT at the point it drops to about 45 around the smaller townships....But still, blazing through a stop light (red, yellow, OR green) at Interstate speeds is simply ludicrous.

Personally, I believe even if there wasn't a trace of alcohol the circumstances could possibly be the same because blowing a stoplight is illegal in it's own, blowing it at 60+mph only adds to the negligence
 
I have a CDL (Commercial Driver's License) - one shot of Nyquil and I can't legally drive....
 
I can't believe she only got a max of just under two years in prison.

Be careful out there, folks.
 
stephenrb81 said:
I thought about how we have many "secondary highways" where the speed limit is 55-60 and there may be an occasional stoplight RIGHT at the point it drops to about 45 around the smaller townships....
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Even then, I believe company policies should be in place for instances such as this. I've been with companies where you must come to a complete stop and clear each lane (one at a time) when going through an intersection with a red light. The same rule applied to stop signs as well.
 
Code 3 said:
Even then, I believe company policies should be in place for instances such as this. I've been with companies where you must come to a complete stop and clear each lane (one at a time) when going through an intersection with a red light. The same rule applied to stop signs as well.
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Regardless of the company/decals on vehicle/lights and sirens, stop means stop, stop sign or red light. Not stopping is not driving with "due regard" which is what the laws mandate. Granted the laws mandate people pull over for emergency vehicles too, but we all know how often that happens... Still we need to stop, or be slow enough that we can stop if needed when going through an intersection where we don't have the right of way in our own vehicle.
 
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