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Cincinnati paramedic chief faces disciplinary hearing
Cincinnati-The leader of a Cincinnati Fire Department paramedics' crew faces a disciplinary hearing for allowing his medical team to leave a White Castle parking lot last Sunday when Nathaniel Jones died in a violent struggle with six police officers.
Fire Chief Robert Wright said the hearing will focus on whether departmental rules for emergency medical care of combative patients were violated when the EMTs drove off in Engine 38, which had arrived at the predawn scene before police responded.
No date has been set for the hearing for Greg Adams, the firefighter who heads the paramedics crew. He could not be reached yesterday.
The paramedics - who would have been able to offer on-the-spot emergency care - were gone by the time the unarmed black man was handcuffed after a videotaped fight. Jones did not get CPR from the EMTs until they were called back by police at 6:05 a.m., about four minutes after the videotaped confrontation started.
So far, city officials have not been able to explain why the paramedics left the White Castle.
Meanwhile, the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater Cincinnati said it was organizing a Sunday afternoon civil-rights demonstration that would start outside Cincinnati's City Hall. The group, comprised mainly of black pastors, said they planned to lead a march across downtown to the courthouse.
The paramedics' role in the Jones' beating has been slow in coming to light. Close inspection of the video recorded from a camera mounted in a police cruiser at the restaurant reveals an officer began to search for the paramedics after another is heard saying about Jones, "I don't see him breathing."
The videotape from the cruiser-mounted camera also catches an officer saying, "Where did they go?" Another says "They bailed."
By that time, Jones, 41, had been struck and jabbed repeatedly on the back and legs by officers wielding aluminum nightsticks.
The violent fray erupted suddenly when Jones charged into an officer and bowled him over saying, "My momma taught me this."
Although six separate investigations are now under way - including a preliminary inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department - no one yet can explain why Jones charged.
An autopsy by Hamilton County officials says Jones was high on PCP and cocaine, which can sometimes trigger paranoia and episodes of violent behavior. His family is seeking a private autopsy and said at a news conference that he was not a violent person.
An autopsy of Jones, who weighed 342 pounds, shows he used cocaine three hours before his death and died of an irregular heartbeat caused by his struggle with police.
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Carl Parrot Jr., told a news conference Wednesday, "Absent the struggle, Mr. Jones presumably would have gone on his intoxicated way."
A transcript of the 9-1-1 call shows a city dispatcher sent paramedics to the scene after a call at 5:45 a.m. from the White Castle manager on duty. The manager thought Jones was sick and phoned 9-1-1 to get him help.
The transcript shows the paramedics radioed back that Jones was not passed out. "He's becoming a nuisance to people here," an emergency medical technician radioed in. A dispatcher then sent the police, saying the firemen had encountered a disorderly subject.
When the police arrived, radio transmission records show they believed Jones was mentally deranged and called for a mental health unit.
Since 1995, the Fire Department has operated under a policy recognizing that combative patients can suffer sudden deaths while being restrained. The policy says patients who are disoriented, delirious or deranged are best treated by a paramedics unit because they are often subject to a condition called "excitable delirium."
If police have to restrain the patient, he should be flipped onto his back immediately by the paramedics team after control is gained. The treatment policy says that agitated patients can suffer sudden death because their bodies need oxygen.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1070620300245100.xml
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Cincinnati-The leader of a Cincinnati Fire Department paramedics' crew faces a disciplinary hearing for allowing his medical team to leave a White Castle parking lot last Sunday when Nathaniel Jones died in a violent struggle with six police officers.
Fire Chief Robert Wright said the hearing will focus on whether departmental rules for emergency medical care of combative patients were violated when the EMTs drove off in Engine 38, which had arrived at the predawn scene before police responded.
No date has been set for the hearing for Greg Adams, the firefighter who heads the paramedics crew. He could not be reached yesterday.
The paramedics - who would have been able to offer on-the-spot emergency care - were gone by the time the unarmed black man was handcuffed after a videotaped fight. Jones did not get CPR from the EMTs until they were called back by police at 6:05 a.m., about four minutes after the videotaped confrontation started.
So far, city officials have not been able to explain why the paramedics left the White Castle.
Meanwhile, the Baptist Ministers Conference of Greater Cincinnati said it was organizing a Sunday afternoon civil-rights demonstration that would start outside Cincinnati's City Hall. The group, comprised mainly of black pastors, said they planned to lead a march across downtown to the courthouse.
The paramedics' role in the Jones' beating has been slow in coming to light. Close inspection of the video recorded from a camera mounted in a police cruiser at the restaurant reveals an officer began to search for the paramedics after another is heard saying about Jones, "I don't see him breathing."
The videotape from the cruiser-mounted camera also catches an officer saying, "Where did they go?" Another says "They bailed."
By that time, Jones, 41, had been struck and jabbed repeatedly on the back and legs by officers wielding aluminum nightsticks.
The violent fray erupted suddenly when Jones charged into an officer and bowled him over saying, "My momma taught me this."
Although six separate investigations are now under way - including a preliminary inquiry by the U.S. Justice Department - no one yet can explain why Jones charged.
An autopsy by Hamilton County officials says Jones was high on PCP and cocaine, which can sometimes trigger paranoia and episodes of violent behavior. His family is seeking a private autopsy and said at a news conference that he was not a violent person.
An autopsy of Jones, who weighed 342 pounds, shows he used cocaine three hours before his death and died of an irregular heartbeat caused by his struggle with police.
Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Carl Parrot Jr., told a news conference Wednesday, "Absent the struggle, Mr. Jones presumably would have gone on his intoxicated way."
A transcript of the 9-1-1 call shows a city dispatcher sent paramedics to the scene after a call at 5:45 a.m. from the White Castle manager on duty. The manager thought Jones was sick and phoned 9-1-1 to get him help.
The transcript shows the paramedics radioed back that Jones was not passed out. "He's becoming a nuisance to people here," an emergency medical technician radioed in. A dispatcher then sent the police, saying the firemen had encountered a disorderly subject.
When the police arrived, radio transmission records show they believed Jones was mentally deranged and called for a mental health unit.
Since 1995, the Fire Department has operated under a policy recognizing that combative patients can suffer sudden deaths while being restrained. The policy says patients who are disoriented, delirious or deranged are best treated by a paramedics unit because they are often subject to a condition called "excitable delirium."
If police have to restrain the patient, he should be flipped onto his back immediately by the paramedics team after control is gained. The treatment policy says that agitated patients can suffer sudden death because their bodies need oxygen.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/1070620300245100.xml
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