Rookie EMT Fired - Zapped Coworker With Defibrillator Paddles - Woman Died

[matcom]

<snip>

LEBANON -- Joshua Philip Martin was in his fourth day on the job as a rescue-squad worker in Russell County when, in a playful mood, he decided to reach into the front seat of the ambulance and zap one of his co-workers with the defibrillator paddles. The rookie's mistake was fatal.

Yesterday, in Russell Circuit Court, a judge convicted Martin, 25, of involuntary manslaughter, warning the burly but pink-faced young man that when he returns to court in March, he likely will be sent to prison. He faces a maximum sentence of 10 years.

The target of Martin's prank was Courtney Hilton Rhoton, a 23-year-old mother of two small children who had worked her way through school to become an emergency medical technician. She went into cardiac arrest seconds after Martin placed the paddles on her chest and shoulder. Three days later, on June 4, she died.

After watching bailiffs lead Martin off to jail yesterday, the mothers of Rhoton and Martin stood at opposite ends of a narrow courthouse hallway and wept, one for the loss of her daughter, the other for the fate of her son. All agreed Martin had meant no harm, though none derived comfort from the thought.

"If they just knew Josh!" his mother, Diana White, exclaimed between sobs. "He just made a mistake. Everybody plays on the job, even cops. But with this one, it caught up. He's going to pay for it for the rest of his life."

"He was just playing around," Martin's aunt, Karen Martin, said. "Anybody who knows him knows this was not intentional."

http://www.timesdispatch.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=RTD/MGArticle/RTD_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1137833607005

[GOPisEvil]

1. Well, mom...his mistake KILLED someone.

What a fucking dumbass!

[Hugin]

4. My thoughts precisely...

Especially when you consider these people are supposed to *save* lives.

[Wapsie B]

2. God somebody sterilize this fool.

That gene pool needs to go no farther.

[BikeWriter]

3. Excuse me? That's murder!

[Xithras]

14. Legally, it's only murder if you intend to kill someone.

Manslaughter = Unintentional killing. Murder = Intentional killing.

Even though the guy was a complete idiot, he apparently didn't intend to kill her. That makes it manslaughter.

[BikeWriter]

18. IMO, he knew what those paddles were. He murdered her.

Same as if he'd shot her with a gun. He had no (0) reason to believe it would not kill her.

[Xithras]

51. What reason did he have to believe that it would kill her?

He's not a doctor and he was new to the EMT profession. He'd never trained on the machine, and without that training he was never taught about the safety issues of using it. Can you tell me how many volts those paddles put out? Can you tell me how many it takes to kill someone? Few could.

This guy is a complete and total moron, and he was playing around with equipment that he had no business touching. Still, it sounds like he meant is as a prank, not as a way to kill her.

Stupidity IS a defense, because intent plays a big part in how we sentence people. This guys intent wasn't to harm, but his actions led to someones death. The charges and punishment for that should be dramatically different than charges for someone who hunts down a victim and beats them to death with his bare hands. Both crimes end with a dead body, but the maliciousness and intent make them very different events.

There's also the assumption with manslaughter chargees that there won't be a reoccurrence. It's fairly safe to say that this guy has ALREADY learned his lesson and won't be playing pranks with equipment he isn't familiar with anymore. That fact means he's not a threat to society, and doesn't need to be imprisoned to protect us from him. His incarceration at this point is all about punishment...vengeance for killing an innocent woman.

[Heddi]

57. Well, aside from that whole educational part before getting into the field

I mean, it's not like you apply to be an EMT and the day you're hired you're sent on the truck---there is extensive classroom-based lecture and lab content that must be mastered before you're let into the field. Out here (WA), you take a minimum of 6 months of classes and do around 120 hours training in the school lab and observing in the hospital before you even are allowed to set foot on a truck.

If this jerk didn't understand that he was delivering 200+ joules to someone by using the defib pads, then he has alot more worries in his life than accidentally killing a woman. He went through the training about the machine before he got on the truck. He learned about the drugs he was to use before he got on the truck. He learned about the procedures he'd be performing before he got on the truck.

This wasn't stupidity in a "oh, he didn't know better" kind of way. This is SHOULD have known better as he was trained otherwise. Whether he was sleeping in class that day, or was just a general dumb-ass who had no respect for the variety of medications, machines, and procedures that EMT's and Paramedics use in their jobs, we'll never know. But HE should have known. SHOULD HAVE KNOWN. And disregarded it.

I mean, it's very basic physiology---you do not use a defib unless the person is in Vtach or Vfib. Defib is to reset the heart's electrical conduction. You DO NOT DEFIB someone who is in NSR or any other rhythm that does not require defibrillation. It's simple. It's a basic health-care-professional thing. I mean, I learned THAT in the 2 hour CPR class I took.

And I disagree with you that he's not a threat to society. Given the training he had to receive before he was eligible to step foot on the ambulance, and the basic fact that he DIRECTLY disregarded that information (defibing someone who did not have a rhythm that would need it), what else would he conveniently forget? EMT's and paramedics work with a variety of very potent and very deadly medications and they are administering these medications without doctors orders. I surely wouldn't want someone who was so complacent about their training to have that same complacent attitude when someone's life was in the balance. Whoops! I forgot to not give morphine to a patient in respiratory distress. Sorry for killing you, sir. It was just a mistake! My bad.

Whoops! I forgot to make sure that the c-spine was stable before transporting a patient. Sorry you're paralyzed from the eyelids down, ma'am. My bad. It was an oopsie on my part. I was just joking around.

Fuck that. It doesn't matter if his intent was to harm or not. His actions did harm, and his knowledge should have prevented him from harming. In your eyes, if there wasn't intent, there should be no punishment? That guy driving down the road didn't MEAN to run over your kid in the park and kill them. Sorry. No intent, no punishment......:shrug:

[BikeWriter]

61. That little Lady is rotting in her grave, and her babys cry.

She asked that arrogant asshole to leave her alone and not touch her. He did and he killed her, sixty years before her time. I would gladly end him now.

[JVS]

19. It doesn't seem fair that he gets a lesser charge just because he's a...

FUCKING MORON!

[nini]

22. Yea, our pesky laws can be a bitch sometimes

The involuntary homicide was a correct charge and conviction. Being stupid doesn't warrant a steeper charge. Murder is for 'intending' to kill the person.

What a freaking waste all around on this one. :(

[JVS]

23. A non-retarded adult should know not to do that.

I still think he's getting off easy.

[BikeWriter]

25. You got that right!

[nini]

29. Again.. I'm going by the definition of the law

which the courts and jury apparently saw.

I'm guessing with the dumbing down of America there are really stupid people out there that think because we see it save people on TV that it can't hurt that bad.

I'm saying he is DUMB - yes, he should be punished, but not beyond what his juvenile intent was.

We need to be careful to not punish people beyond their crimes. Punish - yes. More than they deserve - I'm not comfortable with that.

[JVS]

32. Fine. But I wouldn't mind seeing the law altered to make less...

of a distinction between doing something that you know could kill someone and doing something that you should know could kill someone. Like I said before you started replying: it's a shame that his extreme stupidity protects him.

[nini]

34. I agree on many levels

But stupidity does keep one from really getting the fact they can kill someone. What I really wonder is if this idiot hadnt' had training before being allowed to be around that equipment - why not? There's not excuse for that.


He should be punished more than someone that accidentally touched the paddles not realizing they were on or something. BUT less than someone who intentionally murdered another.

[Gormy Cuss]

56. It's too bad he doesn't live in a state with 'negligent homicide' charges

An EMT is trained to know better than to play with paddles -- or should be.
Meanwhile there's a dead woman and motherless children and this guy has to live with that guilt for the rest of his life.

On edit- I see that the article says he wasn't trained yet but he had been warned not to play with it. Since he's an adult, one would think that would be enough.

[BikeWriter]

67. If he were as educated as the average neocon he should know...

tasers can kill, and this was no taser!

[texas1928]

5. Don't they teach in training that those things are dangerous?

I guess he was absent that day.

[Xithras]

13. Yeah, but he hadn't been trained yet.

One would hope that ambulance companies would look for EMT candidates with a bit more maturity though.

[SixStrings]

6. How many time during training was this idiot told to

NEVER use the machine on a beating heart? Just incredible. Speechless.

[Beetwasher]

7. Holy Crap, What A Fucking Idiot!

Astounding. What a horrible story.

[ScreamingMeemie]

8. "Everybody plays on the job..." yeah...but most don't kill people, and

this job was a bit more serious than most. Good golly.

[skygazer]

9. "Everybody plays on the job, even cops."

Yeah, but do they shoot each other with their sidearms? Because that's the equivalent of what this moran did.

Fucking idiots in the world.

[LisaL]

10. What an idiot.

[BikeWriter]

11. I have a feeling this ####wit will not do well in prison.

[madinmaryland]

12. ***hat should have tried it on himself first.

At least then he could have gotten a Darwin Award for thinning the herd.

[KFC]

15. She couldn't take a joke?

Come on. He was just playing around.

[matcom]

16. .

:rofl:

[JVS]

20. LOL

:rofl:

[commander bunnypants]

17. right down the road from me

welcome to Virginny

CB

[JVS]

21. I would have no problem with it if he were to be executed

[pitohui]

24. jeez what a mess

involuntary manslaughter is the right call, if i were judge i think his sentence should be a bit longer because he was supposedly trained to know what shock can do

what a terrible thing to kill a young mother just starting out in life, i'm sure he feels terrible, but mom or no crying mom he is going to have to do some time for his mistake

[LisaL]

27. He tried to shock her just minutes before this, and she told him

to put the paddles away. Just a few minutes later, he did it again. Methinks he should get the max. And I don't think involuntary manslaughter is appropriate either. How someone that stupid made it to 24 is beyond my understanding. At least he is not going to practice his "magic" on any of the patients.

[pitohui]

31. i'm leaning he should get the max

but i still think involuntary is the right call

i can sure understand the arguments otherwise tho

[Pithlet]

26. I'm surprised he was even on that job.

I can't believe someone that stupid could pass the training. What a stupid thing to do. I feel for the victim's family. Poor kids :( All because of some stupid dumb@ss.

[LisaL]

28. He hasn't passed his training yet. He was in "training". What a

freaking moron. At least the patients are going to be safe from him.

[Pithlet]

30. My thought was

that there would be some preliminary courses you'd have to go to before you're even let on the ambulance. :scared:

[LisaL]

33. He had that, and was told not to mess with the defibrillator. It's

all in the story. The guy is a moronic asshole, pure and simple. They should definitely lock him up for the max sentence allowed.

[Pithlet]

36. I figured he had.

That he was able to complete it to someone's satisfaction is a puzzle to me. I also agree with you that the max sentence should apply. He can't possibly claim he meant no harm, because he knew at the very least that it would shock her. There was malicious intent, even if he didn't intend to kill her.

[nini]

35. exactly

I smell some lawsuits here.

[Left Is Write]

42. One would think so.

[xmas74]

52. You have courses

and you have time that you have to ride along. Then, once you find employment, you have a probationary period.
And I don't know about VA, but in MO EMT's are not allowed to handle paddles. That is strictly for paramedics. An EMT's coursework is an average of 6-9 months while a paramedic has that same course plus an average of two more years of coursework. Big difference between the two.

[Lars39]

44. He was a *new* EMT. He *was* trained.

They are calling him a rookie because he had only been on the job 4 days.

[LisaL]

45. He wasn't allowed to use the defibrillator, so his training must have

not been completed.

[Lars39]

50. Re-read it. You're right. The guy was an idiot.

Shame he wasn't weeded out of the program earlier.

[xmas74]

53. Depends on what state you're in.

In quite a few states, EMT's are not allowed to handle a defrib. That is strictly for paramedics. Usually, the EMT does the basic care (and sometimes the driving) while the paramedic does all advanced life care/support en route to the ER. Some states include defrib paddles as advanced life which falls in the range of the paramedic, instead of the EMT.

[jobycom]

37. With due respect to his mom, he's not a nice boy. He was told

not to play with the paddles, was told specifically by the victim not to touch her with them. I feel for the guy, but he deserves the maximum penalty. The fact that he was just trying to have fun doesn't override the fact that he disobeyed instructions and orders and killed someone because of it. He might be a pleasant and fun boy, but he's not a nice boy. Not to mention the coworker told him to stop. So he's also a bully.

Maybe his parents should have tried to train that out of him earlier in his life?

[TallahasseeGrannie]

39. He can be a nice boy in prison

and go to college and get three meals a day, visit with loved ones and plan to go on with his life in ten years.

She unfortunately can't.

[TallahasseeGrannie]

38. Guess that is why they scream "clear."

My son is a medic and he's been hit by mistake and said it knocked him about three feet away.

[lukasahero]

43. That's what I've been thinking while reading this thread and the report

To those who suggest he didn't "mean" to kill her because he hadn't finished his training and didn't know it could, *I* know it could kill her just by watching ER for goodness sakes.

You know, I'd bet they even have one of those neat little "Warning: this is not a toy" tags on the darn thing.

[Misunderestimator]

40. I suppose a rookie cop shooting a partner, playing with his new gun...

is also just making a good-natured mistake. Holy shit!

[Fenris]

47. "Hey Chuck! Look out!"

BLAM!

[LisaL]

49. Yep-jump, here comes the bullet.

[Left Is Write]

41. "Everybody plays on the job, even cops."

Most people know not to "play" with potentially dangerous medical equipment. This so-called prank was beyond stupid.

[LisaL]

48. Just unbelievable stupidity, if that is all that was.

The woman had told him just prior to that to not mess with the defibrillator, yet he did it anyway.

[Initech]

46. Wow, that's a pretty fucked up way to die.

[Cathyclysmic]

54. How good a EMT are you if don't know that STOPS THE HEART

:wow:

[bertha katzenengel]

55. Who gives a shit it was unintentional?! WHAT AN ASSHOLE!!

If it were a member of my family who'd been killed, I'd be hard pressed not to kill the mother fucker. What an idiot.

[LisaL]

59. Sounds like she was a single mother with two kids.

I imagine if she had a husband, they would have mentioned his reaction to this idiot's guilty plea. So, now these poor young kids are orphans, because of some idiot's idea of a joke. I say, lock the moron up and trow away the keys.

[bertha katzenengel]

60. Even more reason.

Believe it or not, I don't believe capital punishment is right. In moments of sheer rage, I'd like to see it applied to child molesters, but I don't think it's right.

It's not right for this guy, either. But I really hope the mother's loved ones get the chance to scream at him, spit upon him, and slap him fucking silly.

[BikeWriter]

65. You got that right, Pard. He'd be killed if he didn't get life in the pen.

[bleedingheart]

58. Mr. Stupid is going to prison because he is a murderer

sorry but even I know that those are dangerous tools used to revive people...and that they an kill people if used improperly.

The man is a complete and utter idiot, nice guy...my ass...

[BikeWriter]

62. Yes, he is a murderer.

[REP]

63. "Josh is a good kid! A good kid!"

And a fucking moron who KILLED someone by being stupid. But they're always "good kids," aren't they?

[Jamastiene]

64. What a fucking idiot.

It's a damn shame somebody had to die because of ignorance from someone who is supposed to know better. *sigh*

[CanuckAmok]

66. Holy crap. They use those as weapons in the military.

You don't play with D-fibs! Sheesh.