Pixiq

Shame that the paramedic didn’t think to radio for help (for the patient) then allow himself to be arrested, with the end goal being to have the officer charged with a felony.

Nothing like a felony charge to keep an officer from harassing anyone else.

Not that I do anything nearly as important as paramedics, but in my years of driving the fire police buggy, I have never expected to have anyone be going fast enough to pull up behind me, nonetheless someone else running lights and sirens to a call. It did happen to me once, though – my chief pulled up behind me while we were splitting two lanes of traffic in the city. I radioed him on our private channel and told him to go ahead around me when we make the turn, which he did, as he was in his pickup truck and I’m driving a sluggish old ambulance that doesn’t have the greatest acceleration in the world.

So, no, the ambulance driver shouldn’t be expected to be watching his mirrors. As with all drivers, but ESPECIALLY when driving an emergency vehicle in an emergency situation, all of his attention should be on the road in front of him.

The failure to yield is a tricky situation, as in most if not all states, there is no differentiation or clarification as to who should yield to whom when it comes to two emergency vehicles going in the same direction. It hardly ever happens, and most of the times that it does, everyone’s going to the same place. The only situation that ever is addressed is when it comes to intersections.

If the emergency call for the Trooper was so dire, why did he have time to come back and pull over an ambulance?

http://digg.com/world_news/Cops_Fight_Paramedic_En_Route_to_Hospital_w_V...

Why didn’t the cop pull in front of the ambulance and escort it to the hospital?!? Aren’t they on the same “team?”

Another Contempt of Cop incident, brought to you by Amerika, The Police State.

Absolutely ridiculous and an abuse of authority.

Did they know they were being filmed?

I lived in OK for a while and I can tell you what the real issue is here, the ER is negro, the OHP is gringo. how dare a negro talk back to a gringo without tap dancin’ and saying things like “yessa massa police man, yessa”. There is a reason the OHP all shaves to the scalp, the most racist state I have ever lived in was Oklahoma

At one point in the hospital, the trooper told the paramedic that he was so enraged about the perceived “flipping off” gesture that he considered pulling his gun out and using deadly force, according to the paramedic’s transport report.

That officer isn’t suitable for the job, in fact he should be put away behind bars.

Oklahoma State Police. Only thing they have going for themselves is that the New Mexico State Police are worse!!!

Sounds to me like a simple case of a cop with road rage!

That cop is lucky that the patient wasn’t in an immediately-life-threatening condition (though I would hope that if she was, the ambulance wouldn’t have stopped until they reached the hospital). If the patient had died, he would be facing a wrongful death lawsuit. I would like to think he would be facing charges, but I know better than to expect that.

Sometime in the future, this cop's going to find himself lying face down in a grungy alley in a pool of his own blood. And he'll be glad people like this paramedic are there to save his ass.

I hope this pig got fired for this.

Unbelievable

Wrongful death? For the Only Ones choking EMTs enough, internal affairs investigation would yield, say, 3 days paid leave. LOL

And yeah, you can’t have a white cop perceiving offense from a black EMT, or the world would end, or his ego, which are equivalent.

Remember, it’s the Only One’s country, and you just live in by their leave.

Second that anonymous, Jones is trying to Jones this up and his credibility is the weakest here.

I would follow that EMT anywhere.

Let’s remember to show Carlos Miller at least some $5 love for his courage and this space. Thx!

AS A PARAMEDIC (GA)RETIRED, I WAS TRANSPORTING A PT FROM GA TO FL HOSPITAL(REHAB). AS WE ENTERED FL, OUTSIDE JACKSONVILLE, I NOTICE A POLICE
OFFICE(PLAIN CLOTH) IN A SQUAD CAR. HE WAS ABOUT 3 CAR BACK. HE WENT AROUND US AND GOT IN FRONT OF US. ABOUT 2 OR 3
MILES, HE LET US BY AND GOT IN BEHIND US. I TOLD MY PARTNER THAT HE WAS BEHIND US. AL OF SUDDEN, HE TURNED HIS LIGHTS AND SIRENS ON. AS HE EXITED HIS CAR, HE UNBUCKLED HIS HOSTLER AS HE WALKED TOWARD THE AMBULANCE. HE INFORMED THE DRIVER THAT HE WAS TAILGATING HIM, IN THE SLOW LANE. HE ALSO MENTION THAT FACT, THAT WE AS A PRIVATE EMS SERVICE HAD NO REGARDS FOR THE LAW. I INFORMED THE OFFICER WE HAD A TRACH PATIENT ON A VENT AND HAD TO GO. HE REALLY DID NOT LIKE THAT. HE LET US GO WITH A WARNING. THE DRIVER WAS NOT TAIL GATING HIM AND THE MOVE UNBUCKLING HIS HOSTLER WAS ODD.

Jones, you and I have clearly polar opposite ideas of what assault entails. I would wager if someone pushed you up against your vehicle and grabbed you by the throat that would qualify as “assault”, nevertheless, since this criminal is wearing a uniform no assault happened. I think you are prejudicial on the side of the police, which lets me know that you are part of the corrupt thinking that makes this behavior possible. If you want to get technical about it, the EMT was actually “battered” which involves actual “touching for intimidation or harm.”

The officer only grabbed him by the throat because he was arresting him and he was resisting so it was neither an assault or a battery.

Shouldn’t it be OBVIOUS by now that Jones is 13, in his underwear and blogging in his parents basement?

God Bless Tiny Tim and Jones’s everywhere:)

It took a 13 year old to catch the EMT’S lie when the rest of you couldn’t figure it out.

…

Frankly, I don’t give a rip about what any of them “SAID.” I care that an ambulance in transport was detained. (Nationwide people are outraged.) I don’t even care if someone “lied.” Which in this case I don’t believe, however, the most important component is that an emergency vehicle was stopped in an emergency situation, a person in distress in the back, and
instead of an escort to the hospital, this pitiful excuse for a public servant wants to have it out with the EMTs. ARREST AN EMT CARRYING OUT HIS JOB?? People who approve of this behavior and defend the police in this instance are difficult for me to comprehend.

Here’s the latest I’ve been able to find on this story.
http://newsok.com/oklahoma-highway-patrol-trooper-cites-gesture-in-repor...

Thank you for pointing that out Jones, and you are correct I was mistaken that they ambulance was running an 18 on the call (lights and sirens). However, just because of the lack of lights and sirens, does not mean the ambulance was not running an emergency situation, it just meant that the paramedic felt that the patient was stable enough to not have to use the lights and sirens to go through lights, etc. The reason that this is done is basically for the protection of the patient and those on the road, because studies have shown that using lights and sirens and going through intersections, etc., has proven to be dangerous and has caused many accidents. Lights and sirens do offer a quicker chance at getting to the hospital, however, it becomes more dangerous because many people are confused by lights and sirens and this confusion or misconceptions does lead to incidents. However, I still believe that this was handled improperly, especially because all the officer had to do was inquire as to why the ambulance was in use. Lastly, I will say and I’ll post the link: http://www.mojvideo.com/video-reporter-dave-jordan-on-alex-jones-tv-with... , that there are reports that this officer has pulled other ambulances over. I will not comment on whether this is true or not as more information needs to be gathered.

Wow, these cops need to be stripped of their badges and thrown in jail.

Kyle, I understand the whole lights and sirens and people don’t know how to drive and get confused by them so sometimes it’s easier not to use them thing.

The reason I mentioned it is because it makes a big difference. Lights and sirens obvious emergency, no lights and sirens unknown if there is an emergency. As I said before, once the officer knew they were transporting a patient he should have just followed them to the hospital if he wanted to proceed but the initial stop is ok (depending on how it was driving) since he didn’t know they had a patient.

Honestly, I think my real problem with the traffic stop comes from the fact that the officer appears to have thrown reason out the window. With no lights and sirens, the officer does have the right to pull over the ambulance (as far as I know), however, to pull over anyone in such an erratic manner is, quite frankly, scary. I’m not even talking on how he acted during the stop, just in how he drove to pull the ambulance over. Yet, Jones, I will definately say not having lights and sirens on does change the intial circumstances.

Well, now from the story that Robert posted a link to, we have the cop (Martin) caught in a lie too. “Another scuffle ensued, and Martin said White grabbed him around the neck, refusing to let go. Martin said he applied a choke hold on White’s neck to release the grip.” But the video shows that White never grabbed Martin, around the neck or otherwise. On the contrary, Martin seems to have done all the grabbing in the second scuffle. So according to jones’ reasoning on White’s statement, that means that Martin’s credibility is gone and we can’t believe a word he says either.

After the altercation starts it is possible White grabbed Martin around the neck because the video goes off of them and you can’t see what is happening.

We also know that news articles are not always accurate so we don’t know if Martin actually made that allegation or if it’s just another sloppy article. White’s allegation came from his own written statement so we know he made that false claim.

I always give cops the benefit of the doubt but it looks like he was out of order here.

My guess is that (barring a pattern of crazyness from this officer) that the ambulance driver probably DID flip the cop off (see occam’s razor) but that still doesn’t excuse choking the driver. That is road rage -plain and simple – and cops have to no right to road rage without consequences.

If I was a juror I would probably rule for the ambulance driver and reccommend a nominal award ($10-20K). Where is my gavel…

Jones,

An opportunity to stretch your mind…

Have you ever left your house, then re-entered it? I imagine that this has happened… sometimes several times in a single day…

You have stated that the EMT stepped out of the ambulance (in the video) and immediately spoke to the other OHP about assault… Seems to me that he might be referring to being dragged out of the ambulance by his arm at the beginning of the stop. After which point he re-entered that ambulance (to check on the patient, perhaps?), then re-exited, under his own power, and spoke to the other cop about assault charges.

If he exited the ambulance more than once (not a stupendously unlikely scenario) then in all likelihood he is not lying… and all of the bluster about credibility goes away….

Addendum…

Before I get shish-kebabed here… a careful re-reading of the statement does not support the scenario I suggested… However i still attest to the fact that there is much happening while the family member with the cell cam is making his circuit of the scene… Just because it did not get captured does not mean that it did not happen… I really hope that the dah cam footage gets released

Here’s another updated article on this story, including links to a witness statement, as well as officer reports.

Sorry, forgot to paste the link in
http://www.newson6.com/Global/story.asp?S=10464730

Just FYI, the contact info for the Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol is choffice@dps.state.ok.us…

Amongst their “core values” listed are:
LOYALTY
HONESTY
RESPECT
INTEGRITY
PROFESSIONALISM
SELF-DISCIPLINE

I want to hear what a LEO thinks about this. Pulling over an ambulance? Are you serious?

As a former EMT in NYS I can say several thing aas least as driving is concerned. First rear view mirrors are nearly useless in an ambulance, I used them to see where my partner was. this is important because even a slight sudden movement can send a standing medic flying and cause serious injury. Second, sometimes it’s a bad idea to use lights and sirens even with a seriously ill patient, because it increases stress in the patient. Third, make some noise, I had two radios to monitor, and a paramedic I’m taking instructions from, I just might not see you, put your sirens on so I HEAR YOU. Fourth and finally, if God forbid your parked Trooper Car get nailed by a drunk with you in it in Rural OK, there is a difference between adequate response time and gettin’ there to help a fellow public safety officer. You don’t pull the ambulance over for a MINOR infraction, you get my Ambulance no. and since you have me on your dash cam, you send me the ticket later. One thing I’d of done differently, and they might of done this, I’d radio for local police to come as well, because I or my partner probably know them by name, and they usually dislike the state police.

Police Fire and EMS should act like a team and in my experiences we did. That trooper let his adrenalin take over something you are trained not to do, that’s assuming you have had decent training. It’s an ambulance with a patient who requires advanced life support, this was truly the act of a poorly trained moron who regardless of the legalities of this particular incident shouldn’t have a badge.

And cops wonder why so many people dislike and will not trust them?

I also support Georgia Paramedic Hayden Barnes’s BOYCOTT of QuikTrips, ConocoPhillips, and Alamo and National Car Rental companies for us out of towners while we are

NOT driving through Oklahoma watching out for OHP without their sirens on running ambulances off the road on the way to stolen car reports and returning to illegally assault EMT.

(Bonus: don’t let your friends or neighbors attend Valdosta University in Georgia if they care about free speech and due process:)

This boycott could destroy Oklahoma, they may never recover. You’ll show them!

Guy – (Bonus: don’t let your friends or neighbors attend Valdosta University in Georgia if they care about free speech and due process:

Shouldn’t my friends and neighbors be free to attend whatever university they want.

Jones — Utah’s tourism hasn’t recovered from the officer who thought it would be fun to taser a driver who refused to sign a traffic ticket.

As far as your friends, they’re most likely free to attend whatever school they want, I’d recommend expressing that freedom by choosing carefully.

The Dave, saying recommend makes a little more sense. Guy said “don’t let” in the same sentence that he is advocating free speech, just seemed a little hypocritical to me.

The driver in Utah was tasered for resisting arrest and the tasering was totally justified. I do think the officer should have done a better job of talking to the driver and not letting it escalate.

With all due respect, I disagree. The motorist had no obligation to sign the ticket, all the officer needed to do was hand the ticket to the motorist, say “Have a nice day”, get back in his car and proceed.

The driver got $40,000 out of the deal too, the officer was suspended and sent for re-training, so I’d suggest that despite the official “officer was justified” ruling, the outcome speaks for itself.

Honestly if I had the choice, I’d probably let some good ‘ol boy from Utah taser me for $40,000 too…

Jones, I was talking about friend and neighbors and it is of course a choice.

I am quite kool with your kids attending Valdosta.

“I also support Georgia Paramedic Hayden Barnes’s BOYCOTT of QuikTrips, ConocoPhillips, and Alamo and National Car Rental companies for us out of towners while we are

NOT driving through Oklahoma watching out for OHP without their sirens on running ambulances off the road on the way to stolen car reports and returning to illegally assault EMT.

(Bonus: don’t let your friends or neighbors attend Valdosta University in Georgia if they care about free speech and due process:)”

Down with the Police State.

Well, after reading all of the above comments, I tend to believe the two eye witnesses to the event:

To Whom It May Concern:
On Sunday, May 24th, 2009, my cousin and I were coming back from the Paden Cemetery and came to Main Street. Before we got to the stop sign at 62 highway and Main Street, we saw an ambulance pass and as we got to the stop sign, we say a highway patrol pass. We turned on highway 62 going west and we saw the ambulance pulled over in front of the bank and the patrol car behind it. The officer was standing in our lane of 62 highway talking to the driver and we could not pass since they were in our lane. The other EMT was in the ambulance with the patient. He opened the door and was trying to talk to the officer. The officer then came around the ambulance shouting, “I’ll arrest you for obstruction of justice”, and the EMT stated, “Hey Man, we need to get her to the hospital, follow us there.” By this time the lady in the ambulance family were running to see about her, and the husband was pleading with the officer to get his wife to the hospital. The officer would not pay attention to them. He, the officer kept yelling at the EMT that he was going to arrest him and then the officer pushed the EMT against the ambulance and was going to handcuff him. The EMT Never tried to strike the patrolman, he kept his hands up as if protecting his face. Then the patrolman got the EMT in a head lock. We were horrified by the patrolman’s behavior. He have NO thought to the poor woman in the ambulance or her family. As the patrolman was trying to handcuff the EMT, another highway patrolman came up and began to try to calm the situation down and in our opinion the first highway patrolman acted very unprofessionally. The EMT’s were trying to do their jobs, and he was keeping them from getting that poor lady to the hospital. He was flat rude and hateful to the family. We felt both EMTs tried very hard to remain professional and wanted their patient to be cared for. That first highway patrolman should be ashamed of himself. The time wasted on his actions could have been the time that meant life or death for that lady. In our eyes, the EMTs did nothing wrong and were treated very badly. He should have to publicly apologize especially to the lady and the family as well as the EMTs who were only trying to do their jobs.
Sincerly,
Diana Walkup
Peggy Skaggs

These two ladies were just innocent IMPARTIAL by-standers.
According to the eye witnesses, the Paramedic was NOT the aggressor or the one who caused the whole thing.
Those two OHP officers should be fired–yesterday!!!

I am appalled. The most important issue here is the woman in the ambulance; perceived emergency or not, her ethical right to receive prompt and immediate care was violated by the patrolmen who stopped her transport. The woman needs to press charges.

OHP HAS released without comment the 8 minute video, showing clearly that the trooper was the aggressor and the EMT professional throughout.

More updates: The female with the trooper was his wife. The trooper and his lawyer will be making a public statement on Monday.

Until Trooper Martin is disciplined/retrained and apologies issued from the Oklahoma Governor’s office to White, the patient and her family, I continue to support Georgia Paramedic Hayden Barnes’s BOYCOTT of QuikTrips, ConocoPhillips, and Alamo and National Car Rental companies for us out of towners while we are

NOT driving through Oklahoma watching out for OHP and their wives running ambulances off the road on the way to stolen car reports and returning to illegally assault EMT.

All life threatening emergencies trump any other. Since the officer did not mention his at all, you must assume it was not life threatening. The police should be charged for impeding an emergency vehicle without due cause. The run that the officer was making code 1 should be investigated to see if there was even a call. Police logs should show the call. All of the officers that touched the EMT should be charged with a felony just like a criminal would be charged. If an officer would have been in the ambulance heads would have rolled so treat these guys like anyone else. The ambulance was Code 2 Lights and Sirens they had right of way.
All I can say is – what would happend if the Governor or his mother was in that Ambulance?

Joe, the video from the trooper and his wife show that they HAD their siren on.

That doesn’t excuse the assault on the EMT’s.

OK -Please POST/REPOST

“Until Trooper Martin is disciplined/retrained and apologies issued from the Oklahoma Governor’s office to White, the patient and her family, I continue to support Georgia Paramedic Hayden Barnes’s BOYCOTT of QuikTrips, ConocoPhillips, and Alamo and National Car Rental companies for us out of towners while we are

NOT driving through Oklahoma watching out for OHP and their wives running ambulances off the road on the way to stolen car reports and returning to illegally assault EMT.”

I’d like you to consider this:

This OHP v. EMT incident has received national attention. YouTube has the incident footage rated as the #2 all-time viewed on the site. Fox News today (Sat. June 13th, 2009) has expressed outrage at the officer’s actions. As more Americans learn of the incident, more outrage and attention is being displayed. *** My point is this:

A window of opportunity has emerged for the EMS field.

If we can all take a moment to rise above the emotion of this incident, we can educate and sway the hearts and minds of Americans to the following points:

1. The patient’s safety and well-being was put at risk by the officer’s actions. As a medical professional, it was Medic White’s DUTY to ensure the patient’s care. When doctors or EMTs are restricted from this duty, we all are at risk.

2. Medic White’s words/actions/demeanor was and is absolutely flawless. It’s the officer who appears as the crazed maniac. By keeping a professional face, Medic White was able to show the world that EMS is a profession with the highest standards. This will most certainly affect the outcome of his case.

3. An EMT is an agent of the public’s safety. As with medical doctors, all citizens should be aware and support the duty of such EMS professionals when a medical incident arises. The image and reputation of the medical doctor continues to be regarded in a high manner, and we now have an opportunity to elevate EMS closer to that position.

Of course all of us have read incidents where an EMS professional failed to rise to the standards of the profession. Here we have a case where EMS has exceeded those standards. We need to announce this incident to the world. I hope Medic White is rewarded for his professionalism, but I further hope that EMS is rewarded for the high standards that most of us adhere to every day.

Please make sure you tell your friends and family about this incident. Medic White kept his professional demeanor under some of the most difficult circumstances.

It can only help our profession.

UPDATE: June 15th, 3pm: Trooper Martin’s attorney call Medic White “A DANGER TO THE COMMUNITY”:

http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=12&articleid=20090...

note the comments from concerned Oklahoma citizens.

A decent legal analysis video of it is here:

http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=116601&autoStart=true&topVide...