Virginia firefighters suspended for taking baby to hospital in fire engine
(Thanks to readers Bernie Vega & Becky Wright for sending this story to STATter911.com.)
Two Falmouth Volunteer Fire & Rescue Department firefighters have been suspended by the Stafford County Fire & Rescue Department for transporting an 18-month-old child to the hospital in a fire engine. The incident occurred last Saturday (February 27) at the McDonald’s near Ferry Farms when Captain James Kelley and Sgt. Virgil Bloom arrived to find the child was having a seizure and had turned blue.
Stafford County Fire & Rescue Department told The Free Lance-Star it would not comment while an investigation is underway. According to the article, the baby is still alive.
Vanessa Remmers. The Free Lance-Star:
“Considering all the factors—the presentation of the child, the unknown location of the medic unit, and the distance to the hospital—I felt it was in the patient’s best interest to transport immediately,” Kelley wrote in a statement he provided to the county.
He said the child was placed on oxygen in the fire engine and was laid in the trauma room within 13 minutes of getting the call.
But Falmouth Volunteer Fire Chief Christopher Smith and Kelley both contend that Kelley didn’t violate a written Stafford policy. Smith said he would have done the same thing because the priority is always the best care of the patient.
