MD EMT saves life of cop who has been his friend since childhood

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Mark Brady, PGFD chief spokesman:

Today, a Seat Pleasant Volunteer EMT received an award from the Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department for saving the life of a longtime friend and fellow volunteer who is also a County Police Officer. Additionally, the Prince George’s County Police Department extended its most sincere thanks to Seat Pleasant Volunteer EMT Phil Martin for his quick and heroic action in helping to get emergency help to one of their officers.

The County Police explained the scenario as in the early morning hours of March 3rd, Police Officer First Class Ricardo Biddy who is also a Seat Pleasant Volunteer EMT was leaving his firehouse after his shift in his Prince George’s County police cruiser. As Biddy pulled up in front of his home which was 15 minutes away, he was on the phone with Seat Pleasant volunteer EMT Phil Martin. While idling inside his cruiser while parked in front of his home, Officer Biddy’s speech suddenly became slurred and the call was disconnected.

EMT Martin, knowing something could be horribly wrong, immediately called public safety communications who dispatched Police and Fire/EMS. Martin then jumped in his personal vehicle and traced Officer Biddy’s route home. Once Martin located the cruiser, he found Biddy unresponsive inside. Other emergency units soon arrived and rushed Biddy to the hospital where he got the help he needed.

It was determined that Biddy’s cruiser was leaking carbon monoxide into the car and the reason he was so sick and had passed out was due to CO poisoning from the car.

The Prince George’s County Police Department is confident that the carbon monoxide leak in Biddy’s car was an isolated to his cruiser alone. There was repair work performed on the cruiser just a few months earlier at the dealership. As part of an internal investigation, the department learned Biddy had taken his cruiser to county fleet maintenance in January and February after smelling what he thought were exhaust fumes inside his vehicle. Testing on vehicle by the county, dealership, and hazmat officials found nothing wrong during those visits. After the medical incident, fleet maintenance workers recreated what Biddy had done on March 3rd and discovered carbon monoxide was leaking into the cabin. The cruiser was sent back to the dealership which discovered there was a crack in the engine’s manifold.

Officer Biddy and Volunteer EMT Martin are lifelong friends having met when they were just 7 years old. At an interagency press conference today held at the County Police HQ in Landover, EMT Martin was bestowed with a Prince George’s County Fire/EMS Department’s Emergency Service Award. Volunteer Martin was presented an award from Deputy Fire Chief James McClelland on behalf of Fire Chief Benjamin Barksdale. The Award read:

“Your quick thinking and immediate action helped save the life of your friend and colleague and are commendable and worthy of recognition. Therefore, you are hereby awarded a Fire/EMS Department Emergency Services Award. Your actions reflect well on you personally and professionally and exemplify the excellent caliber of service we strive to provide at all times and in every circumstance.”

PGPD News:

Today the Prince George’s County Police Department extended its most sincere thanks to Seat Pleasant Volunteer EMT Phil Martin for his quick and heroic action in helping to get emergency help to one of our officers.

In the early morning hours of March 3rd, Police Officer First Class Ricardo Biddy who is also a Seat Pleasant Volunteer EMT was leaving his firehouse after his shift in his Prince George’s County police cruiser. As PFC Biddy pulled up in front of his home which was 15 minutes away, he was on the phone with his friend, Seat Pleasant volunteer EMT Phil Martin. While idling inside his cruiser which was parked in front of his home, Officer Biddy’s speech suddenly became slurred and incoherent and then the call disconnected.
EMT Martin, knowing something could be horribly wrong, immediately called public safety communications who dispatched Police and Fire/EMS. Martin then jumped in his personal vehicle and traced Officer Biddy’s route home. Once Martin located the cruiser, he found Biddy unresponsive inside. Other emergency units soon arrived and rushed Biddy to the hospital where he got the help he needed.

It was determined that Biddy’s cruiser was leaking carbon monoxide into the car, poisoning the officer.

The Prince George’s County Police Department believes that the carbon monoxide leak in Officer Biddy’s car was isolated to his cruiser alone. There was repair work performed on the cruiser in January at the dealership which included the replacing the engine’s manifold. As part of an internal investigation, the department learned Biddy took cruiser to county fleet maintenance after that repair in January and February upon smelling what he thought were exhaust fumes inside his vehicle. Testing on the vehicle by the county, dealership, and hazmat officials found nothing wrong during those visits. After the medical incident, fleet maintenance workers recreated what Biddy had done on March 3rd and discovered carbon monoxide was leaking into the cabin. The cruiser was sent back to the dealership which discovered there was a crack in the engine’s manifold.

Officer Biddy and Volunteer EMT Martin are lifelong friends having met when they were just 7 years old. At an interagency press conference today, EMT Martin was given the Prince George’s County Fire Department’s Emergency Service Award for his “quick thinking and immediate action to help save the life of a fellow member and friend.”