2 Paramedics' Licenses Yanked For Refusing To Treat Patient
CHICAGO (CBS) -- WBBM Newsradio has learned the licenses of two paramedics in Chicago have been suspended because they are accused of failing to treat a patient.
As Steve Miller reports, the director of Emergency Medical Services in Cook County has effectively denied the two paramedics the right to treat patients for now, accusing the paramedics of several violations, including failure to provide medical care.
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The incident in question occurred July 6.
The paramedics are also accused of failing to document ambulance runs, which the EMS director says is a regular pattern of substandard, incomplete and/or lack of documentation.
WBBM Newsradio is told the tone of the letter to the paramedics makes it clear that if this happens again, their licenses could be taken away permanently.
Fire Department spokesman Larry Langford confirms the license suspension by the EMS director, and Langford says such a suspension is rare.
He says the Fire Department is also investigating.
WBBM Newsradio reported a month ago on a similar case from Memorial Day.
In that incident, a paramedic is accused of falsifying a report on an ambulance run for man who refused to be taken to the hospital, by entering "no patient found" into the computer system and leaving. The man later died.
This case apparently involves different paramedics.
Asked how long the paramedics have been on the job, Langford said, "They're not new."
