Someones in trouble here....JMO.

Sounds as if some more training is needed. The cops are doing their job, but aren't quite properly equipped to handle MOST medical emergencies...

Sad thing is that us tax payers are really the ones being sued. Now they'll find a way to up taxes to cover this.

 Sad thing is this Doctor was treated like a common drunk after suffering a stroke.   It sounds to me like the Officer had her mind made up regarding his condition and ignored the signs of stroke.  It also sounds as if she left out pertinent information in her report.  If it turns out all this is true, I hope she looses her badge.

What about the first ambulance crew? Why did they not notice signs of a stroke? Particularly since their report said the alcohol tests were negative. You would think that would have tipped them off to some sort of medical emergency other than diabetic shock or heart problems (which seems to be the only things they tested for from the story). Why did they give up on the neurological test just because the doctor was in handcuffs? They were supposed to be the medical professionals on the scene and it sounds like they let this police officer boss them around rather than tend to the doctor's medical needs.

Our cops are just screw ups. I am so done with our law enforcement. BPD's officers are a joke.......

After re-reading the article, I'm wondering about the 1st crew as well. Glucose tests, alcohol tests, but no neuro? That's an incomplete diagnosis, for sure. Did they try to do the test only to be thwarted by BPD? Who has the ultimate say-so in a case like this one?

Waaaait a minute there, Timec.  Don't give up on our law enforcement just yet.  Unfortunately, they don't teach Stroke Symptoms 101 in the academy.  They also don't teach Epileptic Seizure VS. Drug Overdose 1A  or That's Not an Assault Victim--They Have a Blood Clotting Disorder 1B.  Law Enforcement officers are not trained medical professionals.  They are trained in basic life-saving procedures like CPR, and that's it.  Don't fault the officers for not being paramedics.

If the EMT allowed the BPD to push them around, then they're also at fault.  The patient is their first and only priority.  If a cop pushes, they should have the b***s to push back for the patient's sake. 

The "patient" was declared a drunk by the BPD, always looking for the worse..they are there to protect and serve... EMT`s are known for pushing the police around...

The investigation is still on-going...it's easy for us to point fingers this early in the game....and ~Timec~ when I dial 9-1-1..thank god BPD shows up and not a bunch of ' homies ' flashing gang signs and colors

Lings  right, let some more facts come to light....

Ling

The homies will do the same thing the BPD is going to do.....shoot you....so either or will work for me....both are criminals.

timec, you have said in the past that you teach your kids that the police are good. You even make positive comments about them here sometimes. But other times, you call them criminals, crooked, murderers, etc. Why the double standard?

~Timec~.....please tell us ALL that you are kidding...you've got to be kidding....or are you off your 'meds'....we all know that you've had some bad experiences with law enforcement..but it's no longer 'a kinder and gentler nation'...there is a war here at home..and if we don't nip this in the butt here and now..then we'll wind up like the government south of the border....federal troops going after drug dealers here at home....think it's bad now...you don't EVEN want to see what those on our own streets.....

The first EMT team bears some responsibility here,but lets face it~ for most of us if an officer says jump,one asks how high ,Sir? Sounds to me like a officer had their mind made up,were bored or distracted and just did not care to explore other possibilities. Something went terribly wrong here.Now a neonatal specialists will likely never save lives again,two officers must bear the guilt,two EMT teams must also,several families are affected........we will pay for this tragic situation,sounds like a loss all the way around.

All we can hope for here is the BPD<CHP both learn a lesson and included some basic medical training. FUll disclosure: the morning my son was crawling on his hands and knees dying from cardiac arrest~I thank God,the Gods ~whoever~ it was the EM T's that got there first.It was too late, no matter~ but anyone else at 4am would think the worst of a 33 year old person.

Another example of needing to set the bar of knowledge higher before we give such power to police officers.  How can such an important position in our society require so little education

OB

I don't want my beliefs to rub off on my children. I want them to form their own opinion about police. I want to like cops...but every time I turn on the TV or computer I here stories like this one. The majority of the times the police are violating the rights of a person of color. I have issues  with that. I do not think it is morally right to swear to protect and don't. I don't think it is right to be a cop and target an entire race do to the color of their skin. I use to have the up most respect for police but that respect is gone.

Arresting a guy that is having a stroke is just stupid. He is in a benz and he has scrubs on .....come on people.....I just can't help but to wonder if this Dr was white would he be suffering from brain damage. Why don't these things happen to whites?

Ling

I have not had any bad experiences with LE.......I just know what they are capable of.

Lack of applicants, not so much cream to choose from nowdays,, Gotta fill the positions and they do accept Blackwater drop outs. recruiting posters at the southern Calif training base for Blackwater..

We all respond to situations differently.

A firefighter looks at a car accident and thinks "Is there a medical emergency here?"

A paramedic looks at a car accident and thinks "Is there a trip to the hospital here?"

A BPD officer looks at a car accident and thinks "Is there a crime here?"

A passing motorist looks at a car accident for as long as they can while driving 5 miles per hour.

"To protect and serve" ... or maybe" watch and judge"?

Two sobriety tests....at least a reworking of the procedures is in order. Naturally we all look at a situation with our blinders on~ and let me be clear LE does a nasty dirty job and I thank the aforementioned GODS somebody wants to do it~but this is a terrible loss to our community and to all those tiny lives hanging in the balance.

I agree, Sage.  Why TWO sobriety tests?  Still, the story said this man had suffered a stroke two years before.  I don't know how bad his first stroke was, but I'm really not sure he should have been driving in the first place.  Many people who have had strokes or have epileptic seizures have their licenses revoked, for fear that they may have another attack while driving.  This story could have gone very differently if, as a result of the man's stroke, he had hit and killed someone.  Then we would be reading about the victim's family's lawsuit alleging that the man shouldn't have risked public safety by driving.

And on another note--good thing he didn't have his stroke 3 hours before while performing surgery in the neonatal unit.  THEN we'd be looking at ANOTHER lawsuit from the child's family alleging that, with his medical history, he shouldn't have been performing surgeries in the first place, etc, etc, etc....

Sometimes even medical people can't tell that a persons had a stoke until a cat scan or other testing is done.   How is a cop on the beat supposed to be able to make that determination? 

Since strokes can result in a variety of symptoms family members often misjudge the seriousness of the situation until the damage is done.    My dad was lucky.  My mother was an LVN and each time my dad had a stroke, she rushed him to the ER.   In their last years together my dad was my mom's only patient.  Boy he got good care!

Can`t twist the fact that the BPD screwed up big time, 10m is getting off a little easy in my view, If you can`t trust a police officer to have the judgement to save a life better to have a fireman respond to all auto accidents.. Give me a CHP or a fireman any day..keep the BPD away and let them do thier jobs of being upscale security gaurds

If If If

If if was a fifth we would all be drunk.....None of the above happened. He had a stroke and the cops used very poor judgment....period!

The real if question is ....What IF he had be transported to the hospital timely?

While were at it, I think we should make doctors brush up on the penal code.   How about teachers learning crop rotation.  Lawyers taking a course on framing a house.   

That way no one will ever get sued for not knowing how to do everything!

Thats all I am saying ,he passed two sobriety tests~ seems to me it would be time to "gurney up" and get the guy to a hospital .

After passing a sobriety test, the next logical conclusion would be that he's on drugs.

http://www.strokeassociatio... link to ASA<one can see how easily it would be to think drugs,drunk etc.

I know Audrey~ thats why I am amazed at the drug counselor that looked out at the street to see my son crawling on his hands and kness in the middle of a street at 4 am~  and saw a person who needed help .

Okay, you guys.  Have it your way.  Enjoy paying your share of the $10,000,000.  It won't cost me anything--I live in the county. ; )

Catherine, technically the story said that the police report said the nurse told the officer that the doctor had suffered a stroke two years ago. The nurse refutes that and says she had no knowledge of his medical history. It never did confirm whether that was an invention by the officer or the actual truth. If it is true, obviously he was still competent enough to perform neonatal surgery, so he was competent enough to drive. You don't lose your license permanently after a medical emergency.

True, Shwaine.  I really can't make any reliable determinations just based on this one article.  Neither can anyone else.

There is one determination that certainly can be made.  Someone is lying. 

"There is one determination that certainly can be made.  Someone is lying. "

DG--That sounds like a great opening line for an Agatha Christie mystery. : )

sage, the article says the ambulance person was told the man was given 2 alcohol breath tests, both of which registered zero. First off, you say he was given 2 sobriety tests. Sobriety tests are where an officer has a person do various tasks to see if they can balance, if they sway, can follow instructions, etc. That is way different than a breath test. And if a person does not do the breath test properly, it will register zero. I would assume a person who had just suffered a stroke would not be able to complete a breath test properly. And since the guy was in handcuffs, he couldn't perform the standard sobriety tests. But an officer will evaluate a person they suspect is under the influence of drugs or alcohol from the time they first come in contact with them.

And timec, what you said about the guy driving a Benz and wearing scrubs is just like you. What does one's social status, job, color, the car they drive, etc, make them exempt from committing a crime? And have you ever arrested a practicing, licensed physic an for abusing and/or being under the influence of a controlled substance? There have been numerous such arrests right here n town over the years. And the Calif. DOJ and the DEA both have units who investigate doctors who abuse and steal drugs.

So far I don't see anyone here who said they were there and can give us the whole scoop. All we have is an article from TBC. I will wait for a more credible source before I pass judgment.

OB~ please forgive a lay persons mistake.I am passing no judgment here<look at all my comments...something somewhere went tragically wrong~that is all i am saying...that and it would be dandy to find out what!

sage, my comment was for everyone to read. I was not picking on you. Besides, I like those sunglasses. :) 

Cool!

Rickldo, I agree.  Just from the info I see, the Amb. crew didn't do a very good job.  I think the police have control of the scene but defer medical care to the more qualified.  From my experience LE does a good job of providing medical aid with the limited training they are given.

It's sad that we didn't find out about this earlier. All this happened 7 months ago and we're just hearing the story? It's a tragedy...

Rickldo-I thought the same thing too. Why didn't this get published right away, we only heard about it because the claim that was filed.

It's another tragedy that Mayor Hall and Hall Ambulance Co are allowed to have a monopoly in a town this size...

I don't know, but there's been a conflict of interest for years.

I'm not sure either but I can only imagine they will be in some way or another.

So lets now attack Mayor Hall because of something that his employees may or may not have had anything to do with. Give us some details rickldo how what you said had anything to do with this incident. My guess is you can't. So typical.

Good story vanityfair! We as citizens,should be concerned about policies and procedures~ were there any internal investigations by either Hall or the BPD? That's what I want to know.

I'm not "attacking" Mayor Hall, OB, I just feel, as many do, that there should be some sort of competition when it comes to ambulance service. There's plenty of blame to pass around here.  The first ambulance crew, the BPD officer...

This is not on the EMT's or Harvey Hall. The only individual at fault is this female cop. The police take charge of these types of situations...they are bullies.

OB,  I know that Dr's can be druggies, rapist, and all of that .....but look at the whole combination of events.....2 negative s. test, he is a professional man driving a fancy ride....just maybe he is not drunk or on drugs ...guess what he just might be sick. I know you are a cop but not all people do drugs OB and that is the mentality you GOB's need to shake. This female cop used incredibly poor judgment and she needs to be looking for a new job.

OK I am willing to give the cop the benefit of the doubt....she wasn't trained........................fine.............. ...............s*** happens....pay the man.