#15571 - 06/01/08 08:59 PM
HR3822
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Tree Marsoobian
Member
ATCEMSEA
Registered: 07/25/05
Posts: 346
Loc: South Austin, TX
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Two points... One is HR3822. The bike team met with Congressman Doggett during the EMS bike ride in support of this. Doggett was only one of two state congressional leaders of the 24 states represented on the bike ride to request to meet their respective bike team when we rolled through DC (all reps were sent a letter including details of the bike ride as well as info re: HR3822). He is very much for it! (As a side note, he was recently involved in a bike accident in Austin and broke his leg -- thanks to Elizabeth Campbell and Bill Needles -- of which he gave a huge kudos to them and ATCEMS during our visit). I didn't even know this bill existed until speaking with others from the EMS bike ride earlier this year so I thought I'd share.
On October 12, 2007, Congressman Keith Ellison (D‐MN) introduced HR3822, a bill which would extend the federal public safety officer (death) benefits from governmental police and fire to include non‐governmental and volunteer firefighters, ground and air ambulance crew members, and first responders. If passed, the federal death benefit would be extended to the currently ineligible families of hospital‐based, non‐profit and independent fire, ambulance and first responder personnel killed in the line of duty.
Second part involves this horrific story -- (was just sent to me in an email)
A couple weeks ago, a non-governmental ambulance based in rural Illinois picked up a shooting victim on the Illinois side of St. Louis. As they were transporting the victim to the hospital, the original shooter sped by the ambulance in a car and fired several rounds from a semi-automatic weapon at the ambulance in an attempt to finish off the victim. One of the shots went just past the female paramedic attendant’s face and shattered a radio on the wall. Another of the shots hit the paramedic driving the ambulance in the chest.
This incident has been widely reported in the media. Part of the attached file has been played on numerous TV stations and is widely available on the internet. The video the public has seen and heard is from the ambulance camera that records from the cab of the ambulance out the front of the vehicle. The attached video shows that, but also show the other side, from the windshield into the back of the ambulance, capturing the driver being shot as well as the shots flying into the back of the ambulance. If you don’t want to see the inside of the ambulance on the video, you can see a scrubbed (front only) version from this internet link from a local TV station: (video graphic in nature)
http://www.ksdk.com/video/default.aspx?aid=77151&bw
The driver-paramedic that was shot is recovering and was discharged from the hospital two days ago. I do not know his long term prognosis in terms of recovery or ability to return to the job.
This video is another example of the risks borne by non-governmental ambulance personnel. The risks are no different than those of governmental paramedics.
The owner of the ambulance company gave this to me and also gave permission to share it with members of Congress and their staff.
Our request: show this to committee staff and let’s push them to start moving on HR3822. The owner of the ambulance company will make himself available to testify, and he believes the both the male and female paramedics would also be willing, once recovered. We should also use it to motivate Illinois and Missouri members of Congress.
_________________________
"We should look for someone to eat and drink with before we look for something to eat and drink." Epicurus
"All you have to do is move the hydrogen back and forth across these little arrows. How hard is that?!"
Andy Johnson
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#15573 - 06/02/08 06:44 PM
Re: HR3822
[Re: Tammy Mezayek]
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Bill Needles
ATCEMSEA
Registered: 03/07/03
Posts: 423
Loc: Round Rock, Tx
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We are already covered as a municipal third service, this is for private services and first responders...Bill
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