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Lifestar Response of Alabama12/3/2004
tient care be interrupted);
"2. Request transfer of information from ambulance crew;
"3. Remain in charge of the scene while at the scene;
"4. Avoid duplicating any patient assessment or treatment already completed;
"At no time shall personnel delay initiation of appropriate treatment or transportation of a patient in anticipation of Fire Department response. It is the responsibility of all agencies providing patient care to cooperate and assist in treatment and transportation requirements."
Bryan asserted in his affidavit that his review of the records referenced therein revealed that the Montgomery Fire Department medics were on the scene when the Lifestar employees arrived and that the Montgomery Fire Department medics provided all medical treatment to Mr. Lemuel, being in charge in that regard under the protocol mandated by the ordinance. The only portion of those records Lifestar cites in its brief as in any way supporting Bryan's conclusions is the appearance of the initials "MFD" at a point on the statistical data report prepared by Care Ambulance. As already noted, none of the three records attached to Bryan's affidavit were mentioned during the hearing before Judge Price, and certainly no one attempted to call Judge Price's attention to, or suggest the meaning of, the initials "MFD" on one of those records. Nowhere in any of those records does there appear any other statement that could be interpreted as referring to the involvement of Montgomery Fire Department personnel in treating Mr. Lemuel. Even assuming "MFD" to be a reference to the Montgomery Fire Department, Judge Price would have had no basis for determining when fire department personnel arrived on the scene, whether they assumed command, and who rendered what services. If Care Ambulance arrived on the scene first, it was obligated under the protocol not to delay initiation of appropriate treatment of Mr. Lemuel in anticipation of a response by the fire department.
The transcript of the May 28, 2003, hearing reveals that Ms. Lemuel and Ms. McDonald testified that two paramedics from Care Ambulance were the first and, for all that appears from their testimony, only personnel to arrive on the scene, appearing within two to three minutes after the emergency 911 call. Ms. Lemuel and Ms. McDonald testified that after the two Care Ambulance "paramedics" arrived, Mr. Lemuel began to experience what the paramedics stated were seizures and his lips turned blue. Both witnesses were emphatic that, although the paramedics remained on the scene for about 30 minutes, they brought no equipment into the house, they administered no oxygen to Mr. Lemuel, they never tested Mr. Lemuel's blood pressure, they never took his vital signs, and they never started an IV.
Dallas Johnson, the plaintiff's expert witness, is an inspector/investigator assigned to the fire marshall's office, a paramedic, and a captain with the Prattville Fire Department. He serves from time to time as a "credentialing proctor" for the State to test students "to see that they comply with protocol," and he instructs basic emergency medical training at a technical college. Various written procedures and protocols were introduced into evidence in connection with his testimony. Based on the testimony of Ms. Lemuel and Ms. McDonald and on those protocols, Johnson expressed his opinion that the ambulance personnel had been guilty of gross negligence in a number of particulars, including the failure to administer oxygen on the scene and the failure to monitor Mr. Lemuel's blood-oxygen saturation. Johnson testified that the ambulance personnel should have established an IV and should have tested Mr. Lemuel's blood s
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