Ambulance attendants accused of molesting patients

[babylonsister]

:puke:

Ambulance attendants accused of molesting patients


By DANNY ROBBINS, Associated Press Writer
Thu Dec 11, 3:52 pm ET


AP – This 2008 booking photo released by the Multmomah county Sheriff's office shows paramedic Lannie Haszard …


DALLAS – They answer the call 24-7, often risking their own safety to rescue the sick and injured and rush them to the hospital. But some paramedics have been more predator than hero.

Over the past 18 months, at least 129 ambulance attendants across the U.S. have been accused of sex-related crimes on duty or off, an investigation by The Associated Press found. Some of them molested patients in the back of an ambulance.

"It's a dream job for a sexual predator," said Greg Kafoury, a Portland, Ore., lawyer who represents three women who were groped by a paramedic. "Everything is there: Women who are incapacitated, so they're hugely distracted. Medical cover to put your hands in places where, in any other context, a predator would be immediately recognized as such."

Across the U.S., emergency medical technicians have been accused in recent months of such crimes as rape, soliciting minors over the Internet and possession of child porn, according to an AP survey of the state agencies that oversee those professions.

Exactly how many of these EMTs were alleged to have committed their crimes on the job is unclear. But some of more shocking cases include:

• A Standish, Mich., paramedic sent to prison in March for molesting a girl who was on her way to the hospital after she was injured at her 15th birthday party.

• A Pinellas County, Fla., paramedic arrested in July after he allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in an ambulance en route to a hospital.

• A Chester County, Pa., paramedic sentenced in July to up to 20 years in prison for engaging in sex and providing alcohol to teenagers he befriended through their interest in emergency medical service.

• A Copperas Cove, Texas, paramedic awaiting trial in January on charges he exposed and touched an 18-year-old accident victim's breasts while pretending to tend to her injuries.

• A Chattanooga, Tenn., EMT accused in a lawsuit of giving a 30-year-old woman an extra dose of morphine and then completely undressing her in the back of an ambulance even though her injuries were minor.

more...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081211/ap_on_re_us/sex_offender_emts;_ylt=AkgQp8F2pr1LNTp5IZ_BjHas0NUE

[Catherine Vincent]

1. Wow!

You're just not safe anywhere.

[Haole Girl]

2. That's disgusting

:puke:

[bobbolink]

3. I'm not at all surprised. The thought has occurred to me.

We are a very sick society.

[lisa58]

4. ewwwwwww

[CountAllVotes]

5. my late father was robbed in an ambulance

he'd had a massive stroke and was on his way to the hospital. When he got there the money belt he used to wear was found ripped open. The money he had kept inside of it was gone! :mad:

No one ever did a thing about it.

Hearing that one of these freaks molested a person does not surprise me being they robbed a dying man!

:dem: :kick:

[babylonsister]

7. Gosh, you must have been furious! I don't understand

why the hospital couldn't figure out who transported your dad and questioned them. Very sad.

[chrisa]

6. As with any job...

You're going to have some real creeps. It's scary what some people will do when given the opportunity.

Yuck...