Two paramedics could lose their licenses for saving a man's life who suffered a venomous snake bite. The strange incident happened in Kentucky.
Powell County paramedic Eddie Barnes and another team member responded to a call at the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in May. The zoo's co-director, James Harrison, had suffered a bite from a poisonous mamba, according to LEX 18.
Barnes and his co-worker transported Harrison to the airport to a medical helicopter. However, Harrison revealed that he had his own vial of antivenom that he brought along for the ride. Harrison needed the drug to avoid dying.
"He said the first part of the stage is paralysis, second part is respiratory arrest, third part is cardiac arrest. He said, 'I'm gonna die,' " Barnes recalled while speaking to the outlet.
Barnes says that he tried to call his supervisor but got no answer. With time of the essence, the paramedic reached out to Clark Regional Medical Center. The doctor gave him permission to administer the antivenom to Harrison. But in Kentucky, only wilderness paramedics are authorized to administer the drug.
Paramedics In Trouble
Now, Barnes and his teammate may lose their licenses because they didn't have the certification at the time. They have to go before a hearing on September 30.
Eddie Slone, executive director of KBEMS, confirmed the investigation is complete. However, he notes many hearings are dismissed or result in additional training/education. Rarely do paramedics lose their licenses.
Still, the paramedics aren't happy.
"If we had sat there and let him die, then we would have been morally and ethically responsible, and we could have been criminally charged for his death," he told Fox 10. "If it came down today, I would do the same thing. You cannot put a price on a person's life."
Harrison's wife, Kristen Wiley, also defended the two as heroes.
"Every physician that we've talked to about it, and about the course of the bite, agrees that they were heroes and did what needed to be done to save him. That's who I want working on me in an emergency," she told Fox 10.
