The Kansas Board of Emergency Medical Services has sanctioned a fourth Sedgwick County EMS employee over a medical response in June of 2019. The board has also ordered an investigation of Sedgwick County’s EMS department.
In March, the Board issued an order sanctioning three EMS employees. Sedgwick County officials were notified of a sanction against the fourth employee on December 2nd. The order is not final and the four employees have continued to work as paramedics without incident.
The action was taken in response to an EMS call on June 19th, 2019. A man shot himself and paramedics made a decision not to take him to a hospital. He was eventually taken to a hospice facility where he later died.
Sedgwick County issued a statement saying it would fully cooperate with the investigation. The county says the responders provided appropriate care within their protocols. The statement said “Sedgwick County will continue to vigorously defend the actions of its employees in this matter and ensure they are afforded their right to due process.” Rusty Leeds, the Assistant County Manager for Public Safety, said the county has been waiting patiently for almost a year for a due process hearing where all of the facts of the case could be presented.
