Fdny Medics Gone Wild

[OnTheJobFDNY]

This is interesting.

http://www.nypost.com/seven/05062007...es_fanelli.htm



MEDICS' XXX OUTRAGE
By SUSAN EDELMAN, GINGER ADAMS OTIS and JAMES FANELLI


May 6, 2007 -- They were supposed to be saving lives, not mocking them.
Two medics made an outrageous 50-minute tape on the job that shows their crude interactions with hookers and bums - and a nasty running commentary making fun of patients, neighborhoods and the FDNY, The Post has learned.

The pair was forced to resign last week, but the public had no idea just how badly they betrayed their badges.

The footage included:

* A shocking sequence in which a prostitute bares her breasts.

* A nasty prank in which a medic taps a drunk on the shoulder before he tips over.

* A mean-spirited verbal poke at a homeless woman frequently picked up for public drunkenness.

* A medic - one of the amateur filmmakers - asleep in the cab of the ambulance in broad daylight. He's then shaken awake by the other medic as a supervisor approaches.

* An intoxicated couple in their home filmed during an emergency call.

The X-rated tape, spliced together and depicting patients and street people, some of whom were apparently unaware they were being filmed, is described as a crude mix of "Girls Gone Wild" - the risqué Joe Francis films of co-eds flashing their breasts - and Don Imus-style ridicule.

"EMTs Gone Wild," one insider dubbed the disgusting display.

When the raunchy tape surfaced recently, it led to the swift resignations of emergency medical technicians David Campbell, 39, and Kevin Edell, 40, who "videotaped their patients while on duty," the FDNY said.

The lewd tape apparently was shared with friends and colleagues as entertainment.

"They played it for a load of laughs, but it wasn't a joke once it went high up," an FDNY insider said.

The tape, which was produced several years ago, blew up in the EMTs' faces when an unknown snitch decided to expose it.

Mystery envelopes with no return address were mailed to numerous FDNY chiefs and commanders at the same time - each one getting a copy of the same DVD and an anonymous letter. It sent shock waves through the department's highest ranks.

Recipients included FDNY Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta, Emergency Medical Service Chief John Peruggia, and the FDNY's Bureau of Investigations and Trials.

Investigators immediately summoned Campbell and Edell to headquarters.

After consulting a lawyer provided by their union, the two quit on the spot.

The FDNY said they did so "under threat of termination."

In a brief press release, the FDNY revealed only that Campbell - an instructor at the department's academy on Randalls Island - and Edell had violated a department rule against photographing or recording patients without department permission.

An FDNY spokesman declined to describe the footage, calling it "inappropriate."

But sources with knowledge of the tape described it as horribly offensive and embarrassing.

A supervisor is seen and heard on the tape, but it's unclear whether he was knowingly participating, a high-ranking source said.

That supervisor left the department about two years ago.

It's also unclear how the EMTs got away with the filming at the time. Some supervisors work in the field overseeing ambulance runs, but too few to go around, a union official griped Friday.

"We do not have enough supervision in the field," said Tom Eppinger, president of the Uniformed EMS Officers Union.

Campbell and Edell allegedly made the tape when they were partners stationed out of the EMS Battalion 43 based in a garage next to Coney Island Hospital.

The station serves southern Brooklyn, including Gravesend, Coney Island, Sheepshead Bay, Midwood, Marine Park, and parts of Bensonhurst. Ambulances take patients to several hospitals in the area.

Some EMT workers refer to the area that the duo usually patrolled - near Astroland Park in Coney Island - as the "the pit" or "armpit" of Brooklyn.

Why the tape surfaced recently is unclear, but sources speculate that someone with a grudge against one of the EMTs ratted on him.

The allegations shocked those who knew the EMTs. Chief Donovan Wright, head of the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department in Long Island, where Campbell serves as a volunteer, said: "He's a stand-up guy. And all 85 guys in the firehouse would say the same thing."

Campbell had worked for the department for 17 years, Edell for 14 years.

But they will not collect their pensions, said FDNY spokesman Frank Gribbon.

Both Campbell, who is single and lives in Cedarhurst, and Edell, who lives in Staten Island with his wife and kids, were unavailable for comment last week.

Both EMTs were well regarded. On FDNY EMS "Medal Day" in 2005, Campbell was among those honored for a "pre-hospital save," meaning he helped resuscitate a patient in cardiac arrest.

"You've got to be a dumb *** to do something like this," one EMT said. "They violated the public trust and humiliated the people who rely on us to protect and serve them. It's absolutely awful."

Additional reporting by Michael Scholl

susan.edelman@nypost.com


Unreality show
A videotape made on the job by two New York City EMTs who resigned in disgrace last month is said to include the following scenes:

- An intoxicated couple taped at home during an emergency call

- A prostitute lifting her top

- A drunk who loses his balance after mischieviously being tapped on the shoulder

- An intoxicated homeless woman

- Running derogatory comments about different neighborhoods

- A medic asleep in the cab of an ambulance in broad daylight, who is later shaken awake as a supervisor approaches

- EMT personnel mocking their department and their jobs

[kjohn23]

"You've got to be a dumb *** to do something like this," one EMT said. "They violated the public trust and humiliated the people who rely on us to protect and serve them. It's absolutely awful."

That about sums the actions of these two knuckleheads up.

[JohnVBFD]

I'd venture to guess, that they were and remain #1 and #2 on the EMS Promotional List

[MemphisE34a]

Wow!! Thats shocking. A womens bare breast and some EMS personnel that got rid of some stress by mocking the pieces of garbage, I mean patients, they pick on a daily basis with little or no thanks. I might not be able to sleep tonight.

Just like around here, everyone thinks pranks are funny until some big wig gets ****ed off, then stuff is suddenly inappropriate, sensless, and shocking.

I don't think I would have quit. Hopefully they can get the video rights and make millions renting it out on DVD.

[BLSboy]

Wow!! Thats shocking. A womens bare breast and some EMS personnel that got rid of some stress by mocking the pieces of garbage, I mean patients, they pick on a daily basis with little or no thanks. I might not be able to sleep tonight.

Just like around here, everyone thinks pranks are funny until some big wig gets ****ed off, then stuff is suddenly inappropriate, sensless, and shocking.

I don't think I would have quit. Hopefully they can get the video rights and make millions renting it out on DVD.

Lou, I agree with you, for the most part, but, if they violated HIPPO, then shame on them

[Schwaa]

Where the tape? Oh, wait, we don't get to see that....

[whitykillinpyro]

this tapes gotta be on the net somewhere.

[HeavyRescueTech]

i saw this in the paper, and was wondering how long it would take it to make it on here.

- A medic asleep in the cab of an ambulance in broad daylight, who is later shaken awake as a supervisor approaches

- EMT personnel mocking their department and their jobs

and what is wrong with being asleep in broad daylight? are only the nighttime medics allowed to sleep? what if you worked the night before? as long as no runs were missed, who really cares?

oh yeah, and we all know that people who work in EMS would never mock their department or their jobs....or their boss....

[FFFRED]

These guys obviously did something foolish and some rat sent the video to people who never should have seen it...but they shouldn't have lost their jobs.

Dept charges...a day or two pay and then everyone learns their lesson. This clown Commish has shown he has no compasion and nothing but contempt for the working man...but I'm sure he'll get his, in this life or the next.

As for the POST Just more garbage from a tabloid media outlet that runs Paris Hilton as the lead story...is anyone else sick of senasionalistic entertainment "news"?

FTM-PTB

[SamuelFire]

We had a driver who installed a video camera in the cab of a engine and filmed the roadway and the users of it. When he showed it to his grown son, the son stated, "Dad, do you cuss and make fun of everyone you meet on the road?"

The one important lesson to learn from this is to never, ever have more than one copy of a video and never, ever loan it out. Show it, okay. Loose possession of it, never.

The punishment may have been too harsh but without seeing the video I would be hard pressed to say one way or the other.

[nyckftbl]

i saw this in the paper, and was wondering how long it would take it to make it on here.

and what is wrong with being asleep in broad daylight? are only the nighttime medics allowed to sleep? what if you worked the night before? as long as no runs were missed, who really cares?

oh yeah, and we all know that people who work in EMS would never mock their department or their jobs....or their boss....

Originally posted by DrParasite on 03-09-2006, 11:46 AM

while sleeping is nice, how does it look from the taxpayers point of view? you are getting paid to sleep, something almost every other city employee would get fired for doing. not only that, you get to sleep in a bed, not in a vehicle where you spend half your time trying to get comfortable. and how does you sleeping benefit the taxpayer? maybe you should go to 8 hour shifts, so you don't have to work very long. this way you can sleep at home, and be all rested and awake during your shift.

It's a perk that emergency personnel have, not one that we should neccessarily hide from the public, but not one we should openly broadcast to them. 97% of the people don't care what you are doing as long as you arrive at their door after they call 911. the other 3% want you to justify your existance, and that sometimes means accounting for all your time spent on shift, and showing how you being there benefited the taxpayer.

[JHR1985]

You know whats funny. I remember exactly when Dr Parasite said that. I just didnt feel like looking it up. Props to you nyckftbl. Dont know why but that quote stood out in my mind.

[SPFDRum]

Dr. P, D'uh!

[HeavyRescueTech]

not only that, you get to sleep in a bed, not in a vehicle where you spend half your time trying to get comfortable

pssst. make sure you focus on the important things.

btw, FDNY suppression people tend to do switches so they can do 24 hour shifts.

most people in EMS don't, because they don't have the downtime or the luxury of a bed to sleep in during their shift. taking a nap in between runs in the front seat of an ambulance is a little different than getting a couple of hours sleep in a bed.

but good job staying on topic!!!