A Columbus Fire Division paramedic involved in the death of a woman and a $1.2 million city settlement with her family is now under investigation for letting his paramedic certification lapse.
James Amick was one of two paramedics who was dispatched in January 2011 to help Sonia Bray. Bray was having chest pains and trouble breathing, vomited and began turning blue while she was getting an MRI. About 25 minutes after paramedics arrived, after witnesses said they did little to help Bray, they loaded her into their ambulance, where she lost consciousness and went into cardiac arrest.
She died a few days later.
Tonight, the Columbus City Council is expected to approve spending $1.2 million in taxpayer money to settle her family’s wrongful death lawsuit.
Meanwhile, records kept by the Ohio Emergency Medical Services show that Amick let his paramedic certification expire three times in the past 10 years.
Amick, 66, a firefighter and paramedic since 1996, was properly certified at the time of Bray’s death. He could not be reached for comment.
Twice, in 2006 and 2009, the state granted Amick extensions that allowed him to work while he got re-certified. A third time, in November, Amick was not awarded an extension and his certification expired.
From November until a few weeks ago, Amick was on desk duty while trying to pass the re-certification test. It took him three tries to pass the test.
Amick’s failure to get re-certified is the subject of an internal investigation, Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor said last week.
A lawsuit filed by Bray’s family and internal investigation by the division found that Amick and another paramedic, James Hingst, did not properly address Bray’s medical emergency for nearly 25 minutes before putting her in the medic.
The paramedics didn’t follow many basic procedures, the investigations found. They didn’t check for signs of a heart attack or take Bray’s blood pressure, according to court records.
Instead, at one point they talked about a pot roast cooking at the fire station.
Amick suggested the woman’s son, a Columbus police sergeant, take his mom to the hospital in his personal vehicle.
Amick and Hingst received counseling and retraining as their punishment. George Speaks, the city’s public safety director, who was not in that position at the time of the incident, said last week that the punishment was “inadequate.”
Columbus City Councilman Mitchell J. Brown, who was the safety director at the time of Bray’s death, and Fire Chief Kevin O’Connor said Amick and Hingst were careless.
O’Connor said some of their actions caused him to cringe.
“It’s totally unacceptable and not close to the standard we hold ourselves too,” he said.
During the internal investigation Amick appeared out of his depth in addressing Bray’s problems, when he explained the situation.
He blamed the staff at the MRI center for not providing more information about Bray. Amick said he didn’t want to “sound cruel” but had concluded there wasn’t much the paramedics could have done that day to save Bray.
“She had some medical issues that she came in with,” Amick told investigators. “And they just manifested at that time to where, you know, and maybe it was her time.”
The city initially denied The Dispatch’s request for records of the internal investigation of Hingst and Amick. City attorneys cited a rarely used exemption that the investigation was a peer review record that was created to improve training.
The city also said the release of records would violate laws limiting disclosure of health information to the public.
The Dispatch was provided the records on Tuesday after Bray’s family and attorneys signed a waiver for their release. Speaks also agreed with The Dispatch that the peer review exemption did not apply.
O’Connor said he can’t undo the past but that he is now focused on Amick’s problems with maintaining his certification.
Firefighters and paramedics must be certified every three years. They get several notices in the mail, through email and internal communications starting roughly 90 days away.
The expiration is also pegged to their birth date.
“They get plenty of notification,” O’Connor said.
A paramedic or firefighter can apply for an extension to file their required certification paperwork as long as their expiration date hasn’t passed.
An extension is granted if the firefighter or paramedic has completed enough training or continuing education courses, several firefighters said.
O’Connor agreed and said those extensions are granted all the time.
He said that once or twice a year he’s had to deal with a firefighter or paramedic who has let their certification expire. A supervisor checks to ensure firefighters and paramedics are certified, O’Connor said.
Just last week, O’Connor allowed Amick to go back to work in a fire station, but he will not be allowed to work as a paramedic. Amick is allowed to ride on a fire engine and perform basic emergency services.
Speaks said Amick must meet a series of internal measures before he can regain his paramedic status. He declined to be specific because of the ongoing internal investigation.
“While we can’t change the past, we want to do our best to ensure this type of situation doesn’t happen again,” Speaks said.
@DispatchSully
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