Two EMT First Responders May Lose Their License After Saving Man From Lethal Snake Bite

This is absolutely insane!

Bureaucracy run amok, and that’s putting it kindly.

Folks, common sense is GONE in America, and this proves it once again.

Two first responders from Powell County in Kentucky saved a man’s life after he was bit by a poisonous mamba snake and was advancing towards cardiac arrest.

They administered anti-venom that they luckily had brought with them and saved the man who almost certainly would have died without it.

The problem?

Well, there is no problem if you ask me, but if you ask the red-tape bureaucrats the problem is they didn’t have the necessary  “wilderness” certification necessary to administer anti-venom.

Unreal.

This guy explains it well here:

Yahoo News / People adds these details:

Two first responders in Kentucky could potentially lose their licences after saving a man’s life.

Powell County paramedic Eddie Barnes and one of his team members were called to the Kentucky Reptile Zoo in May after the zoo’s co-director, James Harrison, was bitten by a poisonous mamba snake, local news outlet LEX 18 reported.

Barnes told the outlet that he and his teammate went with Harrison to the airport to wait for a medical helicopter. While they were waiting, Harrison told them he needed antivenom as soon as possible — and that he had brought his own from the zoo.

“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 said he attempted to call his supervisor, who didn’t answer, and so he then reached out to Clark Regional Medical Center and spoke to an ER doctor who “gave us permission” to administer the antivenom.

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Now, Barnes and his teammate may lose their EMS licenses due to a technicality: Only first responders classified as “wilderness paramedics” are authorized to administer antivenom, per the Kentucky Board of Emergency Medical Services (KBEMS), according to LEX 18. The policy was put in place two years ago, per the outlet.

Neither Barnes nor his partner had wilderness paramedic certification at the time of the incident, and they now have a hearing scheduled for Sept. 30 to find out if they will get to keep their licenses.

Absolutely ridiculous!

Not a single moment more should be spent on this.

Give them an award for having the foresight to bring the anti-venom and save this man’s life!