Posted on 12/14/2014 6:00:40 PM PST by Slings and Arrows
Chippewa Falls, WI — Dashcam video has been released that shows the disturbing last moments of a man’s life as he’s detained by a Chippewa Falls police officer on the way to the hospital.
29-year-old Casey Kressin died after suffering a severe asthma attack when the vehicle that was rushing him to the hospital was pulled over by a Chippewa Falls police officer.
After they were stopped, Kressin’s girlfriend immediately starts to beg the officer to take him to the hospital. The officer instead calls for an ambulance.
The couple was just 3 miles from the hospital when they were stopped. It took over 6 minutes for the ambulance to arrive.
During the stop, the officer callously listens to the begging couple’s pleas for help as Kressin slips further away. “He’s going to die! He can’t breathe!” screams Kressin’s girlfriend. We can hear Kressin begging for help as he falls to the ground, starving for air, “I can’t breathe…..I can’t breathe.”
The officer just stares at the couple, telling them to wait for the ambulance. By the time the ambulance arrives, it takes another 2 and 1/2 minutes before Kressin begins his journey to the hospital; sadly too much time had passed. Police say Kressin became unresponsive at that time and was pronounced dead at Saint Joseph’s Hospital.
Chippewa Falls Chief Wendy Stelter says she stands behind the officers who responded, saying that Kressin’s girlfriend should not have been allowed to drive the rest of the way because she was hysterical.
However, she was only hysterical because her boyfriend was dying and being kept from life saving treatment that could have saved his life.
(Excerpt) Read more at thefreethoughtproject.com ...
If you think moonman is “fighting the good fight,” don’t let the door hit you on the way out!
.
You need to recognize that you are a peasant/tax slave at best and bow to your betters. Your life will be better that way.
What are you...two years old?
p0wn3d?!....oh my aching back.
Who runs/funds the popo dept's?
'Rat politicians in most large population centers?
Yes, we know they didn't have the patient on oxygen during the two minutes before he's placed in the ambulance; however, oxygenation isn't generally the primary concern in treating an acute exacerbation of asthma. Everything else you said is a wild guess and a disservice.
Constricted airways, respiratory exhaustion, and respiratory acidosis were more immediate concerns. He already wasn't breathing when they loaded him into the ambulance.
I despise that sob
The Chief stands with the cop... jeesh... let me guess that will change if this news and video get wide enough release and coverage.
If she tried to drive away, they would have shot them up.
guess who is getting sued for real
The police officer requested EMS within 35 seconds of his patrol car coming to a stop on the shoulder.
The cheap and effective (non-prescription) inhalers used pseudo-epidrine in an alcohol and CFC base. They have some risk of causing strokes.
The expensive and effective inhalers use albuterol in a propane base. They have less risk of causing strokes.
The prescription stuff is about 5x the cost of the non-prescription stuff.
Yes, people have died as a result of the increased cost. It is about $2-$3 per day to keep breathing.
Both varieties of medication can fail from overuse.
Casey's medication appears to have failed. It's off to the ER when that happens.
policedept@chippewafalls-wi.gov
Another article that I linked to said that the guy lived 10 miles away and that the average response time by EMS is 6 minutes.
Everything else I said was from direct experience.
Two minutes without oxygen is a very long time.
The whole sorry incident is on fairly good quality video.
If Casey was not breathing by the time he was loaded into the ambulance, then he was probably already gone and the EMTs could not have saved him. Not their fault.
But we should have seen them running to him with oxygen and a pressure bulb; maybe some intubation gear too. Perhaps I missed those details in the video.
You might want to consider “dropping” the chief a quick e-mail. I just did.
wstelter@chippewafalls-wi.gov
I watched the video, and this was tragic. But the officer did what he should’ve done. He pulled over a speeding car that ran a stoplight. The driver and passenger exited the vehicle, and the driver was hysterical, so the officer called for an ambulance and then tried to keep both the passenger and driver calm.
The driver may believe she would’ve gotten him to the hospital on time. But, if they were three miles from the hospital at that point, she would’ve had to be doing 60 mph to get him there in 3 minutes, and that’s assuming there were no more stoplights. Then she would’ve had to find parking and somehow help him into the hospital. Or she would’ve had to park in the ambulance lane, run into the hospital, run up to the front desk, and ask for someone to come out and help her boyfriend into the hospital.
I’m sorry that this happened to him. But I think this young man probably would’ve been in the same position, no matter what.
From the article that I linked to....
“If that had been my husband with an asthma attack and me behind the wheel, there would have been no stopping, and definitely no begging. I’d have kept going, cop be damned.”
Ditto.
Bingo to a reasonable response.
Asthma attacks can be life threatening events. One my first questions to a patient in this situation is "have you ever been incubated for this?" If the answer is yes, kick the treatment into a very aggressive high gear.
Calling EMS is the right response. I actually groaned that the article said the ambulance waited 2 and a half minutes, further delaying getting to the hospital.
When you're in the back of an ALS ambulance, you are in the ER right there on the street. The same front line treatments of inhaled and IV medications are available as well as skilled intubation.
Speeding through red lights could have killed them both as well as uninvolved people. It happens. Calling 911 from their home instead of going out to the car would have brought the hospital to them, more quickly and more safely.
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