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Two EMT First Responders May Lose Their License After Saving Man From Lethal Snake Bite
100 Percent Fed Up ^ | September 29, 2025 | Staff

Posted on 09/29/2025 12:04:57 PM PDT by Red Badger

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:

The KY Board of Emergency Medical Services should be thanking Eddie Barnes for saving a life. Instead they are trying to take his career away, because he acted.

Read and Listen ⬇️https://t.co/y58m20YlMV pic.twitter.com/WgFMtMtaro— Liam Gallagher (@LiamGallagherKY) September 29, 2025

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.

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!

VIDEO AT LINK........................


TOPICS: Education; Health/Medicine; Outdoors; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: cancelculture; paperpushers
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1 posted on 09/29/2025 12:04:57 PM PDT by Red Badger
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To: Red Badger

If these 2 Powell County Kentucky first responders lose their licenses for lack of "wilderness certification," then @StateofKy is more screwed up than just their gov, sens, & reps
EMTs Under Fire for Treating Man with Antivenom After He Was Bitten by Snake https://t.co/nbVHylTFQY— Rita Rutherford (@ritatow) September 29, 2025


2 posted on 09/29/2025 12:06:02 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger

Reminds me of an old snake joke.


3 posted on 09/29/2025 12:09:17 PM PDT by Ben Dover (Terrorism is a cancer that can only be cured with massive doses of radiation.)
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To: Red Badger

Mamba snake?


4 posted on 09/29/2025 12:11:32 PM PDT by dljordan (The Rewards of Tolerance are Treachery and Betrayal)
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To: Ben Dover

Lone Ranger & Tonto?..................


5 posted on 09/29/2025 12:12:12 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: dljordan

a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........


6 posted on 09/29/2025 12:13:00 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: dljordan

a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........


7 posted on 09/29/2025 12:13:03 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: dljordan

a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........


8 posted on 09/29/2025 12:13:04 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Red Badger
And thus is revealed the difference between "competent" and "qualified".

"Qualified" is a bureaucratic designation, a piece of paper signed by a professional paper-pusher.

"Competent" means "able to do the job" .

This paramedic was clearly competent, regardless of any piece of paper, or lack thereof.

9 posted on 09/29/2025 12:13:45 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Red Badger

Probably the EMT’s were required to take a course for X dollars to get the certification. If they are allowed to use the treatment without getting the certification then the certification will not really be a requirement and that source of revenue will disappear. Therefore, they must be punished to force others to get the certification. In all cases, follow the money.


10 posted on 09/29/2025 12:14:38 PM PDT by Gen.Blather (")
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To: dljordan
It's in the article:

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

11 posted on 09/29/2025 12:14:44 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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To: Red Badger

I thought anyone can work under an MD’s license . Only caveat is that the MD takes on the liability. Otherwise no med student could do any work.


12 posted on 09/29/2025 12:15:10 PM PDT by LukeL
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To: dljordan
Mambo Italiano.



13 posted on 09/29/2025 12:15:15 PM PDT by Governor Dinwiddie ( O give thanks unto the Lord, for He is gracious, and his mercy endures forever. — Psalm 106)
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To: Ben Dover

“You gonna Die!”


14 posted on 09/29/2025 12:16:16 PM PDT by Big Red Badger (ALL Things Will be Revealed !)
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To: Ben Dover

‘Doctor says yer gonna die.’?


15 posted on 09/29/2025 12:16:24 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives)
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To: Red Badger

Snakes are venomous not poisonous.


16 posted on 09/29/2025 12:17:38 PM PDT by KingLudd
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To: Red Badger
The paramedics did not bring the anti-venom with them. The zoo director did. I know the article is sympathetic to them as I am, but they didn't bring it which is a big point in their favor that they weren't doing cowboy medicine:
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.
What would you or any reasonable person expect them to do when this zoo director, who knows the situation he's in, says I'm going to die and I need you to use this anti-venom that I have brought? They call the ER and get permission which is again more proof they weren't doing cowboy medicine. Were they supposed to say, "Well you know what Mr. Zoo Director, we're not qualified so we're going to let you die?"

Again, the article is sympathetic but it's not accurate in a very key detail.

17 posted on 09/29/2025 12:18:59 PM PDT by Dahoser (Liz Cheney needs to work on her soccer skills so she fits in when she transfers to Guantanamo High)
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To: Red Badger

Green and black mambas are indigenous to Africa. What is one doing in Kentucky?


18 posted on 09/29/2025 12:19:19 PM PDT by Publius
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To: Publius

Some people keep exotics as pets...............In Florida you must have a license for exotic animals...........


19 posted on 09/29/2025 12:20:24 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Dahoser
"Well you know what Mr. Zoo Director, we're not qualified so we're going to let you die?"

According to the bureaucratic rules, that's EXACTLY what they're supposed to do.

20 posted on 09/29/2025 12:21:14 PM PDT by NorthMountain (... the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed)
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