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........................
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
Reminds me of an old snake joke.
Mamba snake?
Lone Ranger & Tonto?..................
a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........
a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........
a poisonous mamba snake!...................Like there is a non-poisonous one..........
"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.
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.
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
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.
“You gonna Die!”
‘Doctor says yer gonna die.’?
Snakes are venomous not poisonous.
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.
Green and black mambas are indigenous to Africa. What is one doing in Kentucky?
Some people keep exotics as pets...............In Florida you must have a license for exotic animals...........
According to the bureaucratic rules, that's EXACTLY what they're supposed to do.
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